英闻天下——158 Movie Review: "The Grandmaster"

 　　"The Grandmaster" is perhaps the most anticipated yet the most disappointing movie that has reached Chinese cinemas of late. Director Wang Jiawei is said to have spent eight years on it, yet the result appears to be no better than a rushed-out product.

 

　　The biggest problem is the plot. Despite the title, Wang tries to tell the story of several martial¹ arts masters, and that is a challenge.

 

　　Wing Chun master Ip Man from Foshan wins a duel² with grandmaster Gong Yutian, and is later challenged by the grandmaster's daughter Gong Er. During the fight, the young man and woman develop a special type of intimacy³, but nothing comes to pass.

 

　　After that, Ip Man surrenders the screen time to Gong Er, who dominates the latter part of the story with her plan to assassinate⁴ her father's ex-protege and murderer. Years later, Ip and Gong meet again, but just as they practice different martial arts styles, they've followed totally different tracks in their lives.

 

　　It would have been a presentable movie if our dear director had contented⁵ himself with perfecting this beautifully simple story. But our auteur prefers doing things his way, and hard way that is. Apart from the Ip and Gong storyline, Wang seems to have planned for at least two more storylines, and set the movie around the 1940s.

 

　　What he has in mind is a grand panorama⁶ about kung fu masters at a very tumultuous time in Chinese history. He may actually have filmed all that is needed to finish the task, enough to make it run for four hours, but somehow he thinks he could edit out a few parts and make it into two hours and still get away with it. Well, he thought wrong.

 

　　The other two narratives⁷ are practically removed from the plot, but the major characters are allowed to show their faces only for a few minutes. It makes no sense for the movie, and it is hugely unfair for the actors, because the director, who claims to be extremely meticulous⁸ about film-making, sent the actors to actually learn kung fu from scratch. In fact, there is one actor Zhang Zhen who learned it so well that he won martial arts competitions, yet he is on screen for no more than 5 minutes.

 

　　The bad editing is exacerbated⁹ by the sound track. Wang seems to have quite an appetite for violins and cellos¹⁰, very emotional but quite incessant¹¹, and the result is a rather downbeat atmosphere with no pace in general.

 

　　And I don't feel good about the excessive use of voiceovers and that is iconic Wang Jiawei style. Many fans are mesmerized¹² by those seemingly wise or insightful or emotional remarks inserted in between scenes, but I believe a director's best tool should be the camera. If you can't express yourself with the camera, you might as well give it up and try your luck with radio shows.

 

　　So on a scale from one to 10, I give "The Grandmaster" a five.

1 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

2 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

3 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

4 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

5 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

6 panorama   

n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]

参考例句：

• A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
• A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。

7 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

8 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

9 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cellos   

n.大提琴( cello的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are manufacturer of high-and medium-end violins, violas, cellos and basses. 我厂是深圳专业生产制作高档、中档小提琴、中提琴、大提琴、低音提琴的企业。 来自互联网
• Our company specializes in producing violins, cellos, bases and instrument cases. 本公司是一家专业生产小提琴、大提琴、贝司和乐器箱包的企业。 来自互联网

11 incessant   

adj.不停的，连续的

参考例句：

• We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。
• She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

12 mesmerized   

v.使入迷( mesmerize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country girl stood by the road, mesmerized at the speed of cars racing past. 村姑站在路旁被疾驶而过的一辆辆车迷住了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My 14-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the movie Titanic. 我14岁的女儿完全被电影《泰坦尼克号》迷住了。 来自互联网