The 63rd Berlin film festival opens Thursday with a gala screening of Chinese director Wong Kar Wai's martial arts epic about the mentor of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee.

Wong, who is also leading the Berlinale's jury this year, is using the event as a launch pad for the worldwide release of The Grandmaster, which has opened in China to rave reviews and a box office bonanza.

The film, whose original two-hours-plus length has been chopped slightly for the world market, stars Hong Kong heart-throb Tony Leung, who became an international star in Wong's 2000 hit In the Mood for Love, and Beijing-born star Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

Wong "has added a new and exciting facet to his body of work, and created an artful, visually powerful genre film," festival director Dieter Kosslick said.

The film spans several decades of Chinese history to tell the story of legendary martial artist Yip Man, who went on to train Lee, and features dazzling battle scenes between rival fighters.

Wong, 54, told reporters in Beijing last month he was confident the movie, which is screening out of competition at the 11-day Berlinale, had global appeal.

"There is no such thing as a Western or Eastern audience... The elements of cinema are the same worldwide, although their expression is different," he said.

The film follows Leung through some of China's most tumultuous recent history including the brutal Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

Wong made his international breakthrough in 1994 with Chungking Express and was the first Chinese director to sit on the jury at Cannes.

He will head the panel handing out the Berlinale's Golden and Silver Bear top prizes among 19 contenders on February 16.

The first major European film festival of the year and its most political, the Berlinale this year is showcasing pictures about the human impact of the West's economic crisis, two decades of upheaval in eastern Europe.

AFP