Ip Man (2008)

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2011)

"Daddy daddy, mummy said if you don't attack soon all the things in the house will get broken".
This is the story of a Chinese martial arts expert, before and during the second Sino-Jananese war.
The movie starts by following the easy, rich and carefree life of a Chinese City in the years immediately before the war. Their time is spent between mock fighting and drinking tea with their friends on one side and their wives and children who don't really approve of this lifestyle, on the other. The tone is light - even humorous at times - and the only concern anyone has is saving face. The drama is subdued, the cinematography is beautiful, full of color and grace, everything is clean and pretty (with a few notable exceptions) and the music is fast, alert and used sparingly, punctuating fights and hilarious moments, mostly.
But then the war begins. The tone changes, the atmosphere becomes much darker, and the story shifts dramatically. The good days are long forgotten and the light comedy changes to a dead serious war drama. The sets and the settings change, the lighting too, the music becomes graver and over the top on occasion, but that is fine, because the drama is over the top, also. The fighting becomes a life and death mater and the limited, careful and thoughtful use of power, strength and skill changes to a brutal demonstration of superiority, with terrible results.
The actors do a great job and I was really impressed with their work. The fighting is top notch, even if there are not that many fight scenes. There isn't much of a story and there is little dialog of any importance, but words are sometimes unnecessary. There are some obvious propaganda influences and the bad guys are portrayed somewhat stereotypically, but that does not impede the story, too much.
Ip Man. A very well executed drama, featuring excellent martial arts. 9/10.