Penang’s heritage buildings give right kick for Bruce Lee film
GEORGE TOWN: Several heritage locations in Penang will be transformed into 1950s Hong Kong to give credence to Little Dragon, a biographical film on martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
The film, based on Lee’s teen life, is set against a backdrop of the past era, featuring the heritage buildings on the island.
The legend’s daughter Shannon Lee said the film covers her father’s life when he was growing up in Hong Kong.
“It is sort of an origin story of Bruce Lee, focusing on the influences in his life that put him on the track that he went on,” she said.
“The story takes place during his teenage years when he trained with his instructors, his schooling period, his time as a child actor and a champion cha cha dancer.
“We are trying to replicate (the setting of) 1950s Hong Kong and many of the buildings in Penang are perfect for the film,” Shannon said at a press conference held by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Komtar yesterday.
Shannon is one of the film’s producers. The other, Tim Kwok, said Penang was renowned for its heritage and reflected the ambience and essence needed for the film.
“We will begin filming in Penang from late September to November.
“We have seen many locations and will identify these over the next few weeks,” said the Petaling Jaya native, who currently lives in Los Angeles.
Kwok added that locals would be cast as extras in the movie.
On the actor who would play the martial arts icon, Kwok said following a six-month search worldwide in which some 5,000 candidates expressed interest, the production team had shortlisted four potential actors.
“One has a Malaysian background,” he said, adding that the final choice would be made within the next few weeks.
Kwok said the two-hour movie, directed by award-winning director Shekhar Kapur, was a co-production between Hong Kong, the US and China studios.
“Filming will be completed by the middle of next year and depending on the arrangement of distribution, it will probably be released at the end of next year,” he said.
Lim said it was an honour to have segments of the film made in Penang.
Lee was a Hong Kong and American actor, film director, martial artist, martial arts instructor, philosopher and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do.
He was born in San Francisco in 1940 and raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong, until his late teens when he moved back to the United States.
He died in Hong Kong in 1973 at the age of 32.