Kung Fu Theater Week: The Chinese Connection

Greetings readers to Kung Fu Theater Week and I thought I would start us off with a Bruce Lee film that received a lot of love not unlike that of Enter of the Dragon.   America took notice of this leading man with his look, style and mastery of Wing Chun with incredible speed.  Our feature is Lee’s second starring role after Fists of Fury a.k.a. The Big Boss and provided excellent action and impressive story.

So grab your gi, claim your Gong and Qiang and ready yourself for battle.  This is The Chinese Connection a.k.a. Fist of Fury.

You see I shan't be turning Japanese. I really think so.

Chen: Tell me the spoiler. No more lies. If I turn myself over to you, will you leave the Ching Wu School alone? The truth!

Inspector: You have my word on it. Don’t worry, on my word of honor.

Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee of The Green Hornet, The Big Boss, Longstreet, The Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon), a young master of Wing Chun returns to Jingwu School before marrying his fiancée.  Tragic news informs in him that his master Huo Yuanjia has passed away due to illness.  As the funeral progresses as a rival school based in a Japanese dojo shows up to hurl insults and taunt the students.

Alone, Chen proceeds to the dojo to throw down and throw down he did wiping the walls with the entire school.  After flogging the bejesus out of the less than disciplined dojo Chen went for a walk in the park when angered by a Japanese man and his buddies giving him a load of crap so Chen threw them a beating as well. 

This is gonna hurt..for the other guy.

Master Hiroshi Suzuki (Not the automobile producer) demands the Jingwu School after their embarrassing beating be destroyed.  After trashing the school and fighting yet again with the students they tell them to hand over Chen so they can deal with him.  Chen arrives back at the school to see that his impulse control has gotten the better of him in the need to defend his honor and the honor of the school.  That evening Chen discovered the cook that prepared his master’s meals had actually poisoned him and Chen wails on him and left his body from a lamp post. 

Inspector Lo (Wei Lo of The Pistol, Land of the Brave, The Big Boss, The Golden Sword, Vengeance of a Snowgirl and New Fists of Fury) a local officer trying to keep the peace must capture Chen and bring him in due to several of his beatings on others has taken lives and he must be made to answer to the law, and still Lo feels conflicting emotions. 

I have a few interesting facts about this particular movie.  A young actor as an extra as a Jing Wu student is none other than Jackie Chan at age 17.  Bruce Lee choreographed his own street fight scenes but due to the incredibly racist content of this film Bruce didn’t work with director Lo Wei again after this movie.  This was based on a true story but the actual Chen managed to flee Shanghai without anyone the wiser.

Whirlwind Leg!!!