Technical information:
- Duration: 99 minutes
- Premiere: June 13, 2010 (Shanghai Film Festival)
- Release date: June 25 (China)
- Presented by: Zhejiang Hengdian Film Production, National Arts Films Production
- Production: National Arts Films Production
- Producer: Checkley Sin
- Executive Producer: Checkley Sin
- Director: Herman Yau
- Screenplay: Erica Lee
- Story by: Checkley Sin
- Cinematographer: Chan Kwong-hung
- Editing: Azrael Chung
- Composer: Mak Chun-hung
- Art Direction: Liang Yueming
- Stunts: Tony Leung Siu-hung
- Martial Arts Consultants: Checkli Xing, Ip Chun
- Starring: Dennis To, Louis Phan, Crystal Huang, Rose Chan, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hungg, Ip Chun, Lam Suet, Cyre Ma, Louis Cheung, Xu Zhao, Bernice Liu, Sammy Hungg, Hins Chung, Andy Taylor
Plot
Foshan, Guangdong, southern China, 1905. The owner of the premises in which the Wing Chun school is located asked teacher Chan Wa-sung (Sammo Hungg) to take his two young sons, Ip Man and his adopted son Ip Tien-chi, as students. After Chan's death the following year, his old friend Ng Chun-sui (Yuen Biao) takes over the leadership of the school. In 1915, Ip Man wins the heart of Chung Sing-sing (Crystal Huang), the eldest daughter of the vice mayor (Lam Suet), by protecting her in a street fight. But this makes him jealous of Lee Mei-wai (Rose Chan), a student who has liked him since childhood. That same year, Ip Man went to Hong Kong to further his education at St. Stephen's College and accidentally met an old Wing Chun master named Lun Bik (Ip Chun), who taught him new variations of the Wing Chun style. Meanwhile, in Foshan, Ip Tien-chi, who opened the Jing Wu martial arts school, is courting Lee. At the same time, tensions between the Chinese and Japanese are increasing in the city, who, under the leadership of the shady businessman Kitano, are spreading their influence in the area. Soon, in 1919, after Ip Man's return, tensions boil over.
Review
The quality level of the unofficial prequel to the Ip Man duology with Donnie Yen is at a fairly high level. Also shot in China, drawing on talent from Hong Kong and the Middle Kingdom, the film is a gorgeous result of director Herman Yau's super-prolific range of ideas, with richly color-rich cinematography, beautiful costumes and a lead character who is an extremely believable doppelgänger of young Ian. The film doesn't borrow the retro look and feel of Wilson Yip's Ip Man and Ip Man 2, its pacing is more hectic, and the fights are choreographed and shot in a manner somewhat different from the classics. However, the film itself is a lot of fun, boasting copious amounts of martial arts that are simply mesmerizing, and fights that are used to enhance the plot and flesh out the characters rather than being a generic showcase.
In fact, Birth of a Legend arguably has more fights than the previous two films combined, as the characters rush into battle without a second thought, without wasting time shaking hands or talking. Although “Legend” does not look like the Hong Kong martial arts films of the 60s and 70s, it clearly has the social manners of such films. The choreography, consulted by producer/writer/Wing Chun student Chekli Sin, is energetic and inventive, and recreated without the aid of modern visual effects or excessive use of wires.
Erica Lee's strong script and quality art design, coupled with costume design, holds the attention especially in the first half of the film, depicting the gradual encroachment of Europeanization in often very entertaining ways. Going to the cinema to see Nosferatu is one of the most interesting non-combat moments, and the use of the English folk song "Greensleeves" as a love motif works surprisingly well. Frequent date/location labels give the fictional film an artificial biographical feel, but once the anti-Japanese plot begins to develop in the second half, the film's genre takes over and leads the viewer to a superbly staged two-part finale. Interestingly, the image of the Japanese is not demonized or inflated to such an extent as it was in Ip Man.
Without in any way detracting from the calm, confident performances of Dennis To, who, ironically, played Sammo Hungg's chief student in Ip Man 2, veterans Hungg (who makes a cameo appearance early in the film) and Yuen Biao (who later takes over as teacher) ) embellished the film a little with their “star” appearance. Let’s not forget about the surprisingly harmonious performance of Ip Chun, Ip Man’s eldest son, who teaches our hero new techniques. Louis Phan, after a relatively small role in “Ip Man 2,” got more screen time as he plays the role of the sworn brother. Crystal Huang, on the other hand, brings an element of chic and impresses with her stunning wardrobe. And Canadian-born Bernice Liu added a majestic meanness to the image of the Japanese villainess.
Derek Alley's score: 8/10
Author: Derek Alley
Source: filmbiz.asia
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: The Legend is Born - Ip Man, Herman Yau, Dennis To, Ip Chun, Sammo Hungg, Yuen Biao
Tags: The Legend is Born - Ip Man, Herman Yau, Dennis To, Ip Chun, Sammo Hungg, Yuen Biao
A wonderful film, just the appearance of Ip Chun in it already puts it on a certain level. I think that in films with Doni Yen about the life of Ip Man, we see very little of the Wing Chun technique as such, the films are somehow aimed at Yen’s PR and demonstrate he mostly wears his signature “Donie Yen Kung Fu Style”
In the film The Birth of a Legend: Ip Man, I was captivated by the scene in the shop with Ip Chun at his age and to have such a form, one can only admire this man. It’s a pity that in films about Wing Chun, in some pitiful snatches they show the work of " Wooden man", competent work on the "wooden man" is almost 50% of the dynamics of the tape.
I also really liked the scene with the European on the football field, it demonstrates Wing Chun in action very well.
I really liked this wonderful film, much more than the films with Donnie Yen, Donnie has his own charisma and his own style of dynamics and they take over in films about the life of Ip Man, relegating Wing Chun to the background. When working with such an actor, a lot depends on stage manager and director (I suspect that Yen, like Jehui Chan, for example, is very stubborn and is unlikely to listen to anyone on the set).
On the minuses, the last scene turned out to be subject to a fashion that has ruined a lot of good films, the scene was filmed in dark lighting and this ruined it.
Yeah, what can I say...Great movie! There are indeed more fights than in the original, literally one after another, amazing choreography of fights, an actor very similar to Ian (and who fights just as well), a more detailed demonstration of the technique of the Wing Chun style, all this suggests that the film is like at least at the level of the first Ip Man, and in some ways even better.
A “rip” with voice acting has appeared in RuNet, but the quality is not so hot... :)
Maybe...
Thanks for the info. ;)
But it’s more reminiscent of a DVD screener, TS or a remake with a VCD (if we’re talking about the one with 984 MB). We have to wait a little.
DVDRip appeared on Asian torrents today, although without English subs...
well, maybe it’s because he played a negative role, although anyway, after Donnie Yen, hardly anyone can make a greater impression, it will be very difficult to do
Yes, what's his name Dennis? It seems like he will never be let alone own, he shouldn't even be compared with Donnie Yen, but we already saw how Dennis moves in Ip Man 2. Was anyone impressed? So I’m not a gram either =).
I don’t think it will be better than the original Ip Man, in which Donnie Yen played a great role.
We'll see.
It's like a prequel.
I don’t understand something...is this another part or what?
Yes, this is a separate part, so to speak, number 0.
What I liked most was the phrase:
And if you believe the words of Yuen Biao that Dennis To (To Yu Hang) is better at Wing Chun than Donnie Yen, we are in for an interesting movie.