Kung-fu legend documented anew
Vancouver-based producer takes novel tack in film about life of martial arts icon Lee
For a Vancouver-based producer to assert, “I Am Bruce Lee,” is quite the statement. But that’s the attitude that propelled Derik Murray and his company, Network Entertainment, into making a feature-length documentary about the famous kung-fu icon destined for event-style theatrical release later this month.
Directed by Pete Mccormack and co-produced by Murray and his business partner Paul Gertz, the film reunites the same team behind
Facing Ali, which was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards for documentary feature.
“Facing Ali was a breakout for us,” says Murray.
“We’ve been privileged to work with iconic figures … and when we sat down and thought what should we do next, we thought of Bruce Lee.”
Because Shannon Lee and her mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, had been approached by countless filmmakers in the past, neither saw any real urgency in another project.
But there was something about the pitch from Network that appealed to daughter, and Bruce Lee licence co-holder, Shannon Lee.
“I think you always want to know what the angle is going to be,” says Lee, speaking over the phone from Los Angeles before the film’s international première in Vancouver on Wednesday.
“What struck me about their proposal was it had a whole vision. They wanted to look at all the different parts of my dad.”
Focusing on Lee’s philosophy and his larger world view, the film puts all the kung-fu fighting into perspective. It ensures we see the art in the martial arts by giving them a human context.
Lee saw the fighting as an extension of his true self, which gave the physical feats a deeper sense of meaning.
The film scratches at this abstract through interviews with other socalled warriors — including the grandmaster of pugilism, Mickey Rourke. They also nab Kobe Bryant, Ed O’neill and several UFC stars, such as Jon Jones, Cung Le and Hay
wire star Gina Carano. “I think the film really shows the influence my father had on so many people,” says Lee. “And they were influenced by him, not just as a fighter, but as a philosopher. He was a pretty deep thinker, my dad.”
The more reflective side of Lee comes out in some seldom-seen archival footage, including a Pierre Berton interview with the burgeoning legend while he was still in Hong Kong.
The film cuts back and forth between these clips, as Lee articulates his general sense of personal Zen, and how to overcome the obstacles life throws in your way. Using the energy around you to your own advantage, whether it’s coming from a fist aimed at your face or a confounding mental dilemma, seems to be the bottom line in Lee’s handbook.
It also seems to be the key to Network Entertainment’s business plan, as it moves forward and makes world-class documentaries without seeking Telefilm assistance.
“You have to be nimble when you’re based in Vancouver,” says Murray. “You have to be able to go to Los Angeles or New York and put your face in front of people, which we can do, quite easily.”
Financed with help from Fremantlemedia ( American Idol), which acquired distribution for all territories before production, as well as Spiketv for U.S. broadcast, I Am
Bruce Lee will hit 75 American theatres Thursday and Feb. 15. These single-night screenings are called “event-style” releases, and, while typically reserved for big fights or live opera, the one-nighter is emerging as a new trend in theatrical releasing.
“They get advance ticket sales and interest,” says Murray.
The upside is you get to make a feature-length film, not a compressed TV spot, about a man as large as Lee.
“If you’re going to make a movie about a guy who was truly expressing himself, I think you have to give it room to do that … and I think Pete (Mccormack) was the perfect person to tell the story.”
Shannon Lee says Mccormack elicited great insights from the subjects, including herself.
“I think what you’re finally trying to do is evoke the spirit of the human being, and this really evoked a sense of who my dad was,” she says.
“My dad died when I was four, so really, I only have glimpses of memory. But through the impression he left on others, and how he helped them overcome the difficulties in their lives, I feel I know him so much better,” she says. “And that’s the spirit that guides me.”
I Am Bruce Lee has its world première in Vancouver on Wednesday, then screens in the U.S. Thursday and Feb. 15, and at Cineplex theatres in Canada on March 8 and 17.