Culture the other press FILM REVIEW Enter the Dragon, Recapturing the magic of the inimitable Bruce Lee Brandon Yip OP Contributor Almost 30 years has passed since martial arts legend Bruce Lee died at the age of 32 in Hong Kong. But his legacy as one of the world’s supreme martial artists and global film icons remain intact. Lee’s landmark 1973 film, Enter the Dragon (the first Hollywood-produced martial arts movie), was shown October 26 at a special matinee screening at the Pacific Cinémathéque. The film was part of Hong Kong Kung Fu, a festival celebrating classic and contemporary kung fu cinema. The event was in conjunction with a series of local and national events marking the fifth anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, in combination with the Pacific Cinémathéque. The festival ran from October 25 to October 31. Enter the Dragon originally opened in Vancouver at the Orpheum theatre on September 21, 1973. And almost three decades later, diehard Bruce Lee fans—young and old—had a chance to watch it again. Some like myself weren't even born during Lee’s heyday and viewed Enter the Dragon on TV and video. It was an opportunity to experience the magic of Bruce Lee’s final film on the big screen. Lee stood only five-feet-seven and weighed 130 pounds. But he was a lean, mean, fighting machine with rock-hard muscles, making high-pitched cat noises as he prepared to annihilate his opponents. Lee’s movements on screen were like ballet, his choreography flamboyant and graceful like Rudolf Nureyev. Enter the Dragon opens with an impressive fight scene at the Shaolin Temple, located in the Hong Kong coun- tryside—as Lee squares off against his sparring partner, Sammo Hung. Written by Michael Allin and produced by Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller, Robert Clousedirects the film, and distributed by Warner Brothers. Lalo Schifrin, who also provided the signature scores for the Dirty Harry and Rush Hour films, composes the music. Lee (using his real name for his character) plays a mar- tial artist sent in to infiltrate a ruthless crime lord named Han (Shih Kien), who hosts a fighting tournament every three years on his secluded island fortress. This tourna- ment is a diversion for Han’s criminal activities: process- Murder Mystery Dinner: Extra Cheese Sarah Hanson OP Contributor ing opium, holding prisoners captive and luring women as slaves and prostitutes. What more could we ask for with our villains? Han also has an extensive George Orwell-like vocabulary, using words such as “edification,” “grandeur,” and “treachery.” Did Han possess an English degree? Maybe he couldn't get a job in the writing field and had the opium and prostitution-ring profession to fall back on. One incentive for Lee attending the tournament is to avenge the death of his sister at the hands of Oharra (Bob: Wall), one of Han’s henchmen. Accompanying Lee on the boat heading to Han’s island are Roper (John Saxon), Williams (Jim Kelly), and Parsons (Peter Archer). Roper needs money to pay off severe gambling debts to the mob. Williams, before leaving for Hong Kong, is harassed by two racist cops. Williams beats the crap out of both of them and flees in their police car. Not much is known about Parsons, but he is a despicable ignorant bully—intimidating some of the Chinese men on the boat. Parsons then challenges Lee, asking him what his fight- ing style is. Lee responds calmly, “My style. You can call it the art of fighting without fighting.” Parsons persists, demanding Lee show him this so-called fighting style. Lee suggests they both take a small boat and scrap on a nearby island. Parsons is later humiliated when Lee tricks him into getting in the boat himself—with Parsons being towed behind the junk. As the tournament begins, Lee eventually gets his revenge on Oharra in a one-sided battle as Oharra is no match for Lee’s lightning-fast kicks and punches. The fight features Lee delivering a lunging, punishing front kick to Oharra, sending him flying back—knocking down several onlookers in the process. Lee later discovers Han’s secret operations in an under- ground Osama bin Laden-esque cave and a fantastic mar- tial arts sequence begins—with Lee taking on Han’s swarm of guards—handling them easily. One highlight is Lee’s astonishing use of the deadly nunchaku weapon. No, there was no speeding up of the film, as Enter the Dragon producer Paul Heller said Lee did that in real time. Finally, Lee faces Han in the final showdown in a November 6, 2002 room filled with an elaborate and deceptive display of mirrors. Jim Kelly, a former International Middle Weight Karate Champion, added an arrogant Muhammad Ali- type edge to the Williams character. However he made strange funny owllike noises during his fight scene with Parsons. John Saxon merely provided a handsome pres- ence with very little substance in his acting. Although he was surprisingly effective and agile in his battle with Han’s bodyguard—the big muscle-bound brute named Bolo (Bolo Yeung). Bolo provided the biggest breasts in the film, next to Ahna Capri. As for Bruce Lee, he was an actor of limited range, but he compensates his weak act- ing skills with his irresistible charisma, good looks and commanding screen presence in each of his fight scenes. Tragically, Bruce Lee died three weeks before the release of Enter the Dragon. It would go on to make $25 million at the box office. The film is a fitting tribute and epitaph to Lee’s lifetime dedication to his martial arts craft. His work helped open the doors for future martial arts moguls: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Perhaps Bruce Lee’s great- est gift was not his accomplishments as a martial artist or action star, but as an inspirational philosopher whose pas- sion for life continues to inspire others—as his legions of fans continue to make him immortal. Ry A night out at a murder mystery dinner seems cheesy. It’s all very typical—The detective, the suspects with their fake mustaches and bad hair, the bimbo with the loud scream. Being a bit of a skeptic about this sort of venue, I was looking forward to eating the dinner more than the show. The event was called Keith & Margo's Murder Mystery. It took place at 7:00p.m. at the picturesque Prospect Point restaurant in Stanley Park, on Friday, October 25th. The event runs almost every Friday in November and December. The restaurant is stylish and cozy, and the three-course meal is worth the price of admission in itself. The event may seem lame, and cheesy it is, but once the “Vancouver Police Department” detective comes to the res- cue with his fake English accent, leather jacket, and greaser-style hairdo, it’s impos- sible not to loosen up and have a good time. No one really knows why a detective who is supposed to be from Vancouver was speaking with an English accent, but the fact that he was, cast a lot of humour on the night. As for the rest of the actors, there was the bimbo with the scream; they called her a porn star and allowed audience members to make passes at her. This kept the men in the audience highly involved, to say the least. There were businessmen, a masked hit man, and a porn film pro- ducer (the bimbo’s date), among various cast members who are strategically placed as waiters and at dinner tables. Although the actors are obviously amateurs, they put on a snappy and funny show, and did a marvelous job of including the audi- ence. They drink people’s water, sit on people’s laps, and drop dead right in front of you. The object of the event is to try to solve the murder. They have a table of clues that all audience members can access, and the detective is always summarizing the clues with his oh-so-hilarious fake accent. The person or group who comes up with the best solution to the murder wins a prize, which I gather is a couple of bottles of wine. If you want to find out “who dun- nit’ and what their motives were, check out Keith &Margo’s Murder Mystery on one of its upcoming dates. Everyone is guaranteed to have a good time. And who knows, maybe you'll get some wine to go along with it. For more info check out the web site: . page 11 ©