Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth

I've never seen an accurate movie about the life of Bruce Lee. Okay, I've only seen three, but that's a lot of movies about a real person, especially one who has been dead for less than thirty years. Sure, I enjoyed Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, and it did include some true elements, but some things, like Bruce's use of kung-fu in Hong Kong before being sent to the US and his fight at the karate tournament, were pure movie fiction. Today I watched Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth on DVD.

It was, in part, a nostalgia trip, as I recall watching the movie as a lad when it was shown on those Saturday afternoons on Black Belt Theater. And it's a better movie than Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story which I watched several months ago. That movie was released just a year after Bruce Lee died, focusing on the tabloid story of his alleged affair with Betty Ting Pei. The Man, The Myth was released in 1978, after Bruce's enduring status as a legend was becoming evident, and more was known about his life. Naturally the movie is filled with biographical inaccuracies and gratuitous fight scenes. But the interesting part is the things that they did get right.

The movie opens with the ambulances hauling Bruce's body away, then cut to his gravestone. Then the story begins with Bruce telling his kung-fu teacher, Yip Man, that he must leave for America. In Seattle, we see that he is teaching kung-fu. Three gratuitous fights later, he has proven the superiority of kung-fu over karate (after being challenged by some big-mouth), and he is off to San Francisco (shot on location!). Here we learn that the existing Chinese kung-fu teachers don't like kung-fu to be taught to non-Chinese. They are represented by one sleazy-looking dude who smokes a cigarette using a cigarette holder. This is in contrast to the solemn group of elders on stone bleachers in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, who look like the Klingon High Council or something.

A brief montage recounts Bruce's success at the karate tournament in Long Beach where he demonstrated his famous one-inch punch, in his first step toward stardom. They claim that he won the title at this competition but, contrary to this movie and Dragon, Bruce never fought in that or any tournament. I don't know why they even made up such a thing in this movie, since they didn't even do a fight scene for it. This is the logic of this movie. They don't put a fight scene into a segment involving a karate tournament, but they do create a completely gratuitous fight scene involving thugs attacking one afternoon while Bruce is pumping gas. Go figure.

Following his victory in Long Beach, Bruce goes to Hollywood (shot on location!). He is rejected by movie producers, who aren't interested in making a movie starring an Asian actor. Interestingly, the script which the movie guys are shown reading and rejecting is titled The Silent Flute, the movie project which Bruce really did create and which was finally made starring David Carradine and released in 1979, a year after this movie was released. See? Interesting how some of the details were accurate when you'd least expect them to be. And yet in all this time we have not once seen him with Linda, his wife.

After a brief scene dressed as Kato, Bruce tells his friend that he must return to Hong Kong, where he can act in real roles. Eventually we find him in Bangkok, on a reasonably accurate reproduction of the ice factory from Fist of Fury where, like in Dragon, Bruce is challenged to a gratuitous fight by some big-mouth. Sample dialog, of Bruce confronting said big-mouth: "You know what? You talk like you really been around." "Yeah? What about it?" "Well, you should know... Bruce Lee." See that? Pure Shakespeare! But soon it is evident that this scene's Thai setting is simply an excuse to have Bruce fight some Thai kickboxers. To the filmmakers' credit, the Thai fighters (not Tie fighters, that's a different movie) actually appear to be using some kickboxing moves in the fight, not just the standard kung-fu movie fighting. And at the end of the Thai fight we are blessed with this little gem of dialogue: "Bruce Lee! I guess you're right! Kung-fu is better." "So next time, you listen to me. 'Cause I'm not doing the talking here, kung-fu is!"

Granted the movie was shot in the 1970s so it's not that big a deal, but I was still pleased at the accuracy with which they did Bruce's wardrobe, those classic outfits you remember from seeing all of those famous photos of him. Anyway, Fist of Fury (originally The Big Boss) was a big hit, and as Bruce leaves the theatre we see a shot of Linda for the first time. No explanation. She's just there. See, this movie jumps from time to time, location to location, with very little narration or even expository dialogue. It is as though a knowledge of Bruce's life is assumed in the viewer (not an unreasonable assumption I suppose, especially back then) and this movie simply dramatizes various scenes. It's about 40 minutes since the story opened in Seattle when we should have been introduced to Linda, yet here in Hong Kong, as Bruce begins to achieve stardom, is the first time we see her as she is putting the kids to bed. No casual viewer and Bruce Lee neophyte could be expected not to be confused at this point.

One cool thing about this movie, as a Hong Kong movie enthusiast, is the appearance of actors I recognize from other Hong Kong movies, such as Unicorn Chan (I think), who played Bruce's sidekick in Way of the Dragon (Return of the Dragon), and Mars, a member of Jackie Chan's stunt team who played his buddy in Police Story. Mars even has a fight scene as a Hong Kong construction worker who is accosted by an uppity white team of joggers in green tank tops and black socks. There is even one fight scene during the shooting of Enter the Dragon with the actor from Master Kill (36th Chamber) who played the head abbot. I loved that movie.

The scene (shot on location in Italy) showing him shooting Return of the Dragon (Way of the Dragon) is introduced by a narrator saying, "His box-office potential finally recognized, Bruce Lee began directing films around the world." Which is their way of saying that Bruce Lee directed ONE movie, in Rome. Little is shown of Bruce behind the scenes, except for a fight scene in the Coliseum. Which I assume is meant to have inspired Bruce's fight with Chuck Norris in the Coliseum.

At least this movie gives a nod to Bruce shooting each of his movies, though it seems to be in the form of "here's Bruce taking a break between takes, then some loud-mouthed punk came along and challenged him." Bruce typically demonstrates his superiority something like this: Punk: "Bruce Lee, you're not so tough! I could beat you!" Bruce: "Ha. I'm not going to fight you." Punk: "Bruce Lee, you are a coward!" They fight. Bruce beats Punk and his friends. Bruce: "Had enough? Now you know that Bruce Lee is better than you." Punk runs away.

There is the obligatory death prophecy, in the form of a scene with a white-bearded old man, who tells him, "Bruce, you will die young and live again." Anyway it's more realistic than a ghost demon statue coming to life in his dreams. At least he doesn't fight the old me. There are shots of Bruce working out using fancy, high-tech equipment that looks like it came from a Star Trek episode. This sort of thing was, apparently, somewhat true of Bruce, as he was always looking for better and more efficient ways of maximizing his physical abilities.

There is also the noticeable usage of incidental music from a James Bond movie. Hey, that bassline is unmistakable! Of course, they've been using Hollywood soundtracks (and music from other Asian movies) in Hong Kong movies for years. I remember seeing a Chinese soap opera my mother was watching and hearing the Star Wars "Imperial March." And not just in my head. There are also shots which are skewed as though they were transferred to video by being shot on a projected screen, from the first row. Oh well, this isn't exactly a Criterion Collection DVD. (Be funny if there were one, though. What the hell, they did Armageddon.) There is even a moment, a glitch when you can actually hear the projector slow down and the picture flutters a bit. Remind me not to hire these guys to do MY DVD transfers!

Inevitably, Bruce's death in the home of actress Betty Ting-pei must be dealt with. Unlike the earlier Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story which also starred Bruce Li and which dramatized the lurid tabloid tale of Bruce's affair with the actress, and unlike the Hollywood Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, which ignored the circumstances of his death altogether, this movie seems to deal with the facts of the case most directly, showing him at Betty's house, getting a headache, taking a painkiller that she gives him, and being found dead on her bed later, before ambulances cart him away. In stark contrast to Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story, this scene specifically avoids the speculative tales of Bruce's infidelity. Bruce sits innocently on Betty's bed, discussing Game of Death with her, and says things like, "I'd like your husband to help out" and "By the way, where's your husband gone to?" before the headache hits him.

Then there is his funeral, which appears to include shots of Bruce's actual funeral (cheaper than staging one, I guess). Then after the funeral, the narrator intones, "As with all great men, Bruce Lee's sudden, untimely death gave rise to countless unproven rumors, such as these." Then there is a completely out-of-place fight scene as Bruce walks down the street and is suddenly jumped by a knife-wielding gang who leaves him lying in the street, cut up. Also, there is a shot of the bearded fortune teller saying, "You know your destiny is pre-arranged and your life in this world will end at 35." Then he tells Bruce that the only way to change his fate is to fake his own death and leave his life behind and live as a recluse for ten years. The narrator adds to this, "Many believe Bruce Lee is still alive, a recluse, preparing to return in 1983, ten years from the day of his disappearance." Ah, how prophetic, how prophetic indeed! Okay, maybe not.

So according to this docudrama, the main rumors of Bruce's death are that he was killed by a street gang or he is living as a recluse for ten years. And at the time this movie was released, that would have meant that Bruce was scheduled to return in five years. No evil Dim Mak death touch ninja cult, no hashish overdose. Anyway, this movie was a fun trip down nostalgia road, and a worthy part of my "A Tribute to Bruce Lee" 4 movie, 2 disc set. It was interesting to see it as an adult, since the last time I saw it was probably in high school. I don't know about you, but I'm getting ready for Bruce's return in 1983!

© 2002 Jeffrey P. Hui