Message from gjones

[Anonymous]

ENTER THE DRAGON
This section certainly has some interesting reviews of films that I hope to check out at some point. Here is my two cents. I was debating which film to review, when a friend of mine who is, among other things, a certified Bruce Lee nut, loaned me the 30th Anniversary DVD edition. I remember seeing the film as a teenager, but the only thing that really registered was Bruce Lee's ability to kick some serious butt.

Having explored the film a little further, it soon became apparent to me that this is a very important film on some levels. Filmed in 1973, it was the first martial arts movie that was designed for a worldwide audience, and was the first co-production between an American film company (Warner's) and Golden Harvest films, which was owned by Raymond Chow in Hong Kong. The film was written by an American (with input from Lee himself), boasted an ethnically diverse cast, was filmed in and around Hong Kong using many up-and-coming martial arts stars like Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, and was the first attempt to really sell an Asian actor to an American audience. It was filmed on a budget of $850,000, and went on to make a substantial return worldwide. In fact, it is on several lists of most profitable films of all time. It launched Lee as a bona fide superstar and cultural icon, which only compounded the tragedy of his death at 32 a month before the film premiered in Los Angeles. Ironically, it was the least popular of Lee's films in the Asian market, but it did very well in the US and Europe.

Lee is a Shaolin monk who is recruited by the British to investigate a notorious ex-monk named Han. Han holds a martial arts tournament every three years on his private island, which just happens to be in international waters and outside the jurisdiction of the British. The Brits are convinced that Han is responsible for running a drug and prostitution ring, and they need someone who can infiltrate the tournament to snoop around. Lee is at first reluctant, until of course the Brits tell him that Han is a former member of his temple and is also directly responsible for the death of Lee's sister. The tournament is nothing more than an elaborate ruse, as Han uses it to recruit new talent for his nefarious organization. Thus motivated, Lee travels to the island and meets up with a colorful cast of characters, including: Roper, the cynical-yet-warmhearted gambling addict/karate expert who is on the run from the mob; and Jim Kelly, the African-American karate champ who has escaped relentless persecution at the hands of the police in the deep south. The tournament begins and there are many explosive and original fight scenes during the day, and at night Lee snoops around the island to gather the evidence that the Brits require. Eventually, Han is tipped to the fact that Lee is an agent and they have a fight to the death, while the whole island simultaneously brawls. The troops arrive, order is restored, good has triumphed against evil, and personal scores have been settled.

This is pretty standard fare and is certainly a product of its time. A cheesy 'Shaft'-like theme, replete with crazed wah-wah pedal stomping floats through the entire movie, the dialogue is loaded with dated slang, Jim Kelley sports the quintessential afro and the black militant angle is alluded to at points, the fighters- especially Lee- feel the need to wax poetic about the fighting itself, the adversary is a Dr.No clone, and the story has its share of holes. The movie saves itself on the strength of the fighting scenes, which happen frequently and escalate to the all out brawl that concludes the film. The star of the movie and the reason for the movie is Lee himself. He was a magnetic performer who exudes a cocky confidence and inner anger that is asonishing to witness. What a great physical actor. Basically, the movie is James Bond meets "Shaft".

What is interesting about the film is that Lee is not your typical Asian actor of that time. He is strong, clever, opinionated, stubborn, brave, incredibly gifted, but he also follows a strict code of ethics. Let's face it, he is also the real deal. Remember that many Americans exposure to an "Asian" actor was during "Kung-Fu", starring David Carradine- a westerner dressed up to appear more Asian (Ironically, Lee never got over his anger at being turned down for that role). Flash back a few years prior to that, and Bruce Lee makes his appearance in the seldom seen action series "The Green Lantern" as Kato, the loyal and somewhat quirky sidekick to his American boss. Lee is nobody's sidekick anymore, and he establishes this in the first minute of the film. He is not only a superbly gifted martial artist, but also a teacher, a philosopher, and a man of great morality. Interestingly, the Americans are portrayed in a noble light as well, but they are not without their flaws. Jim Kelly is portrayed as a good man, but he is not adverse to partying and loves to 'get down with the ladies', while O'Harra, one of Han's American thugs, dishonors the tournament by attacking Lee with broken bottles, thereby causing Han and his team to "lose face". Roper refuses to join Han's enterprise, but he is also gambling on the outcome of the fights. The Americans are also not portrayed as physically intimidating, despite their larger frames, but the camera lovingly rolls over Lee, sans shirt throughout a good portion of the film, as he flexes his considerable physique. He is the Asian superman who can do things that other mortals can't even conceive.

The film is problematic for many of the reasons listed above. It would be a hard sell to show this movie in my classroom full of 8th graders (especially with our ridiculous LAUSD Policy). However, and more realistically, most of my students openly talk about seeing such fare as "Saw II", "Hostel" and other excessively gory flicks, so this would be rather tame. But, is is educational? I would argue that it is in certain ways. It does demonstrate the Asian method of combining philosophical thought with physical action, and demonstrates that they are not mutually exclusive. Some of Lee's philosophic utterirngs could be examined and would be an excellent hook to introduce a unit on Zen writing etc. However, I think the greatest value of this film is that it is the first joint US-Chinese cultural enterprise designed at infiltrating American culture and that it spawned an entire genre- big budget action films with Asian actors (Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and many of the 'Hard-Boiled" films from Hong Kong in the 80's). Also, the film was a concerted effort to change the average American's perception of Asian people. After "Enter the Dragon", there was no need to dress up a westerner in exotic clothing and pass him off as Asian (ala 'Kung-Fu'), the stereotypical Asian character was undermined by Lee's adoption of more accessible, but no less authentic, character traits that an American audience could relate to, and even admire (imagine Gary Cooper dispatching the bad guys in "High Noon" with Kung-Fu). The film is an interesting example of cross-cultural pollination, and the students would benefit from being shown how this character came to be, and the great distance travelled to arrive before them on the screen. Placed in the context of China's emergence in the American consciousness in the early 70's (Nixon's overtures to China), and during the end phase of the conflict of Vietnam, this film signalled the beginning of a new era. Asia was nobody's afterthought anymore.