Fist of Fury (aka The Chinese Connection). 1972. Hong Kong. Directed by Lo Wei. With Bruce Lee, James Tien, Nora Miao, Wei Pingao. In Cantonese; English subtitles. 107 min.
Set sometime during the late 1930s/early 1940s, when Japan occupied a part of Shanghai, Fist of Fury became the first Bruce Lee film to address nationalism and cultural pride. Lee plays Chen Zhen, a young man who has returned home to Shanghai symbolically dressed in a white Zhongshan suit—named after the founding father of the republic Sun Yat-Sen (aka Sun Zhongshan)—to bury his kung fu teacher. His white suit doesn’t stay unstained for long, as Japanese dojo challengers arrive at his teacher’s funeral with a sign bearing the insult “Sick Man of East Asia.” Unable to control his rage, Chen sets off on a truly furious revenge rampage. While Chen manages to ward off a whole school of Japanese fighters and their Russian recruit, can he reinstate the pride of his teacher, let alone that of his nation? Digital.