Acclaimed fifth generation Chinese filmmaker Tian Zhuangzhuang's biopic The Go Master recounts the life of Wu Qingyuan (Chang Chen), universally regarded as the most skilled player in modern history of the Japanese board game 'Go.' The drama finds the Chinese Qingyuan torn between his own heritage and his Japanese surroundings, as the broader Chinese-Japanese relations (on a global, sociopolitical scale) grow hostile and then resolutely violent. The story finds Qingyuan opting to remain in Japan when war is declared; he is later pulled into a dangerous religious cult that tries to exploit him, playing off of his fame. Throughout, he stays loyal to his inner instincts of right and wrong, and thus acts as his own spiritual guide; he also maintains an acute level of discipline necessary to succeed at the game. The Go Master was screened at the 2006 New York Film Festival, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
