Autonomy
- (of a country or region) The right or condition of self-government, especially in a particular sphere.
- Freedom from external control or influence.
- (in Kantian moral philosophy) the capacity of an agent to act in accordance with objective morality rather than under the influence of desires

Aesthetic
- Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty
- A set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement

The above terms are familiar to most of us, but in reading Kato I’ve found it useful to revisit the definitions. Doing so gave me a renewed perspective. For instance, Autonomy is the lens through which Enter the Dragon is critically reexamined (p114). Think of the Greek origins of Autonomy, then consider the background of Enter the Dragon:

Autos (self)
Nomos (law)

 Kayto describes how the Hong Kong crew was treated subserviently during the making of Enter the Dragon, and the allegory for colonial antagonism antagonism toward the transnational power that was the Hollywood production crew. “Self-law” would have been the last term used by the Hong Kong crew to describe their treatment.

One form of subversion used by the Hong Kong crew was the fact most could understand English, but kept this fact from the Hollywood producers– who couldn’t speak any Chinese– and relied on an interpreter who refused to tip the hand of the Hong Kong workers.

It has been many years since I’ve seen the film “Enter the Dragon.” In fact I just learned that it was not even included in my 5-Disc Masters Collectors Edition (?!). Now, after watching Enter the Dragon, There were many things that caught my attention in the context of Kato’s writing, but none as much as the aesthetics of the film.

The first thing is how much it feels like a James Bond film. Everything from the music, to the storyline and even the props– all feel like they just finished filming 007, and Enter the Dragon was next on the set.

Take the plot line for example; if this was a typical kung fu movie Bruce Lee would be setting off to Han’s island to avenge the death of his sister– a revenge film. In this Western adaptation however, a British official sends Lee to Han’s island because he knows that Han is up to no good– he just can’t prove it– that’s Lee’s job. Lee doesn’t learn of his sister’s death until after he’s accepted the mission for Britain. So is he on an undercover secret mission for Britain, or is he seeking revenge for the death of his sister? Granted, this confusion is somewhat reconciled when Lee confronts Han just before the climatic battle and he says, “You have offended my family and you have offended the Shaolin Temple.” Kato would probably say this is an example of the transnational colonization of the kung fu culture. The only thing that keeps the movie together is Lee’s performance. Just like he instructs his student at the beginning of the film, Lee puts all of his “emotional content” into the film. I can hear Kato saying that’s Bruce Lee liberating the genre from the colonization of Western globalization.

The aesthetics of the film are therefore both obvious, and hidden. The obvious of course is in the kung fu battles, the outdoor setting and actors. The less obvious is Bruce Lee’s performance adhering to the second definition of aesthetics; “A set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement.”
In the end, it was an entertaining film and the book provided more information about it than I could fully appreciate in one reading. A situation that could benefit from Lee’s advice to his student; “Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!

Main points to be looking out for in this film is the personification of Han as the Dr. Fu Manchu of this piece. Will he be as cunning and dangerous as they described for Fu Manchu. Bruce Lee’s role will be reminiscent of the “good Asian” or Charlie Chan. Another connection is how Bruce Lee is working under cover to infiltrate Han’s island, which brings in the theme of infiltration and espionage, although I don’t recall “Lee” being 100% with the idea. A particular thing to look out for is the extras and actors reactions during Bruce Lee’s and Ohara’s fight. In reality, there was a falling with Bob Wall, the actor of Ohara, and Bruce Lee during the shooting of the scene of Lee breaking the glass bottles Ohara tries to use against “Lee”. It turns out the bottles were in fact real and cost bodily injury to Lee that suspended him from acting for a week. When they shot that scene again, “Lee” continued on to wail on Ohara, which got the Chinese extras all riled up because they were being mistreated and viewed stereotypically. Even the extras that were part of the bad guys got excited over the fight between “Lee” and Ohara, or Lee and Hall. Finally the quest Lee is taking not only to take down Han, but for Lee to avenge the Shaolin school since Han was once a student of the school The senior monk requests that “Lee” remove Han from power so that he does not dishonor the school any further. This is an example of the “good Asian” again, but this time for a culture that he is affiliated with.

For the movie Enter the Dragon, it was almost everything I expected from the reading of Kato. The action was good for a movie of its time, and I was surprised to see Bolo Yeung play as “Bolo” in the movie. I only remember him from the movie Bloodsport where he was the main antagonist against Jean Claude Van Damme. I forgot to put this down earlier, but there was kind of a spy element that was somewhat reminiscent to 007 movies. While “Lee” didn’t have any guns or superficial gadgets, he snuck around with a quality of stealth and used cunning skills to subdue guards and create distractions. Regarding the fight with Ohara, I watched the reaction of the crowds and saw some people jump ecstatically rather than getting up and clapping. They were clearly entertained seeing Wall get the crud beat out of him despite the fact they were not supposed to show much emotion or cheer. For Han, I saw the qualities of a Dr. Fu Manchu stereotype in him. Han was not very masculine and had a sinister appearance to him, sporting the dark gloves and a stand-out robe or uniform that defines him as the head of the school. Han was also ruthless, executing his own guards for their incompetence and murdering Williams for not cooperating with him. He also uses manipulation to try to have Roper work with him in his opium ring, but due to Roper’s rejection, Han has Roper attempt to fight Lee to the death for both of their actions regarding his underground operations. For Lee’s character “Lee”, it did not really portray the Charlie Chan stereotype as much. Sure he was respectful and helped those that were being bullied, like the Chinese on the boat bullied by Parsons, but he also exhibits a punisher-esque attitude by finishing off some of the opponents he ended up fighting against, such as Ohara or the unfortunate guard who tried to take him on but ended getting his neck broken. There was also the moment where a girl was begging for Lee’s help to release her from a testing chamber, but he ignored her plea and continued with his mission. This can be seen from different perspectives though: Either he didn’t think it would be safe at the moment to release her in Han’s fortress, or that he couldn’t concern himself with her because she’s probably going to ruin his sneak attempt. Overall, the film was entertaining, albeit a bit disturbing at some parts, especially with the scene of William’s corpse hanging over a pool. I know some people don’t like fighting, but it is part of the Asian American pop culture that bolstered the confidence of Asian males.

Enter the dragon and Kato reading on page 140-141 where it says, “For such a device could fundamentally debase the narrative matrix of the Yi Ho Tuan movement, or what I have also referred to earlier as the kung fu dialectic.” I believe that Bruce Lee really demonstrated this matrix movements besides the slow motion, but doing the combat  so familiarly to the narrative matrix. Bruce Lee reminded me of Neo in the matrix during some of his fights because he was so fluent and precise. The thing that I really appreciated in the book that the remastered version of Enter the Dragon showed was the situation between Han and Lee. In the earlier version some parts were left out and in this one they weren’t. The other thing that was interesting in the book where it talks about the images of an enemy. “Yes. The enemy has only images and illusions, behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy.” That fight scene with the mirrors and how he broke them, so Han was using the environment to his advantage and then broken glass everywhere and the enemy has nowhere to hide.

On page 156, where one of the contributions in Enter the Dragon was to confront the Japanese self-”Orientalization” of the ninja with the power of realism and historicism. I thought that a ninja was a myth, but reading in the book and seeing in the movie and how it was the art of ninjutsu where people would entertain. Art of the ninja was great to see that from a true inspiring ninja because I was convinced because I couldn’t hear anything from Bruce when he was sneaking around. Lee was I think was the first real-life artist to perform ninja in the films’s history.

This chapter and movie together were awesome to hear about more popular culture involving kung fu and from a character that has shocked the world and put the art of kung fu in a sense into production because Bruce Lee was a barrier breaker, fundamental scholar and was a martial art guru. He was a master at his craft and we know that his legacy is not forgotten.

Jim Kelly basking in the moonlight

The tensions between “Lee” and “Ohara” represent a direct connection between the Hong Kong factory workers and the management, as well as the Chinese crew members and the Hollywood management. The first time I watched this movie, I was puzzled by the reaction of  the henchmen and martial artists in the background when “Lee” handed “Ohara” his own ass on a silver platter. I was unaware of the tensions that made rise into the film but after reading the Kato chapter it made more sense. The henchmen, who were supposed to be backing the evil “Han”, became ecstatic during “Lee’s” victory despite the fact that their boss was the opposing force. “Ohara” had not only done some dirty things in the plot, but the actor Robert Wall also did something questionable on set during the filming of that fight scene.

At the end of the fight, “Ohara” comes at “Lee” with one last-ditch effort, a glass bottle. In the fight, “Lee” hits the bottle out of his hands and finishes him. When they were filming it, however, something went awry. After a few takes, Wall held the bottle too long so when Lee tried to knock it out of his hands, the bottle broke on his hand and wounded him. Bruce Lee had felt like this was intentional and got upset about the whole ordeal, not to mention that Bruce had expressed that he did not get along with Bob. This could be seen as a bit of a turning point for Lee and the rest of the Chinese crew/cast. Throughout the filming, the Chinese workers had been treated terribly. There were many instances during the filming of the movie where the Americans would assume that the Chinese workers couldn’t understand their English, and they would in turn say demeaning things to them. With tensions between the workers and between Lee and Wall rising, the final shot of the fight scene was packed with raw emotion and expression. And instead of showing their loyalty to Han, the henchmen all revealed their true feelings, as well as Lee.

Outside!

post in progress