I think this is definitely Bruce Lee's best film, actually one of the best martial arts films ever made and I really enjoyed it.
It is a dark film with some amazing fights, and I think Bruce also shows his range as an actor, delivering a really intense performance, evoking both sympathy and anger.
In the film, Bruce plays the fictional character of Chen Zhen, a student of real life martial arts master Ho Yuan Jia at the Jing Wu martial arts school. In Mandarin, the film's title used in Hong Kong "Jing Wu Men" actually means "the gateway to excellence in martial arts".
The real Ho Yuan Jia only lived to 1910, but the action in the film is shifted to Shanghai of the 1930's in order to make the underlying story of the Jing Wu martial arts students facing prejudice from the occupying Japanese work. Also, some things that actually happened to Ho in real life (as an opening voiceover solemnly explains) now happen to Chen over the course of the movie.
Bruce actually choreographed all of his own fight scenes in the film, but out of respect for an elder, Han Ying Chieh rather than Bruce is given full choreography credit. You can tell who did which scenes as Han's scenes have a kind of "swingy-arm/leg" style (for example, in the scene where the students train outside in the yard) and Bruce's scenes are much more powerful and controlled.
Look closely and you'll see a few other familiar faces from Bruce's other films appear as students at the school, Maria Yi, James Tien and - in an un-credited appearance, a young Jackie Chan, who is clearly visible in the training scene.
There are so many brilliant scenes - two especially are significant in a cultural sense - the one in the Japanese dojo when he forces a student to eat the paper from the insulting "Sick Men of Asia" sign, that was given to Bruce's school as a "present" by the slimy interpreter, Wu (Wei Ping Ao) and snaps "We Chinese are not sick men".
Another one which really stands out is the scene where he struck a literal blow against racism by kicking the prohibitive "No Dogs and Chinese Allowed" sign to pieces. When the film played in theatres in Hong Kong, the local audience were said to have stood up and cheered.
In 1972, some people were still old enough to remember the terrible injustice and racism by the Japanese during their occupation of China. Bruce was standing up for the Chinese people and fighting back.
Like many other films of the period, it has a nationalistic slant, and the Japanese in Fist of Fury are portrayed as nasty as possible, but despite this, this film, and indeed Bruce, became extremely popular in Japan. Even some of the music cues use Japanese instruments.
Interestingly, the nunchaku (perhaps Bruce's most famous weapon, which he is seen using for the first time in a film here) is not Chinese but comes from Okinawa (though some say it was originally used as a rice flail in South East Asia).
It's so difficult to choose a stand out scene as my favourite - Bruce desperately scrabbling at the earth that falls on top of his master's coffin, screaming "Master.... master!" refusing to believe he's dead, and the one where he takes on a dojo of Japanese karate students singlehandedly, showing an excellent use of brutal, unarmed combat.
I love the fight with the Japanese master (Riki Hashimoto) at the film's climax.
Jackie Chan actually doubled for him in the part when Bruce kicks him through the window.
Bruce disguises himself a number of times in the film, as an old man and newspaper vendor to fool the Japanese school. This knack for dressing up was referenced in a later film, Game of Death. In a way there is a balancing act going on here - Bruce had to be disguised but at the same time, not disguised so well that the audience didn't recognise him!
I watched the film in Mandarin, which was the original language when the film was released in 1972. Though Bruce spoke Cantonese on set, the rest of the cast spoke Mandarin which was the accepted language for films at that time.
Bruce shows he can really act in this film, as well as showing astonishing power and rage when fighting, he also shows a different side, tenderness and even vulnerability in scenes with a fellow student, whom he is in love with, played by the beautiful Nora Miao. This is the only film in which Bruce ever kissed a girl.
The way those scenes are shot is intriguing, we see tight close ups of their eyes and the pair sitting back to back as they talk, but not looking directly at one another.
Bruce is very focused on his goal of getting revenge for his master's death, almost driven to the end of his rope, and only his girlfriend is able to find a weak point in his armour.
While I said earlier that the nature of good and evil in the film is quite clear with the Japanese being the obvious villains, Bruce has to accept punishment for his deeds too. In the 1970's and 1980's, Hong Kong cinema demanded that if the hero killed anyone, they must be shown being arrested or punished. Even though both sets of characters commit murder, Bruce's character is shown in a much braver and nobler light, as the closing theme song intones.
The music in the film is impressive - particularly the repeated use of the main title theme which really adds to the atmosphere. In different situations, this music can be upright and stirring, yet also touching and romantic when played in its instrumental variation.
This 2 disc Platinum Edition of Fist of Fury has some excellent extras, including an entertaining commentary track by Bey Logan, featurettes (in one, Bey revisits one of the film's locations), interviews with some of the cast, and Hong Kong and UK trailers. The DVD transfer (at the time of release) was made from a new HD master, which has much better colours than the previous Collector's Edition release and looks much sharper.
This is a very important film in the martial arts genre which I love, and essential viewing for fans of Hong Kong cinema in my opinion.
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