Fist of Legend

In this film the main point of this story is one of vengeance. The main character Chen Zhen, played by Jet Li, finds out that his Kung Fu master died while fighting in a challenge match. We later learn that the master was poisoned indirectly by the Japanese. Chen Zhen then fights 3 different Japanese Samurai Masters in order to exact vengeance on those who were responsible for the death of his master.

The time period for this film takes place in 1937 during the Japanese occupation of China at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. This film takes place before the actual war between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan actually started. At this point the Japanese military has marched into Shanghai and claimed to place the area under Japanese protectorate, which was code at that time for Japanese military occupation.

Throughout this movie there is a cinematic device employed where Jet Li’s character Chen Zhen is filmed primarily on the left side of the screen during the vast majority of the duologue (this can be observed in the following picture on the right). However, during the fighting sequences he is very dynamic in character and is seen moving all throughout the shot in order to promote a sense of reality to the fight sequences. The primary villain of the film, General Fujita is filmed primarily on the right side of the screen, thus showing a distinction from good and evil between Chen and Fujita. However, because this films major theme is vengeance, Chen does migrate from the right to the left on occasion during specifically darker parts of the film. This change in camera angle shows some of the inner turmoil which is occurring inside of Chen during the entirety of the film. One visual trope in this movie is the sign for acceptance. This sign is seen early on in the film on the wall of Jing Wu, the Kung Fu school where Chen studied. At the time that Chen finds out about his master’s death, he rips the sign off the wall and breaks it in half while bowing to his master’s shrine. This symbolizes that there can no longer be acceptance because of the death of the master at the hand of the Japanese. This is a pivotal moment in the film because this symbolizes that the Chinese no longer accept the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.

There is also the issue of acceptance for the two major female characters in the film as well. Chen develops a relationship with a Japanese woman named Mitsuko Yamada who is a schoolmate of Chen’s while he is studying in Japan at the beginning of the film. When Mitsuko’s testimony during court keeps Chen out of jail from a false accusation, Chen invites her to stay at Jing Wu with him. However, because she is Japanese, the rest of the people at Jing Wu do not wish for her to stay there and they do not accept her. Therefore she is not accepted because of her heritage.

Rose, the other major female character, who is Ting An’s (the new master of Jing Wu) girlfriend actually turns out to be a prostitute. However, she is accepted into life at Jing Wu because she is Chinese and not Japanese. The people there at the school are willing to look past the fact that she is a prostitute and prepare a new life for her.

I find this to be interesting because it really seems to show the differences in culture here because of how the Chinese were very willing to accept a prostitute that was Chinese over a Japanese woman, who was of a very distinct and rich Japanese family. The culture back then, would have frowned very much on a relationship between a respected Kung Fu Master and a Chinese prostitute. However, the fact that this was accepted over a Japanese/Chinese relationship really makes me look twice at the racial prejudice that is apparent in this film. Granted, I know that this was placed in the film for a reason, however, I can see the same thing occur in society today in America. However, I do not personally know of anyone that was a prostitute and was then given a whole new life because on of her clients decided he loved her; but I have seen families not speak to each other as a result of a racial dispute. This is something in America that is on the decline, but never the less it is still present in society today.