The Big Boss [1971] [DVD]

The film opens with Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) arriving wherever it is this story takes place to live and work alongside some of his cousins. His uncle as well as the locket he wears around his neck are constant reminders of the pledge he made to his mother that he would never fight anyone again. I have to tell you, it's pretty hard not to fight in this environment. Before he even gets to his new home, he has to watch a gang of thugs intimidate a poor young lady and kick a little kid around. He holds himself back, but his cousin does not; he takes on all comers and walks away smiling. Cheng's new life is turbulent from the start; the foreman at the ice shipping factory where all the men work is a brute of a man, some guy gives him a knuckle sandwich for no good reason on his first day, and the business itself turns out to be beyond crooked, but the real problem is even more insidious. Cheng's friends and relatives slowly begin disappearing, usually after having a talk with the manager or the nebulous Big Boss. When the men revolt and start an all-out fight at the plant, Cheng hangs back- until, that is, someone cuts him. This marks the first appearance of the Bruce Lee so many of us know and love; the look in Cheng's eyes right after he is slashed foretells the imminent demise of his oath of peace, and the fight ends rather quickly once he joins the fray. He wanders off the path somewhat after this, taken in by a promotion and the frills that come his way as a result, but his destiny is to face the dope-smuggling, preternaturally cruel Big Boss mano a mano.

Bruce Lee's acting talents are easily apparent in this first of his feature films. Starting as a country bumpkin of sorts, Cheng's shyness and feelings for the lovely lass Chow Mei (Maria Yi) are expressed both subtly and convincingly. His face also bears clearly the inner turmoil he feels early on as his oath keeps him from joining a fight that is morally justified. His expressions when the decision to fight is basically made for him are priceless, but he really comes into his own during the fight scenes. No one will ever come close to matching Lee's fighting performances, and while the fights in The Big Boss aren't as elaborate as those of later films, they are plenty impressive to me. Who else but Bruce Lee could take on the ultimate bad guy and his minions while purposefully eating a bag of crackers?

The Big Boss is a dark film; let there be no mistake about that. You won't come away from this movie feeling happy or light of heart. It has a pretty high body count, and while none of the deaths are shown in gruesome detail, there can be little doubt about the levels of blood and pain that surely coincide with a good many final breaths. Evil and cruelty run rampant on the streets, and even the brotherhood of the good guys is greatly diminished at one critical juncture of the story. I doubt that the American public had ever really seen a movie such as this Hong Kong production back in 1971, but two things are certain: The Big Boss played a very important part in making Bruce Lee the super-human legend he is and always will be, and it also helped make martial arts films a hearty new staple to be enjoyed by untold numbers of people across America and much of the rest of the non-Asian world.