After numerous delays, extending shooting, release date bumps and a general air of mystery, Wong Kar-Wai's "The Grandmasters" is — believe or not — actually finished, headed to theaters overseas and now the first, generous full length trailer is here. And yes, it's everything you thought it would be.
Probably the most beautifully lensed martial arts film we've seen in a long, long time (sorry RZA), the picture boasts the director's signature eye for gorgeous framing and lighting, just with more kicks and punches than we're used to from the helmer. As you know, the films is a biopic of legendary martial artist Ip Man (Tony Leung), a legendary master of Wing Chun who taught Bruce Lee, among many others. It also appears he was a master of sliding, poetically in slow motion, with a camera catching every ripple of water or shard of broken glass coming in his wake.
We kid of course, because we're just glad this thing is finally nearing the finish. Zhang Ziyi co-stars in the movie that will hit cinemas in China on December 18th, though no U.S. date or distributor is lined up. Annapurna Pictures has the U.S. rights and we hope this trailer gets some phone calls made to land a deal soon. Watch below.