Here's a martial arts film to get excited about, the semi-autobiographical tale of one of China's most famed martial artists in the past hundred years; the legendary Ip Man. The Grandmaster re-tells the story of the legendary South Chinese fighter and his feud with Northern China's fightest fist fighter, Gong Yutian, his decline into poverty following the Second Sino-Japanese War and his eventual rise once again to the top as a fighter in Honk Kong, where he eventually met and trained Bruce Lee.

Watch the trailer for The Grandmaster

In the film, we see Yutian renounce his title as grandmaster in order to challenges Ip (who was picked as South China's representative fighter) to a fight to see who really is the greatest martial artist of their time.

Following Ip's victory, Yutian's daughter, Gong Err seeks to restore her family's honour with another fight, only for her challenge to be interrupted by the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945) - a war that end in Yutian's brutal murder and Ip's decline into poverty. While Err begins a campaign of vengence against her father's killers, Ip must make a new life for himself in Hong Kong, where the fighting is tougher and his talents are truly tested.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Tony Leung Chiu Wai stars as Yip Man

The Grandmaster has been directed by Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love, My Blueberry Nights, 2046) who also served as the co-writer along with with Haofeng Xu (Judge Archer, The Sword Identity) and Jingzhi Zou (My Kingdom, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles), with Ziyi Zhang, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Cung Le among it's stars. The film was released throughout Asia earlier this year and will be given a limited run in the USA on 23 August.

Ziyi Zhang
Ziyi Zhang will play Gong Err