Tuesday 23 July 2013

Hong Kong marks 40 years since death of martial arts icon Bruce Lee

Story taken from:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-20/exhibition-marks-40th-anniversary-of-bruce-lee-death/4832970

Updated Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:22pm AEST
An exhibition in Hong Kong is celebrating the life of Bruce Lee, 40 years after the death of cinema's first martial arts hero.

Lee helped put Hong Kong on the movie world map, and his films acted as a bridge between the cultures of East and West.

The Heritage Museum is displaying more than 600 of the actor and filmmaker's personal items, including the tracksuit Lee wore in his final film Game of Death.

Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, says it is her father's philosophy of life and the message in his films that people still respond to.

"It's the depth behind the films that keep him relevant today," she said.

"And we can take his words, his actions and apply them to our own lives. And people do, all time."

Ms Lee was four years old when her father died from swelling of the brain aged just 32.
"The way I know my father is not through media. The way I know my father is in number of different ways," she said.

"It's through the people who knew him well, his friends, my family. It's also through his own words, because he wrote voluminously.

"I have all of his library books, thousands of books and he would underline in them and write notes in the margins, so I know him from him."

Some of those notebooks, poetry, and family photos are among 600 items which will showcased in the exhibition at the museum until 2018.

A 20th century cultural icon who founded Jeet Kune Do, Lee's untimely death in Hong Kong in 1973 left fans around the world reeling.

"I remember the funeral in Hong Kong primarily, because it was just so chaotic. There were so many people," his daughter said.

"It was hot, humid, and it was just sort of like this whirlwind. And there was so much going on and so much sadness and as a little kid, I just sort of remember being dragged through that whole process and the feeling of the chaos all around me."

Lee's legacy lived on, inspiring a new generation of actors such as Jackie Chan and breaking down barriers for Asian actors in Hollywood.

"He won his fame from Kung Fu, which does not need language to deliver," Lee's biographer Roger Lo said.

"Just like dance and music. You can watch it whoever you are. It is like Charlie Chaplin whose silent movies were borderless.

"Lee was also a bridge between the cultures of East and West. He was educated both in Hong Kong and the United States.

"He appeared on American televisions and also Chinese movie theatres."

Chaplin Chang, the author of a new biography The Bruce Lee They Knew published this month, says that Lee's real personality, not just his screen persona, is part of his enduring appeal.

"People may give him god-like status. But he is just a human," he said.

Mr Chang, in the Chinese-language version of his biography, attempts to portray the action hero from an unconventional perspective, showing that the screen icon could be difficult at times but was generally friendly towards subordinates.

"He was not only [about] movies, nor was he only [about] martial arts," he said.

"With his philosophy, his legacy lives on for generations. Therefore, he is admired by many even now."

First posted Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:14pm AEST

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