The Go Master is a 2006

2006 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

 biopic by director Tian Zhuangzhuang

Tian Zhuangzhuang

Tian Zhuangzhuang is a Chinese film director and producer.Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an amateur photographer and then as an assistant cinematographer at the Beijing Agricultural Film...

 of the renowned twentieth century Go

Go (board game)

Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

 master Wu Qingyuan, better known by his adopted Japanese name of Go Seigen

Go Seigen

Wu Qingyuan , generally known in the West by his Japanese name Go Seigen, is considered by many players to be the greatest player of the game of Go in the 20th century and of all time.-Biography:...

. The film, which premiered at the 44th New York Film Festival

New York Film Festival

The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...

, focuses on the life of this extraordinary player from his meteoric rise as a child prodigy

Child prodigy

A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...

 to fame and fortune as a revolutionary strategic thinker, as well as the tumultuous global conflicts between his homeland

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and his adopted nation

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The film also features a scene involving the Atomic bomb go game. The film also screened at the AFI

American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...

's China Film Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

.

Plot synopsis

The Go Master shines a light on the life and times of Wu Qingyuan. Better known by his Japanese name Go Seigen, Wu is considered the greatest Go player of the 20th century, his talents bringing him from his native China to a professional career in Japan when he was only a teenager. Based on Wu's autobiography, this elegantly shot and remarkably restrained biopic follows the life of a singular figure, fascinating not only for his genius and achievements in the game of Go, but also for his unique experiences as a Chinese man in Japan during an immensely turbulent period in history. Acclaimed Taiwanese actor Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) portrays the titular role in a subtle, poignant performance that is as penetrating as it is opaque, underlying the brooding lyricism of the film. The Go Master co-stars Sylvia Chang, Matsuzaka Keiko, Emoto Akira, and Ito Ayumi, and Wu Qingyuan himself appears briefly in the film's prologue. Also of note is the film's costume design, which is by renowned designer Wada Emi (Ran, Hero, House of Flying Daggers).

With the breakout of the Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s, Wu Qingyuan (Chang Chen) and his family are thrown into an uncomfortable and dangerous position as Chinese nationals residing in Japan. While Wu's family returns to China, he chooses to stay behind in his adopted country to continue to pursue the game of Go. In the quiet recluse of his school, there are no politics, only the singular dedication to his art and the love for his wife Kazuko (Ito Ayumi). However, the chaos of the times eventually forces him out of his enclave, throwing his life and mind into conflict.
Wu's career ends abruptly when he is struck by a motorcycle in a collision which does not appear to be an accident. This real-life incident may have been a conspiracy against him by opponents in the world of Go, where he remained an unshakable winner. He is later hospitalized and can no longer play Go, due to brain trauma. Despite this, the film ends nostalgically in the golden room of Go.

Cast and crew

Wu Qingyuan is played by Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

ese actor Chang Chen

Chang Chen

Chang Chen is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan. His name is sometimes seen in the Western order . He is the son of a Taiwanese actor Chang Kuo Chu and brother of a Taiwanese actor, Chang Han .-Career:...

, who starred opposite Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as well as Three Times

Three Times

Three Times is a 2005 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. It features three chronologically separate stories of love between May and Chen, set in 1911, 1966 and 2005, using the same lead actors, Shu Qi and Chang Chen.The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film...

. Chang was nominated for the 2006 Golden Horse Award for best actor for his portrayal. The real Wu Qingyuan makes a short cameo appearance

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 in the film's prologue.

Also appearing are Sylvia Chang

Sylvia Chang

Sylvia Chang is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.- Actress :...

 (Shu Wen), Xin Baiqing (Wu Yan), Ito Ayumi (Nakahara Kazuko), Emoto Akira (Segoe Kensaku), Matsuzaka Keiko (Kita Fumiko), Betty Huang (Wu Qingying), and Li Xuejian

Li Xuejian

Li Xuejian is a Chinese actor. He is best known for his role as Song Jiang in The Water Margin, a 1997 television series adapted from the Chinese classical novel of the same title. Li has also played the roles of military personnel in television dramas set in the Chinese Civil War...

 (Li Yutang).

Produced by Liu Xiaodian with executive producers Wang Jun

Wang Jun

Wang Jun is Chairman of the Board of Poly Technologies in the People's Republic of China. The company deals in arms-trading and is associated with the People's Liberation Army . Wang is also the Chairman of China International Trust and Investment Corporation...

, Own Chen, Wouter Barendrecht

Wouter Barendrecht

Wouter Barendrecht was a film producer. With Michael J. Werner, Barendrecht was the co-chairman of Fortissimo Films, a company he founded in 1991 in Amsterdam....

, and Michael J. Werner

Michael J. Werner

Michael J. Werner is an American film producer. Since 2000, he has been co-chairman of the multi-national film production, sales and distribution company, Fortissimo Films, which was founded in 1991 by Wouter Barendrecht...

. The screenplay was written by Ah Cheng. Costume design was by the acclaimed Emi Wada

Emi Wada

is a renowned Japanese costume designer.She has created costumes for the Akira Kurosawa film Ran, which earned her an Academy Award for costume design, the Peter Greenaway film Prospero's Books, and the Zhang Yimou films Hero and House of Flying Daggers...

, famous for such films as Kurosawa's

Akira Kurosawa

was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...

 Ran

Ran (film)

is a 1985 Japanese-French jidaigeki film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film starred Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. It also stars Mieko Harada as the wife of Ichimonji's eldest son...

, Dreams

Dreams (1990 film)

is a 1990 magical realism film based on actual dreams of the film's director, Akira Kurosawa at different stages of his life. The film is more imagery than dialogue.　The alternative titles are a translation of the opening line of Ten Nights of Dreams, by Natsume Sōseki, which begins:...

, as well as Zhang Yimou's

Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....

 Hero

Hero (2002 film)

Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....

and House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers is a 2004 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. It differs from other wuxia films in that it is more of a love story than a straight martial arts film....

.

Critical reception

A.O. Scott, in the New York Times called The Go Master, "a stately and respectful biopic", as well as, "deliberate and contemplative rather than dramatic or psychologically probing" and "gorgeously shot". The film was nominated for Achievement in Cinematography at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Asia Pacific Screen Awards

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is an international cultural initiative of the State Government of Queensland, Australia, through Events Queensland, to honour and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of Asia-Pacific to a global audience and to realise the objectives of UNESCO to...

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External links

• The trailer
• The Go Master at Fortissimo Films
  Fortissimo Films
  Fortissimo Films is a multi-national film production, sales and distribution company. The company has been behind such East Asian films as Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, the Thai films Tears of the Black Tiger and Last Life in the Universe, as well as such independent films as Pleasure...