Biopics never have a firm grasp on the truth, and any reasonably intelligent moviegoer understands this. Often, it’s obvious (merely by watching) what’s fact and what’s fantasy and it doesn’t hinder our enjoyment. In George Nolfi’s Birth of the Dragon, facts are kicked into the dirt of gangster-ridden Chinatown.
Set nine years before the release of Enter the Dragon, a young Bruce Lee (Philip Ng) is a martial-arts teacher (known as a sifu) in San Francisco. He is performative and egotistical, eager to introduce kung-fu to the Western world. But when Wong Jack Man (Xiu Yu) arrives in San Francisco, as penance for a sin committed in China, he threatens Lee’s aspirations – believing kung-fu shouldn’t be taught to Westerners. This builds to the famous (real) fight between the two of them – the results from which remain ambiguous.
The fantasies of screenwriters Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J. Rivele take the form of an old-fashioned gangster picture. The genre’s bizarre injection is similar to the Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, for which Rivele and Wilkinson shared story credit. Steve McKee (Billy Magnusson) is one of Lee’s students, but becomes more fascinated with Wong Jack Man’s training methods. He falls in love with a Chinese waitress (Jingjing Qu), who is trapped in the mafia underworld – a plot that dominates most of the movie, turning Lee’s fight into a sub-plot. It’s strange to have a biopic about Bruce Lee when Bruce Lee isn’t the main character.
The martial arts scenes are clearly in awe of Bruce Lee’s classic choreography, and it’s thoroughly exciting to watch – fitting into the pantheon of cinematic kung-fu. But Nolfi is too over-the-top in his approach, directing these scenes with hasty editing and superfluous camera-angles. It’s like he isn’t confident that the kung-fu will speak for itself. And although Joel Viertel’s accelerated cutting and Amir Mokri’s swooping cinematography are entertaining in their own way, it’s just too much.
The performances are good, but not astounding. Xia Yu creates the most memorable impression with the smallest of gestures as Wong Jack Man, a role that could’ve easily been played robotically. But Yu provides subtle charm and emotion, infinitely preferable to Lee’s irritating ego. Ng, a martial arts master himself, makes a good Bruce Lee surrogate – but plays him as one of his characters rather than the actual person.
Birth of the Dragon is entertaining, often fun, and it’s refreshing to watch an abundance of Chinese talent in an American movie. But the film is let down by the decision to protagonize a white guy. In choosing this route, the film doesn’t tell us much about Bruce Lee. Instead of exploring the famous fight, Rivele and Wilkinson feel the need to dive into organised crime to bloat the story. And they didn’t need to. Biopics don’t need to tell the whole truth, but they shouldn’t try to shred it.
Birth of the Dragon is released nationwide on 23rd February.
