Cinema

Choregraphed violence

Christopher Hudson -A It is not at all surprising that film-makers should be capitalising on the Kung-Fu phenomenon: it.is the most economical way yet discovered of doing violence to the human frame. No guns, clubs. tanks or knives are needed; n° cars have to be written off; n° simulated blood is called for. In" stead the hero, like a diminutiVe Samson with the jawbone of all ass, mows his way througll countless identical opponents, us" mg a mixture of judo, karate chops, ju-jitsu and strange salta' tory feats which involve some' saulting in mid-air and kicking the, victim in the groin with the sole n' the foot, all to the accompaniment of sudden, sharp cries like a violated parrot, which is aP" parently to do with correct breathing techniques. Leaving grunting, squirming and expirirtg novitiates of the martial art in his wake, the hero eventually cornea eyeball to eyeball with the Master, upon whom he has several good reasons for revenge, and the begins a protean struggle With hands, legs and bamboo sticks, until the Master, battered and broken, blood pouring from his nose and mouth, sinks to his knees, and the hero administers the coup de grace. Well choreographed, these struggles can for a short titre approximate to a lethal ballet' beautiful to watch and oftett breathtaking: but I doubt if this is the reason Kung-Fu films have pulled in such staggering audiences, in this country and t114,e, States as well as the Far Eas' Kung-Fu — Headcrusher has JUSt left the West End, and Fist of FurY Qpectator January 19, 1974 and Big Boss after remarkably profitable West End runs are still doing the suburbs, while Warner's have now brought the most recent Kung-Fu thriller to five central London cinemas including their Showplace, Warner West End, and they are clearly hoping it's going to be the biggest film of the year. The film is Enter the Dragon (X') although it would have been niore appropriate to call it Exit the Dragon since its hero Bruce Lee, the 'little dragon' himself, died Shortly before its release in the States. Not that this is likely to deter audiences: Lee, a small, tenacious Kung-Fu adept of

deceptively gentle appearance had already been canonised by film fans and his first three Kung-Fu films grossed more than thirteen Million Hong Kong dollars. Warner publicity, which runs to

car stickers: 'Enter the Dragon has no limit — yours is 50 mph', is

doing its best to translate him into he James Dean category ("Bruce ,nad a huge home with eleven oedrooms and when it was time to Work, he would speed off in his special Rolls-Royce, which was softly touched with traces of gold"), and, as befits a legend, there are conflicting reports about

his death — some rumouring that lt, Came by a drug overdose, others claiming that it ensued from internal injuries resulting from the Practice of his martial arts.

Leaving the legend aside, the nne thing Bruce Lee excelled at W. as fight arrangements. All else

in the film is shoddily done, as if director and scriptwriter alike couldn't wait for the fighting to hegin. Bruce Lee, as an outstanding Kung-Fu student is asked by

an international intelligence set

uP.to gather information on a vast opium andprositution business run

from a heavily-guarded island by

utile sinister Han. Every three years "an runs a martial arts tour

nament, conveniently enough, and Lee takes this opportunity to bust °Pen Han's empire of vice.

. At the same tournament, it being a co-production, are two

American Kung-Fu champions,

°Ile of whom comes to a very nasty end. Their prowess is in

dicated in flashbacks, in which, for

example, a couple of hoods arrive out of the blue and say "Give us

the dough, Roper or we break

,80.n1ething" and Roper gives a few Kicks and chops and they go flying ithrough the air. This sort of list SS scene-setting continues until Lee is discovered in Han's underground opium caverns radioing for help and the first of Han's innumerable guards gets a reverse crw leg kick to the chin and goes "YU-1g head over heels out of the

Picture. A few hundred more of these and Lee is face to face with the dreaded Han in a hall of

rirrors deep in the island palace. isn't giving away much to say 1_1-flat by the time the police nelicopters arrive, Lee has wiped out .all opposition and stands su:Veying the carnage, imperturbable and hardly panting. But don't tWniTY about the story — Kung, :tes the thing, and if you like it, elieve me, there's a great deal More in the pipeline.