The Go Master (2006)

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With no attempt made to even explain the basic rules of Go, this is essentially a study of forehead-kneading concentration, of how to shut out even the most tempestuous of world events.

The rapturous camerawork and Chang Chen's performance as Wu both delight, but there's little insight into what makes a game about white and black pebbles so utterly absorbing.

This soporific stupor and final pinch of defeat is the experience that most fully equates with watching this film.

Chang captures Wu’s dedication and respect for a game whose intricacies reflect the vicissitudes of his own life.

Featuring a game whose practitioners cultivate friendships rather than rivalries, in a time and a place where conflict was otherwise all too easy to find, The Go Master is a biopic of rare subtlety, delicacy and stillness.

As the subject for a film biography, there would seem to be a great deal of material there, but screenwriter Ah Cheng and director Tian Zhuangzhuang make a botch of it.