Bruce Lee’s mentor, Ip Man, and 4 actors who have played him in films – from Dennis To to Donnie Yen
From Anthony Wong to Tony Leung Chiu-wai, some of Hong Kong’s most popular actors have played the martial arts master on screen
Bruce Lee’s teacher, Ip Man, has become a star in his own right. In the years after Lee’s death, a myriad of copycats emerged trying to take on the icon’s mantle, such as the cynically named Bruce Li and Bruce Le. The man who was instrumental in teaching martial arts to Bruce Lee was largely forgotten for many years.
All of that changed, though, in 2008. Since Donnie Yen’s titular performance in the hit film Ip Man there has been a slew of movies about the wing chun master, featuring some of Hong Kong’s finest actors. Here are the men who have portrayed this now-iconic individual over the last 11 years.
Donnie Yen – Ip Man series
The man who started it all. This month sees the release of Ip Man 4: The Finale, the – you guessed it – fourth time Yen has taken on this character. It’s become a career-defining role for Yen, who only really graduated to Hong Kong’s A-list following the success of this series. Yen’s martial arts chops have never been in question, but even when it came to the acting he was perfect for this role, able to convincingly portray a humble, honourable man willing to stand up to the brutality of the first film’s villainous Japanese soldiers.
Dennis To – The Legend is Born: Ip Man
Jumping on the Ip Man bandwagon after Ip Man 2, The Legend is Born focuses on the master’s early life in Foshan before he moved south. Unfortunately, Dennis To is to Donnie Yen as George Lazenby was to Sean Connery’s James Bond – bland and destined to be a footnote in the grander scheme of things. To’s martial arts chops aren’t terrible – the man is a bona fide martial arts competitor, a medal-winner at both the Asian and East Asian Games in 2002 and 2005 respectively – but he lacks Yen’s charm and charisma, making this a somewhat weak entry in the Ip Man canon.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai – The Grandmaster
One actor who does not lack talent is Tony Leung Chiu-wai, one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated and decorated movie stars. Leung’s Ip Man is one of the central figures in The Grandmaster, director Wong Kar-wai’s typically impressionistic tale ostensibly about various martial arts masters competing for supremacy in 1930s China. Leung’s lack of fighting skills is hidden by the unconventional nature of his fight scenes, reminiscent of the abstract sword fights presented in Wong’s earlier wuxia epic, Ashes of Time. Leung brings a particular gravitas to the role, one suitable for the more sombre and heavy tone of this entire movie.
Anthony Wong – Ip Man: The Final Fight
Showing just how lucrative the Ip Man legend has become, Anthony Wong Chau-sang was another award-winning actor willing to provide his take on Bruce Lee’s mentor. As the title hints, Wong depicts not a youthful Ip Man but an older one, an ageing man coming to grips with the reality of Hong Kong, his adopted hometown, after it begins to expand in the 1950s and 60s. Wong, like Leung, brings gravitas to this role, which well matches this autumnal presentation of Ip.
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