Jing wu men (1972)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Wei Lo

Writer:

Wei Lo (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 March 1972 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Bruce Lee is DYNAMITE! [UK]

Plot:

A young man seeks vengence for the death of his teacher.

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Murder | Martial Arts | Honor | Katana Sword

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Bruce Lee	...	Chen Zhen
Nora Miao	...	Yuan Le-erh (as Miao Ker Hsiu)
James Tien	...	Fan Chun-hsia
Maria Yi	...	Yen
Robert Baker	...	Petrov
Fu Ching Chen	...	Chao
San Chin	...	Tung
Ying-Chieh Han	...	Feng Kwai-sher
Riki Hashimoto	...	Hiroshi Suzuki
Jun Katsumura	...	Suzuki's bodyguard
Chung-Hsin Huang	...	Tien
Kun Li	...	Hsu (as Quin Lee)
Feng Tien	...	Fan
Yin Chi Lee	...	Li
Tony Liu	...	Chin

Also Known As:

Fist of Fury (Hong Kong: English title) (UK)
Jing mo mun (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Laugh Track: Chinese Connection (USA) (video title (redubbed comic version))
School for Chivalry (Hong Kong: Mandarin title) (literal English title)
The Chinese Connection (USA)

Runtime:

Argentina:108 min | Germany:99 min | UK:102 min | USA:107 min | Hong Kong:102 min | France:95 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | New Zealand:M (re-rating, uncut) | New Zealand:R16 (original rating, cut version) | France:-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:(Banned) (1978) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

According to certain historical sources in China, the real-life Chen escaped from Shanghai successfully.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the final battle as Suzuki is kicked through the shoji screen, you can see his white belt wrapping itself around the stunt wire used to lower him down to the ground below.

Quotes:

[first scenes]
[Chen comes home to find his teacher being buried]
Chen: Teacher...
[he goes berserk, trying to claw at the ground, and has to be restrained by his friends]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006)

Politically Conscious Kung Fu

What makes this Kung Fu classic stand out a bit more is the entire basis for the film: a group of Japanese in Shanghai (probably during the Japanese occupation of this part of China) are abusing the Chinese locals, and insulting them greatly. Constantly referring to the Chinese (as a whole) as the 'sick men of Asia,' and even thinking them lower than dogs (as is shown in some of the scenes).

The entire basis of this Kung Fu film becomes a real reaction to the pain of discrimination and the hatred of a sense of racism that the Japanese dished out to the Chinese, and is based actually off of a real story that followed similar tones. What makes this film very special is the commitment that Bruce Lee has to defeating the Japanese whose goal is to crush the will of the Chinese -- a very accurate reflection of the sentiment that existed.

Overall, this is a very good film that was well done; it has a lot of the defects that films similar to its' genre have (having the grainy feel of Kung Fu films of its' time) but other than the typical, it really sets a standard for Kung Fu and film in general. One can see it, in many ways, as being a good basis for subsequent action and Kung Fu films. A lot of the things in this film were very original and very interesting -- overall, a must see film for anybody who enjoys Action, Kung Fu, or 'political resistance' so to speak. A film for the downtrodden striking back.