The Matrix of Combat: Realism Versus Mythologisation in the Films of Bruce Lee and Ang Lee

This chapter considers martial arts in one of its most aesthetically salient forms – the martial arts film. It takes a mythopoeic approach, arguing that martial arts films are examples of myth-making: they rarely retell old legends, but act as ways of creating new mythical products: martial arts films use older narrative tropes – specifically those developed in Chinese opera – to explore themes around identity, nationality and philosophy. Combat is thus not merely a means of advancing plot but inscribed into the very meaning and significance of any given story. The genre of wuxia films is analysed, its development through a number of ‘eras’ being considered, before the examples of Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter the Dragon’ and Ang Lee’s ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ are looked at in depth. It will be concluded that the former represents a compromise between traditional wuxia priorities and Western-style realism, while the latter more confidently adopts the magical aspects of native narrative approaches. This circularity of tradition, taking martial arts films back towards the conventions of Chinese Opera can be seen in the context of a growing penetration of non-Western narrative forms into international cinema.