Grand Movie Project #2: 师父 (The Final Master)

[feihong]

The second Grand Movie Project is... 师父!
 
Watch on Youku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQ0Nzc3NTE3Ng==.html?from=s1.8-1-1.1

 

You can also find this movie on DailyMotion and other streaming sites. I'm sure that there must be a version with English subtitles out there but I haven't found it. If you do find one, let us know us in the comments below. If watching on Youku, it's possible that you'll need to install the Unblock Youku browser extension in order for the video to load.

 
Why did I choose this film? It's playing in North America this weekend! If you live near an AMC theater, you may be able to watch it there. Note that it probably isn't playing at most AMC theaters, only those located in areas with sizable Chinese populations. You may also be able to view it at theaters that show a lot of arthouse and foreign films.

 

I've already seen the first 30 minutes or so of this movie, and I'm quite impressed. The cinematography and music are really well-done, and the plot doesn't feel like it exists solely to get the characters to the next fight scene. Even if you generally don't like martial arts movie, you might want to give this movie a shot. Also of note is that this is the one of the few kung fu movies in recent memory that does not use any wire-fu.

 

Update after seeing movie: I really liked this movie. But, just a few hours after seeing it, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened during the last parts of the movie. The overall plot is quite simple, but there are a couple of WTF moments. However, the majority of the movie is so well-done that I feel like it will probably make sense if I think about. Most of the dialogue is quite simple, but some of it will only be understandable to advanced speakers. If you have the time and inclination, you might want to view it once without subtitles and once with subtitles (just be aware that you might be confused by some parts even when the subtitles are on).

[abcdefg]

Tried watching it today on Youkou. Seems to be a good movie, but I was wondering about the subtitles. The version I was able to find on-line had written advertising messages in red, yellow and blue flashing across the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Distracting and made it difficult to follow. Do you know if there's a way to escape from those or turn them off?

 

(I was watching from inside China and without a VPN.)

[Wurstmann]

You could download it from www.mp4ba.com for example.

[feihong]

@abcdefg I think I've seen the scrolling messages you mentioned but I must have turned them off because they no longer appear. Unfortunately I'm unable to turn them on again so I have no idea what I did in the first place. Maybe play with the options in the Settings (Gear) panel?

[feihong]

@Wurstmann Where are you? That URL doesn't load for me here in the US.

[feihong]

Just scanned the review snippets on Metacritic: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-final-master/critic-reviews

 

Although reception to the movie varied pretty wildly between critics, you can see that several reviews noted how confusing the plot was. I thought only a few parts were truly confusing, so it may be that the English subtitles weren't as good as I thought they were.

[abcdefg]

I haven't been ignoring this thread on purpose. But I am out of town for a few days playing domestic tourist. When I return to Kunming next week, I plan to check into ways of viewing this movie and have a more serious look.

[feihong]

Here's the commentary on this movie from the movie podcast 观影风向标：https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/guan-ying-feng-xiang-biao/id791978196?mt=2#

 

They don't actually explain everything that happens in the movie, but they did clear up my main point of confusion: The first scene (at the coffee shop) actually occurs at the midpoint of the story. The second scene (at the martial arts school) is the actual beginning of the story. I know that there are a few clues to indicate this (like when the disciple asks the former grandmaster's widow if they've met before), but somehow I just failed to put it all together.