So there is this Chinese movie called "The Go Master" centered on Go during Sino-Japanese war. I am dying to be able to watch this movie with subtitles. I do not like to buy movies without watching them first, and I do not see the movie available for rent on Blockbuster or Netflix. Anyone have suggestions?

Link to trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMGt4_NvlBU

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"shinigami" IGS server, "Entautista" Tygem Server

[quote="PROVOK3"]So there is this Chinese movie called "The Go Master" centered on Go during Sino-Japanese war. I am dying to be able to watch this movie with subtitles. I do not like to buy movies without watching them first, and I do not see the movie available for rent on Blockbuster or Netflix. Anyone have suggestions?

I don't (didn't) see any other alternative than to buy it. It's a slow, meditating kind of movie but for go players good value and a different view to Go Seigen's life.

Cheers,
Vesa

Google it

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standing still means going backwards

Is that a legal download?

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I got the DVD - it's excellent, but it's a very arty film. If I didn't already have *some* idea of major events in Go Seigen's life, I'm not sure how much I would have learned from the movie. Armed with a small knowledge, I learned a lot of interesting details though.

I might not paid for it, but it was a great film.

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“I’m here to play go and chew bubble gum, and I’m all out of gum”- misquoted duke nukem

Really? This film has such a slow pace it's unbelievable. Normally, I don't mind that at all; in fact, the high pace that many directors nowadays apparently seem to find necessary usually just annoys me. But the slowness of The Go Master is really quite something - probably it's the only film I ever found too slow. I also couldn't relate to any of the characters at all, despite knowing something about Go Seigen's life. The scenes are beautifully made, probably with a big budget, but at some point a viewer also wants to see a story!

It was shown at EGC-2009 in Leksand, and I walked out halfway due to sheer boredom. Shoot me.

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My name is Gijs, from Utrecht, NL.

When in doubt, play the most aggressive move

I'm a GSG fan and I knew all the sub-plots and the allusions but I thought it was a truly awful film. Badly acted, badly directed, badly written. Boring, boring, boring. Apart from that, it was OK, I suppose.

The only point of interest for me was that it suggested strongly that there was an assumption that Go's story is so well known in China that there was no need to tell it in the film. What we got instead was a pastiche of moody moments.

That's a very interesting take.

I liked the movie very much, but admittedly found it difficult to follow without digging up as much history on Go Seigen as I could find. It does indeed move slow, and they could have told the story better.

But since English language history about Go (both the game and the player ) is so limited, I eagerly took in as much as I could absorb, watching the film several times. I was especially pleased to be able to form new opinions on Kitani Minoru and his relationship with Go Seigen from this movie.

I completely agree.

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We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

Ditto. I am a big fan of both. Especially nice to see that somebody appreciates the Silmarillion. It would be even better though, if it were revised to take the discovery of later documents into account. (I want the First Age Chronology!! ) I disagree, though, with the idea of seeing them as "background". I think they are much more than that, and both significantly alter your perception of the more popular works.

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"Those who calculate greatly will win; those who calculate only a little will lose, but what of those who don't make any calculations at all!? This is why everything must be calculated, in order to foresee victory and defeat."-The Art of War

Pity. Go is probably the pro player I would be most interested to learn more about, by any means, but bad writing is a deal breaker (doesn't seem to matter in how many other areas a film shines if the writing is bad I can't seem to enjoy it). Thanks for the candid reviews, I was actually thinking about tracking down the this dvd.

John, may I ask how extensive a biographical picture you are looking to paint through your series on Go? Also, I think I saw it mentioned here that there is a fourth volume in this series coming out, is it known how many there are going to be?

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Where've you been? Zatoichi could slice the board in half, put it back together again and rearrange the position so fast that no-one even knew he'd drawn his sword - and he was blind. ~ John Fairbairn

Subject, of course, to Slate & Shell's say in the matter, the wartime volume The Survivors is well in hand. There will be one on the games with Sakata, and another on the games with the Rising Stars, and possibly a sixth that catches the bits and pieces left over.

In addition, the third of the Famous Games series will be on the Go-Shusai New Fuseki game and that will be an excuse for a detailed look at New Fuseki in general.

I am also working on a small companion volume called Go Seigen's Josekis.

There are also a couple of books on the way early next year that have nothing to do with Go Seigen.

This is wonderful news! I don't know how you manage to be so prolific, but I'm happy that you do.

Thank you. The main reason is synergy: having T Mark as a collaborator. Us both being retired is a help.

People who want to see a good film with a go theme should see Mikan no Taikyoku or "The Unfinished Game" It is dramatic, romantic, full of action and the game of go is a major character. Unfortunately it's some 25 years old and pretty hard to find. One of the characters in the film is arguably inspired by Go Seigen, too. More info at http://senseis.xmp.net/?MikanNoTaikyoku

While we are on the subject of Go Seigen, there is a new series of comic books (in Chinese) about the ten-game match between him and Kitani Minoru. The first book (about the first game of the match) has been out. You can see the comic strips from the first book and the unfinished second book online at http://club.weiqi.tom.com/item_111_1552513_0_7.html. It is a work in progress. [In case anyone has copyright concern, the poster of these comic strips appears to be doing so with the publisher's blessing, given his unfettered access to the new art work as soon as it is complete.]

The title of the series is: 吴清源《擂争十番棋》. It is said that the people responsible for the books are those who made The Go Master 2006.

I also really enjoyed that film. It is hard to find though. :/

yes, I think it has a better story, but oddly enough, I enjoyed the other film better than this one. Sounds like I'm just about the only one though.