#POLISH PREMIERE | documentary | Bruce Lee | Bruceploitation | Attack of the Clones | King Bruce Lee | karate | kung fu | legacy | Dracula | absurd | Severin Films
ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE
documentary | USA | 2023 World premiere:Tribeca Film Festival 2023 Polish premiere: Splat!FilmFest
BY THE PRODUCER OF BIRDEMIC 3 AND COLOR OUT OF SPACE
Bruce Lee, the legendary kung-fu master, passed away in 1973. As a king of karate-kicking on the big screen, he managed to star in merely four films. His death was a great loss, not only for his loyal fans but even more for the industry, which hates emptiness and loves the income from selling tickets.. Enter the Clones of Bruce is a documentary about how the producers of the Bruce Lee franchise managed to replace the deceased master of martial arts with his look-alikes and thus create the trend of so called Bruceploitation — a subgenre in filmmaking which nowadays probably would be the subject to endless court trials.
Lee’s death left the audience, as well as the filmmakers, with a great need to find him a worthy heir. And so the industry eagerly welcomed to the stage the clones of Bruce: Bruce Le, Bruce Li, and Bruce Liang. As they resembled him in appearance and had mastered the craft of martial arts, they could easily go as him on set. Almost 200 films have been made in this way, all deceitfully using the name of the legendary karate king on the posters. But in reality, they had nothing to do with him, and their only aim was to profit from his fame and mysterious death.
Enter the Clones of Bruce is much more than a story of the film industry and dirty marketing tricks. It is a story of the legendary figure of Lee, who even after his death remained a vivid image in the fans’ imagination. A story of his next imitators, who, no matter how talented, couldn’t reach their full potential. Finally, a story of a fascinating phenomenon that had beginnings in Asia and then has spread across the globe.
Eventually, the Bruce’s look-alikes no longer fought with their typical villains. The money-driven producers would dress the imitators of the karate king in yellow sweatpants from Game of Death and make them kick the butts of Dracula, James Bond, or zombies craving for human flesh.
In the film you’ll get to encounter not only Bruce Lee’s most successful imitators but also some other legendary figures of Chinese cinema, such as: the producer Godfrey Ho; Lee’s “sister”, Angela Mao, in her comeback to the big screen after decades of absence; as well as an army of film experts and geeks, who will gladly shed some light on how Jackie Chan became so successful, what the meaning behind Lee rubbing his nose is, or how German distributors managed to defy the law.
Enter the Clones of Bruce is a documentary that we didn’t know we needed. One could argue that it will equip you only with a rather useless piece of knowledge, however, you’ll become an expert on Bruceploitation and the whole legacy and honour of Bruce Lee. And that certainly makes the film directed by Davidd Gregory (who already directed more than 200, and produced almost 300 films) a must-see movie for every cinema fan.
directed by: David Gregory starring: Bruce Le, Bruce Li, Bruce Liang, Godfrey Ho, Angela Mao, Shan Charng cinematography: Jim Kunz music: Mark Raskin editing: Douglas Buck language: English subtitles: Polish duration: 1h 40min recommended age: 12+
