Ip
Man 3 the movie is going to set records all over the world as a very watchable
movie. Movie making has taken a paradigm shift, from the funny slapstick
cartoon like fighting sequences of the past to more stylish and gravity defying
stunt done at great speed, and appearing very realistic. The choreography of
fighting scenes is like watching fighting men moving with the grace of dancers.
This generation of movie making has made the movies of the past looked so
amaturish. They are really very enjoyable to watch.
The
themes and plots are fairly standard and familiar. But fans of kungfu movies
did not pay just for the plots, though they made the movies more watchable. They
went for the actions. Many also went to see Ip Man and his brand of fighting
skills against his opponents, seeing the triumph of a skilled kungfu exponent
taking on fearsome opponents and won. Good for the adrenaline and comforting
for the soul.
There
is another important aspect that many missed, the big picture. Ip Man’s movies
were scripted in a period when China was the Sick Man of Asia
and Hongkong 1959 was a British colony. The island was ruled by foreigners and
the local elites were shameless, powerless, greedy and selfish individuals that
only cared for their own good. They did not mind the foreigners taking over the
govt, taking over the businesses and industries, bullying the helpless and poor
country men, kicking them around, as long as they, the elite, could lead a good
life.
The
foreigners were everywhere and calling the shot. Jobs were few for the locals and getting a
job from the foreigners was a big thing, even being discriminated, being
bullied and underpaid, and having to please the foreigners and enduring their
abuses. The masses were poor, hungry and
angry, but could not do a thing. They could not depend on the local elites that
were in cahoot with the foreigners to exploit them. They could only hope for an Ip Man to stand
up and fight for them. And they screamed for their hero. But the victory was
empty. The system, with the foreigners in charge and calling the shot, and the
locals as the disenfranchised people, with little rights, with no help coming
from the elites, was the order of the day.
They
did not know the island was lost. They were conquered and ruled by foreigners
and depending on the mercy and charity of the foreigners. The parasitic local
elites were more interested in enriching themselves, country or no country
never mind. Life was good for them and their families. The masses could be left
to be bullied by the foreigners, beaten by the foreigners, the elites would
turn a blind eye. The elites were also fearful of the foreigners as the
foreigners were in control, in charge of the country.
The
historical context of the Ip Man movies was a lost people, lost country, a people with no dignity, no
will to fight for themselves, no pride, no money, no jobs, but waiting
helplessly for things to happen, waiting for more Ip Mans to stand up to fight
for them.
When
a country turned into a Sick Man of Asia, that would be the fate of the people.
They lost everything, their country, their jobs, their self respect, their
dignity, their right to live as normal citizens of a country. They did not know
how to fight back, to regain their rights in their country, to retake their
country from the foreigners and the corrupt elites. The elites were were the real
enemies of the people, not the leaders of the country.
Ip
Man was just a flash of hope but would not change anything. The people need to
rise together, to throw out the corrupt elites and the foreigners. It took several revolutions, millions of
death, and a lot of pain and suffering, to retake China from the corrupt regimes
and the foreigners and later the return of Hongkong.
Look
beyond Ip Man in the movie. There is a very important lesson in nation building
to be learnt. It is not the fighting skills of Ip Man. It is not one man to
change the world. It is the helplessness of a people that had lost their
country to foreigners.
9 comments:
Ip man is so lucky to be a Hongkie.
In other countries he would likely have been sued till bankrupt.
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Ip Man answers: It's better to leave a country whose people are too stupid to see the truth.
// It is the helplessness of a people that had lost their country to foreigners. //
Sounds like China during the late Qing Dynasty period from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. .....
// It is not one man to change the world. //
But it was the advent of such one-man mastery and par excellence like the famous Southern China Fo Shan pugilist Master Wong that galvanised the trampled Chinese diaspora to rid their country of the decadent, totalitarian, incompetent Qing Emperor, their utterly corrupt imperial court, Dynastic rule and foreign imperialist invaders ......
But that was in the past ......
If the seventy or more percent of the DAFT sinkies were to continue to vote the PAP,
Singapore or sinkieland would become the SICK MEN OF ASIA soon.
Now foreign talents committed offences, just repatriated.
What difference now Singapore as compared to that Era.
No Singaporeans and Dogs Allowed.
Sigh
// Ip Man 3 – A nation building perspective //
In modern perspective, could it be sinkies version of "Ip Man" aka Red Bean ....... in nation building and forging national identity?
D I M past elsewhere . D I M future here . Hands-On Green Matters
Dude, it's just a movie. Nice fantasy, nice to get an erection based on "ethnic porn"...I mean ethnic pride. 😂
//Movie making has taken a paradigm shift, from the funny slapstick cartoon like fighting sequences of the past to more stylish and gravity defying stunt done at great speed, and appearing very realistic.//
Ha ha
Such can never be anywhere near the wayang ENACTED in reel ...... oops .... real life .......?
Wayang of humility to conceal a victory not unlike a chereographed movie ......
The art of the way of life in CHINDIA perfected to astonishing effect ......
Just like lions, they live by the sword, they perish by the sword, a fate sealed in nature.
A spade is a spade.
A devil is a devil, in any disguise
Behind the ( false ( & evil ) ) smile, artificial facade and underneath the skin, it is a demon, its skeleton wrapped in stolen ( human ) skin, the soul long devoured and the walking zombie soulless beans actually devils in human form?
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