Director: Lo Wei

Starring: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, Han Ying-chieh, Tony Liu, James Tien

Featuring: Nora Miao, Lau Wing, Lam Ching-ying, Gam Saan

The Big Boss was Bruce Lee’s debut kung-fu film and was completed in 1971. Bruce Lee plays Cheng Chao-a young man who has arrived in Taiwan to stay and work with his kind-hearted cousins. From a martial arts perspective, the film has a slow start. However, when two workers discover a stash of drugs hidden in a block of ice, it doesn’t take long before the viewer is taken on vicious spiral of death, horror and lightening fast martial arts action.

Violence is, of course, an integral part of any martial arts film and with Bruce Lee films the audience expects (even demands!) full on no-holds-barred action. In the case of The Big Boss however, the dazzling, skilful and gloriously entertaining brand of martial arts that all Bruce Lee fans enjoy watching is pitched alongside a darker, more disturbing brand of violence; bodies are chopped up into little pieces, several people are stabbed to death, an innocent family is brutally butchered by a gang of thugs, we see an axe slicing through a man’s forehead, we discover dismembered body parts stored in blocks of ice… all of this makes for a kind of viewing that would be more likely appreciated by a serial killer than by a dignified martial arts practitioner! That said, The Big Boss is certainly a martial arts classic and its’ impact on the Hong Kong film industry and indeed the entire world of martial arts cannot be ignored.

Bruce Lee’s performance is convincing throughout and he succeeds in carrying the audience along with him on a kind of emotional roller coaster. We are elated at Cheng’s hilarious celebrations with his cousins when he is promoted as foreman of the factory. We are shocked at Cheng’s discovery of the body parts stored in blocks of ice at the factory. Our blood is boiling with rage when a furious Cheng vows revenge after the slaughter of his cousin’s and, in the end, we feel emotionally drained as we see a tired and exhausted Cheng being taken away by the police. Praise must also go to Maria Yi, the actress who played the lead female role in The Big Boss. Her well executed portrayal as Cheng’s anxious and grief stricken cousin ensures that the audience is kept sympathetic, on edge and emotionally involved throughout.

Seriouis film critics would almost certainly single out several instances of severe over acting from various members of the cast and at times the dialogue tends to have a childlike, unsophisticated quality. For example, during a fight scene at the ice factory we hear one of the workers cry out “Hey! I never realised Cheng was such a tough guy!” immediately followed by another worker’s somewhat cheesy response, “Yeah! He’s great!”

Martial arts wise Bruce Lee is, as we would expect, on mind-blowing form. High points are when he has a necklace ripped from his neck and proceeds to mow down an entire army of thugs who are all made to look like amateurs. Look out also for the speed with which he kicks a knife out of an adversary’s hand and then lands a side-kick to the thug’s head long before the knife has even landed on the ground! This is thought by many to be one of the most impressive martial arts scenes in any of the Bruce Lee films.

The ending of The Big Boss is unusual by the rigid rules of Mandarin film making, with our hero being hauled off in chains by the police. Many reliable reports claim that on the night of the film’s premiere in Hong Kong, the audience was momentarily dead silent and (presumably) in a state of shock after the film had ended. Credit must go to Raymond Chow and his team for being brave enough to come up with such a bold and unconventional conclusion to the story.

Film Review By: Shane Marsden

You can buy this DVD now at: www.hongkong-store.com