Generally I do not like biographical movies, and I wondered what could be so exciting about Bruce Lee's life. I would probably be lynched by saying that, but I am one that does say things that offend people: such as Jesus being the only way to heaven. As far as I knew Bruce Lee was simply a Hong Kong actor, but after watching this movie I realised how wrong I was.
The opening scene has Bruce Lee enter into dance hall when some Asians are being picked on by some sailors (with Australian accents) and he beats them up. This scene runs very much like a Hong Kong fight scene without the finese. It is trying to hard to be like a Hong Kong movie here. Even with this shortcoming, the film doesn't unfold like this. Now I cannot say how much I know about Lee's life, but after watching this film, I know a bit more.
There are three themes in Dragon. The one that I see the most is Lee's struggle with white man. This ties in with another theme and that is facing one's fear. Fear in this movie manifests itself as a powerful Oriental Knight that is almost unbeatable, and even though I don't know that much about Oriental Mysticism, I feel that these demon scenes are over glorified. As you watch the movie, one begins to see how much Lee struggled trying to be accepted by white people. He goes to America with dreams in his eyes, and leaves disillusioned, after being denied by his own people to teach them their arts, and by being betrayed by other people, such as Hollywood, who took his Kungfu idea and gave it to another man. He also learnt what discrimination was, hatred simply because you were slightly different. Yet he did find comfort in a woman, an Anglo woman, who loved him for who is was, and this movie is actually told through her mouth, as it was based on her biography.
I don't think Lee had that much of a hard life. He rubbed a few people up the wrong way, but he took chances and managed to pull himself through. He listened to his wife and opened up a Dojo to teach his forms of martial arts, and he defied his people by teaching it to the white and black man. It is interesting how he bonds with the Negro who first walked into his Dojo, and we see this bonding especially before he goes to fight the Asian, for it seems that the Negro has made Lee one of his own.
The other theme was Bruce's desire to please his father. His father sent him away from Hong Kong because of a curse, and the weight always on his mind was that he had to let his father know that he had succeeded. When his father had died he had only made a dent, but it was that one trip back to Hong Kong that made him a filmstar. Yet his father said that Hong Kong would kill him, and even though he defeated his demon, the movie claims that he died after falling into an unknown coma. There are a lot of rumours around about how Lee died, but I am not willing to commit to one, and neither was the movie. As the narrator says at the end, they don't think about how he died, but rather how he lived. All I can say is that is important because decisions made in life can effect you when you are dead.
The opening scene has Bruce Lee enter into dance hall when some Asians are being picked on by some sailors (with Australian accents) and he beats them up. This scene runs very much like a Hong Kong fight scene without the finese. It is trying to hard to be like a Hong Kong movie here. Even with this shortcoming, the film doesn't unfold like this. Now I cannot say how much I know about Lee's life, but after watching this film, I know a bit more.
There are three themes in Dragon. The one that I see the most is Lee's struggle with white man. This ties in with another theme and that is facing one's fear. Fear in this movie manifests itself as a powerful Oriental Knight that is almost unbeatable, and even though I don't know that much about Oriental Mysticism, I feel that these demon scenes are over glorified. As you watch the movie, one begins to see how much Lee struggled trying to be accepted by white people. He goes to America with dreams in his eyes, and leaves disillusioned, after being denied by his own people to teach them their arts, and by being betrayed by other people, such as Hollywood, who took his Kungfu idea and gave it to another man. He also learnt what discrimination was, hatred simply because you were slightly different. Yet he did find comfort in a woman, an Anglo woman, who loved him for who is was, and this movie is actually told through her mouth, as it was based on her biography.
I don't think Lee had that much of a hard life. He rubbed a few people up the wrong way, but he took chances and managed to pull himself through. He listened to his wife and opened up a Dojo to teach his forms of martial arts, and he defied his people by teaching it to the white and black man. It is interesting how he bonds with the Negro who first walked into his Dojo, and we see this bonding especially before he goes to fight the Asian, for it seems that the Negro has made Lee one of his own.
The other theme was Bruce's desire to please his father. His father sent him away from Hong Kong because of a curse, and the weight always on his mind was that he had to let his father know that he had succeeded. When his father had died he had only made a dent, but it was that one trip back to Hong Kong that made him a filmstar. Yet his father said that Hong Kong would kill him, and even though he defeated his demon, the movie claims that he died after falling into an unknown coma. There are a lot of rumours around about how Lee died, but I am not willing to commit to one, and neither was the movie. As the narrator says at the end, they don't think about how he died, but rather how he lived. All I can say is that is important because decisions made in life can effect you when you are dead.