You would be hard pushed to find someone who knows more about Bruce Lee than Eden Court’s long-serving projectionist Jamie M McDonald. So who better to preview two of the martial arts master’s finest cinematic outings ahead of our upcoming screenings?
It is hard to believe that on the 20th July this year it will be fifty years since the passing of Martial Arts legend, Bruce Lee. Whether through his writing, or his films, the influence of Bruce Lee is very much still felt today, he paved the way for the Kung Fu film to reach a wider audience. Every Martial Arts actor of the last fifty years has been inspired by Bruce Lee.
To celebrate the man and the Legend on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, Arrow films have released his 4 Golden Harvest films back into cinemas in stunning 4K restorations. We have selected the two films that he made in 1972 to screen at Eden Court.
The Way of the Dragon was a landmark film at the time of its release for Hong Kong filmmaking. Not only did it smash the previous box office records set in Hong Kong by Lee`s The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, it was also the first film shot on location outside of Hong Kong. This would not happen again until 1983 when Sammo Hung filmed Wheels on Meals in Spain. With his newly formed Concord Production company in partnership with Golden Harvest studios Bruce shot the film on location in Rome. He wrote, produced and fight choreographed (with his childhood friend Unicorn Chan who plays Jimmy in the film) and with The Way of the Dragon Bruce made his directorial debut.
The story is simple: Bruce plays Tang Lung who is sent to Rome by his Uncle to help defend a family restaurant from Gangsters. With this film Bruce started to put his philosophies on Martial Arts and life into the screenplay. He would take this further with Enter the Dragon (special edition version) and the incomplete Game of Death. Lee brought in Martial Artist friends Chuck Norris, Robert Wall plus Korean Hapkido Grandmaster Hwang In-Sik to play the villains for the finale of the film. The coliseum battle between Lee and Norris is outstanding and is still to this day regarded very highly. Not only is it shot and choreographed brilliantly, it tells a story as the fight goes on as Bruce adapts to overcome Norris.
The best fight scenes in any film are the ones that tell a story. There is a nice sense of humour through the film as the language barrier is played on as well as the cultural differences. The Way of the Dragon is a classic and contains some of Bruce`s best fight scenes including the incredible alley fight with the double Nunchuka. In the film, Tang receives a letter calling him back to Hong Kong -this was the set up for the sequel, it is a shame that we never got to see the continuing adventures of Tang Lung.
If you ask any Bruce Lee fan what their favourite film of Lee’s is they will more than likely say Fist of Fury. After hearing of his master`s death Huo Yuanjia, Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) returns to Shanghai and gets drawn into investigating what happened, who poisoned his master and why. Again, Bruce worked with writer/director Lo Wei for the film, they had a rocky relationship on The Big Boss, and this would be the last time that Bruce worked with Lo Wei. The action is choreographed by Bruce; it also marks the screen debut for the weapon Lee would become famous for, the Nunchuka which is featured in all his films after this.
What is notable with Bruce’s choreography is that he gets far away from the Peking Opera style fight scenes of that time. Fist of Fury is full of stunning fight scenes, probably the most famous of these is when Lee walks into the Japanese dojo to return the sick man of Asia sign that they sent to his school. When Chen Zhen fights Suzuki for the finale it is Jackie Chan that performs the stunt of Susuki getting kicked through the door. Robert Baker, who plays Petrov in the film, is a guest of Suzuki’s who would go on to become Bruce’s real life bodyguard. The fight between them is my favourite of the film.
I honestly don`t know anyone that made as big an impact as Bruce Lee his legacy is eternal.
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