Fist of Fury is a Bruce Lee film- not Bruce Li. This is the Bruce Lee who died at the age of 32 and was a Hong-Kong and American martial artist. He is not the father of Jet Li and is not Bruce Li who became an impersonator of Bruce Lee after his death. Enter the Dragon is another Bruce Lee film which hopefully will feature on this blog later on in the year.
Fist of Fury is a little confusing at the start. The version I have is already dubbed in English and yet my media player attempted to sub it as well which made no sense because the subtitles weren't even close to what was being said. If you don't understand the language then learn a few word to try and pick up as the film goes on and appreciate the work of the film without the terrible subtitles that are hardly ever accurate or the irritating American voice overs (no offence meant to any Americans reading this- i'm sure you find British voice overs just as irritating). This film is similar to Ip Man. Japanese and Chinese martial arts schools end up fighting against each other to prove which one is better, or rather, the Japanese school has the teacher of the Chinese school poisoned and then the entire Japanese school looses a fight to Bruce Lee.
No one type of martial art is better that the other. Some people are better suited to one thing than the other and sometimes a school just has a better fighter than the opposing schools but that doesn't actually mean that the martial art is better than another and yet the have made at least four martial arts films based on this theory- which was probably a huge cultural argument. This film is rather more dated than Ip Man and so there is less actual action in it, the fight scenes look a little slower or less impressive but that is technology and evolution for you. Bruce Lee cemented his place in history with his impressive skills, no question about that at all so let's not waste too much time talking about those fights scenes in this film.
In Fist of Fury he is known as the 'boxer' and when you watch him fight you can see why. He doesn't box but his style of fighting certainly isn't what we have typically come to associate with Wing Chun. Lee learnt under Yip Man and because of the films Ip Man and watching Donnie Yen perform different moves to Bruce Lee it is interesting to know if Bruce Lee adapted Wing Chun or if he just stuck to what he was taught and Wing Chun has advanced since he was learning and fighting. From reading up about him I can see that in school he was mentored a little by a boxer so that would explain why his style looks different from typical Wing Chun.
What I don't understand about this film is why he is so much better than everyone else in the film. Even in his school, he is not head of his school and yet he is the only one who can defeat those that fight against him. It's a combination of arrogance from his character but also supreme strength and skill that surely must be found in at least one other student in the school. Yes, everyone has a theory about there always being a 'chosen one' and Lee's character in this film was probably the 'chosen one' but even so, from the start he skill is far greater than anyone else's.
Watching Lee fight in this film is watching a work of art. His style is so different that you will only find it in Bruce Lee films.
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