THE BIG BOSS
Directed and written by Lei Lo
Starring Bruce Lee
Released in 1971
Directed and written by Lei Lo
Starring Bruce Lee
Released in 1971
Known as Fists of Fury in Europe, The Big Boss (1971) was not, as is often argued, Bruce Lee's first motion picture. It was, however, his first starring role in a film and was certainly the movie that put master Bruce on the road map as the philosophic and practical king of a style of fighting called Jeet Kune Do. Interestingly, the follow-up movie was going to be called Fist of Fury (note the singular), but ended up being called The Chinese Connection.
Whatever one calls The Big Boss, it was and remains one of the most beautiful examples of the form. Lee's character, Cheng, moves from China to Thailand to go live with his uncle. He has sworn on his mother's amulet to not fight and we are given the impression that his sudden arrival in Thailand may have something to do with avoiding the law back home, although this is strictly conjecture. Cheng takes a job with an ice company that packs clear bags of heroin inside the large blocks of frozen water. As more and more of the workers realize what is going on, those workers get offed by the merciless foreman's men, or the manager's men, or, ultimately, the men of the Big Boss. There's a hierarchy here--one that gets referred to in all Lee's films, whether literally or metaphorically--and that provides a nice continuity, believe it or not. It also provides an understanding of society, one no more complex than, say, Romeo and Juliet, but one that is a lot more interesting.
Cheng gets pushed around and eventually the warrior decides to fight, just as we know he will. After all, there was no reason to make him a reluctant pacifist other than to enjoy watching him struggle against the promises he has made to people who are no longer on camera.
Speaking of the camera, I for one think it was clever to have the blaring opening theme music carry over onto the opening shots of the actual film, as if to suggest that this Hong Kong movie was either an example of great art or the sloppiest thing ever made. The truth is that it comes far closer to the former than the latter, though it has elements of both, just like Romeo and Juliet.
As to the art, this was the first movie I ever saw to have kicks coming right into the camera, much less to have them punctuated by over-the-top dramatic music that cues our emotional reactions for us. This is also part of the sloppiness I mentioned. But art trumps clumsy if for no other reason than that Bruce Lee was such a beautiful guy.
And he was beautiful. Part of that beauty comes across as this near-deity gets used by the manager when the latter promotes Cheng to the role of foreman, consciously driving a wedge between the warrior and his supplicants. Again we are reminded of the hierarchy and again we get a sense that this wasn't such a bucket of slop after all.
The title character himself is a hedonistic karate master of considerable skill, although he is no match for Bruce Lee. He is also without conscience and possesses something of a sadistic streak, one which his own minions have internalized and use to control the humble working class.
Real life is usually not so cut and dried and there are scumbag workers just as it is possible that some bosses are humane. But that consideration is not appropriate to the genre. Just as the two teenagers in R&J are the only ones with any sense--despite being proved to be complete idiots--so is it with The Big Boss. The powerful are monsters and the weak need a good example set for them in self-defense. Well, sometimes that is exactly the way it feels out in the real world and this movie is all about feeling over thought. Again, because this is a fight movie, that prioritization is entirely appropriate, however reprehensible it may sound on the written page.
If you want to argue that since everything about this movie is blatantly contrived and that Lee is one of the few people in the film who can actually act, well, you'll win that argument, at least on points. If you want to say that that means this is any less exciting than the sword fights in the story of the Capulets and Montagues, you are certain to get your ass kicked.
Whatever one calls The Big Boss, it was and remains one of the most beautiful examples of the form. Lee's character, Cheng, moves from China to Thailand to go live with his uncle. He has sworn on his mother's amulet to not fight and we are given the impression that his sudden arrival in Thailand may have something to do with avoiding the law back home, although this is strictly conjecture. Cheng takes a job with an ice company that packs clear bags of heroin inside the large blocks of frozen water. As more and more of the workers realize what is going on, those workers get offed by the merciless foreman's men, or the manager's men, or, ultimately, the men of the Big Boss. There's a hierarchy here--one that gets referred to in all Lee's films, whether literally or metaphorically--and that provides a nice continuity, believe it or not. It also provides an understanding of society, one no more complex than, say, Romeo and Juliet, but one that is a lot more interesting.
Cheng gets pushed around and eventually the warrior decides to fight, just as we know he will. After all, there was no reason to make him a reluctant pacifist other than to enjoy watching him struggle against the promises he has made to people who are no longer on camera.
Speaking of the camera, I for one think it was clever to have the blaring opening theme music carry over onto the opening shots of the actual film, as if to suggest that this Hong Kong movie was either an example of great art or the sloppiest thing ever made. The truth is that it comes far closer to the former than the latter, though it has elements of both, just like Romeo and Juliet.
As to the art, this was the first movie I ever saw to have kicks coming right into the camera, much less to have them punctuated by over-the-top dramatic music that cues our emotional reactions for us. This is also part of the sloppiness I mentioned. But art trumps clumsy if for no other reason than that Bruce Lee was such a beautiful guy.
And he was beautiful. Part of that beauty comes across as this near-deity gets used by the manager when the latter promotes Cheng to the role of foreman, consciously driving a wedge between the warrior and his supplicants. Again we are reminded of the hierarchy and again we get a sense that this wasn't such a bucket of slop after all.
The title character himself is a hedonistic karate master of considerable skill, although he is no match for Bruce Lee. He is also without conscience and possesses something of a sadistic streak, one which his own minions have internalized and use to control the humble working class.
Real life is usually not so cut and dried and there are scumbag workers just as it is possible that some bosses are humane. But that consideration is not appropriate to the genre. Just as the two teenagers in R&J are the only ones with any sense--despite being proved to be complete idiots--so is it with The Big Boss. The powerful are monsters and the weak need a good example set for them in self-defense. Well, sometimes that is exactly the way it feels out in the real world and this movie is all about feeling over thought. Again, because this is a fight movie, that prioritization is entirely appropriate, however reprehensible it may sound on the written page.
If you want to argue that since everything about this movie is blatantly contrived and that Lee is one of the few people in the film who can actually act, well, you'll win that argument, at least on points. If you want to say that that means this is any less exciting than the sword fights in the story of the Capulets and Montagues, you are certain to get your ass kicked.
