All language subtitles for Be.Water.2020.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]-eng

[camera rolling]

[horn blaring]

[Man] Test X2,
take one, speed.

Now look directly
into the camera Bruce,

directly at it,

and now give me a three-quarter
this way and hold it,

and give me a profile that way
all the way, good, hold it.

Now come back to a profile on
the other side and hold that,

give me a three-quarter
on that side

and then give me a right
into the camera again.

All right, now the
camera will pull back.

[somber music]

[wind blowing]

And Bruce, show us
some Gung Fu movements.

Well, it is hard
to show it alone

but I will try to do my best.

[Man] All right, maybe one
of the fellows will walk in.

-Do you mind walking-
-[Man] Yeah, it would be-

-Go ahead.
-[Man 2] Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Although accidents do happen, but, you
know... [laughs]

There are various
kind of strikes,

it depends on where you hit

and what weapon
you will be using.

To the eyes, you will
use fingers, don't worry.

To the eyes,

or straight at the face from
the waist, everything up.

Hold on just a minute,

let's move this
gentlemen around this way

so you're doing it
more into the camera.

Okay, is well.

[Shannon] I'm sure that my
father did not fully appreciate

the behemoth that
he was up against,

how deeply systemic it is.

That said, I don't
think he was naive,

he just believed in
himself so deeply.

There is the finger
jab, there's the punch,

there is the back
fist and then low.

Of course then to
use leg straight at it

going, or come up...

[Shannon] He knew
had something to share

that was worthwhile,

and he knew how hard
he was willing to work.

He was kinda worried.

[Man] Yeah, he has
nothing to worry about.

[dramatic music]

[water gushing]

[lively music]

[man speaking in
the background]

[Linda] He was
rejected by Hollywood

and so he had to show them

that an Asian could be
a strong leading man.

[airplane engine roaring]

[lively South Asian music]

And so when an offer came

for Bruce to make the first
film over in Hong Kong,

he decided that he would go

and just see how it was
and how he was accepted.

And so we went to the midnight
premiere of The Big Boss,

the first showing
of The Big Boss.

Bruce hadn't seen it yet
and Bruce always told me

that Hong Kong people
really react to film.

If they don't like it,

you're gonna get
booed out of the theater.

[lively upbeat music]

[Sam] Big Boss, the script
wasn't that well-written,

the production quality
was pretty low,

but just Bruce Lee himself
was earth shattering.

[kicks and punches thudding]

That persona and that energy,

that kind of love affair
with the camera,

was very, very immediate
and very, very powerful.

-[kicks thudding]
-[men groaning]

[suspenseful music]

[kicks and punches thudding]

[Bruce groaning]

[dramatic suspenseful music]

[Bruce] Martial art has
a very, very deep meaning

as far as my life is
concerned because as an actor,

as a martial artist,
as a human being,

all these I have learned
from martial arts.

[dramatic music]

[kick thudding]

[dramatic music]

[kicks thudding]

[knife clanging]

[Linda] So we're
sitting in the back

and the theater is full
and when it's over,

the whole theater was
absolutely silent.

Nothing.

All of a sudden, everyone
started cheering and yelling,

clapping and standing up,
they just went nuts about.

They cheered Bruce, they knew
by then he was in the audience

and they carried him
out of the theater.

It was amazing,
it was wonderful.

So then he knew he
was onto something.

[Jeff] When it succeeds
beyond all of his expectations,

I think he's just as
surprised as anybody else.

This is his first real
taste of movie stardom.

[Andre] To give you
an idea in those days,

if a movie broke one
million Hong Kong dollars

which was about 120,000 in U.S.

that was a big
deal in Hong Kong.

Wow, that made you
a movie star,

and if your movie did two
million, you were a superstar.

[calm music]

[speaking in foreign language]

[dramatic suspenseful music]

[Man] Bruce Lee is
incredible.

Bruce Lee didn't
like to waste any time,

he wouldn't beat about
bush, he'd go very direct.

[Reporter] Is
Bruce Lee your hero?

Yes.

Tell me what you
like about him.

He always wins the bad
guy, he's a very quick mover.

[Man] I mean, he's not an action man
like Eastwood or Bronson.

I suppose he's more
like a Nuryev.

[dramatic music]

[camera clicking]

[car honking]

[xylophone music]

[Andre] Hong Kong in the
1970s was a very dynamic

and a very exciting city.

A lot of diverse communities.

It was an R&R center
for the U.S. Military

during the Vietnam War.

So it was the city that
partied 24 hours a day.

It was sort of a fun, anything
goes, wild, wild east.

[Sam] China had been
dominated

and humiliated by the
west for about 100 years.

So there's a lot of
memories, a lot of anger.

[dramatic music]

[Jeff] This is a Hong Kong now

that's experiencing its
own youth revolution.

Student protests in the
streets,

a lot of tension between the
British colonial authority

and the native
folks in Hong Kong.

[dramatic music]

The police are coming through,

they're throwing stuff at us.

This is an anti-British
demonstration.

[Doug] Bruce felt that
British colonial rule

then was something
that was corrupt.

[Kareem] He was very much
a nationalist in that sense

that he wanted
the Chinese people

to be free and independent.

[lively music]

[Andre] When Big Boss worked,

he wanted to double
down and do it again.

But he wanted the next movie
to be bigger and better

and it was.

Fist of Fury was a
far bigger production.

[people vocalizing]

And Fist of Fury was
really an opportunity

for Bruce to showcase how he thought a
leading man should act and dress

and how the fight sequences
should be choreographed.

[shouting in foreign language]

[Sam] It was set in Shanghai,
during the colonial era.

[speaking in foreign language]

Shanghai was
occupied, humiliated,

dominated and insulted
by foreigners.

[speaking in foreign language]

[punch thudding]

[dramatic drums beating]

[mean groaning]

[Sam] Bruce Lee distills
a lot of emotion

into a very, very
passionate explosion.

[dramatic music]

[whistle whistling]

[Doug] That was
1972 in Hong Kong

and it caught that
moment in a colony

where people were saying,

"Yes, the days of us being
second-class citizens are over,

and high time."

[kicks thudding]

[men groaning]

[Sam] Fist of Fury
not only was directed

against Japanese colonials,
but also western people too.

It's hugely, hugely cathartic.

[dramatic music]

[glass breaking]

People are starting to
react really strongly

against the racism of the west.

[man gagging]

[speaking in foreign language]

[suspenseful music]

[Andre] By then, Bruce
understood that,

even though he hadn't
exactly had huge success

yet in Hollywood,

he understood that
Hollywood was the big game.

It was, you know, the main
attraction, it was center stage

and Hong Kong would
always be a sideshow.

[man groaning]

So the question became,

do you think we can sell
our films to the world?

-[dramatic music]
-[men screaming]

[Host] This is The
Pierre Berton Show.

Bruce Lee, Mandarin Superstar,

recording December
9th, 1971 in Hong Kong.

Bruce Lee faces
a real dilemma,

he's on the verge of the
stardom in the United States.

But he's just
achieved super stardom

as a film actor
here in Hong Kong.

So what does he choose,
the east or the west?

Now what are you gonna do?

Are you gonna be able
to live in both worlds,

try and eat your
cake and eat it too?

I am gonna do both

because you see, I have
already made up my mind

that in the United States

I think something
about the Oriental,

I mean, the true
Oriental should be shown.

[Pierre] Hollywood sure as
heck hasn't.

[Bruce] You better
believe it, man.

[calm music]

[camera rolling]

[girl giggling]

[Shannon] I have really only

very abstract memories of him.

I remember our house,

I remember going to
Golden Harvest Studios,

I remember glimpses of him.

But I remember very clearly
what he was like energetically.

Like, what it was like
to be in his presence,

to be loved by him,
to be played with,

like, all of those things.

And the other way that I know
him is through his own words.

[lively acoustic music]

[Narrator] May 16th, 1960.

"Dear Hawkins, now I
am really on my own.

Since the day I stepped
into this country,

I didn't spend any
money from my father.

Now I am working as a waiter

for a part-time
job after school.

I'm telling you,
it's tough, boy,

I always have a heck of a time.

Well, my friend,
do get well soon.

Your friend, Bruce."

[Andre] When Bruce
first came to Seattle,

he had moved from
Hong Kong at age 18

because he was in too
much trouble there

and his family figured
he needed a fresh start.

[Ruby] He's a very
handsome young man

and very resourceful.

He told me that he wanted
to prove to his father

that he could go to
university without him.

[lively music]

[Leroy] Bruce, when I first
met him, was a slight man.

I think at the time he
weighed about 135 pounds.

He used to call me Roy.

[Jeff] When Bruce
moves to the U.S.,

his identity is
suddenly a minority,

a Chinese minority
in a white country.

He has to face the conundrum
that all immigrants face.

Who am I gonna be,
what is my identity?

How do I express myself?

And how in U.S. society,
can I even be seen?

[Shannon] So my father worked
at Ruby Chow's restaurant,

and at the same time he
was studying Wing Chun,

but just on his own.

He was always interested

in what other martial arts
were taking place in the area.

A lot of the Japanese
arts were fairly popular

like karate or judo,
but not Chinese gung fu.

So he saw that there was an
opening for this, if you will,

and so he got some people to
take some lessons with him,

like in a parking garage
and various locations.

It was a very nontraditional
approach to martial arts.

[Dan] A lot of
Chinese at that time

usually did not
teach westerners.

He was sort of looked
down upon in the community

and he broke the barrier.

[Man] Bruce literally
opened his school up

to anybody that wanted.

He could care less if you
were Chinese or not Chinese.

[men groaning]

[Jeff] He has to figure
out ways to mask his accent.

He becomes very much attuned

to the rhythms of
young American life.

He's seeing working-class
folks,

he's seeing people of color

and that's shaping his idea
of who he should become.

[Leroy] He learned
a lot about America

from the 10 guys that
he took under his wing.

For good or bad, we taught
him the American way.

[pen scribbling]

[Narrator] Who am I?

That is the age-old
question asked by every man

at one time or another.

Though he looks into a mirror
and recognizes his own face,

though he knows his own
name and age and history,

still he wonders,
deep down, who am I?

[Amy] The thing is,

I don't think we could
ever forget what we are

because of what we look like.

We can never walk
away from that.

[lively music]

I taught him the
importance of racial pride.

He felt that attractive

the fact that I would
not put up with any BS

and that also existed in him

because he was very
ethnocentric himself.

I felt that I apologized
to nobody for nothing

and especially being
Japanese-Americans,

because of the second
World War.

He knew my experiences
through the relocation camps.

[Reporter] More than 100,000
men, women and children,

all of Japanese ancestry,

removed from their homes
to reduce a military hazard

at a time when danger
of invasion was great.

Each family upon arrival
at the relocation-

[Amy] The Japanese
were incarcerated.

You can call them
concentration camps,

but they called them
relocation camps.

[dramatic music]

To face the Japanese and
to do the job thoroughly,

we have got to understand
them thoroughly.

[Andre] I think that the
Asians scene in America,

as a white American, it
was a very confusing thing

because the Japanese
were the bad guys, right?

They were the "slant-eyes"

that had fought against the
Americans in World War II

and they were really
terrible and inscrutable.

[airplane engine roaring]

[Reporter] Destruction upon
unarmed cities and their-

[Andre] On the other
hand, the Vietnamese,

they were gooks and
they were really bad

because they were communist.

[loud banging]

And the Chinese were
the great anomaly.

Was China a good guy
or was China a bad guy?

[Jeff] The Chinese were brought
in as early as the 1830s

for one reason, which was
to service cheap labor

in the building up of the west.

The stereotype is that
they're submissive,

silent, incredibly industrious.

[whip cracking]

And what we see is the rise

of a working class
white movement

led by Irish-American laborers.

They're able to whip up a frenzy against
Chinese-Americans

and because of that,

the Chinese Exclusion
Act passes in 1882.

This is the first time
there's been an explicit ban

on one group of people.

Literally, the Chinese
are not seen as human.

I ask you if you will
rise in your places

and fight with me to restore
America to the Americans.

[crowd applauding]

We were like a victim of rape

and a victim who has been raped
of his constitutional rights

does not like to talk about it

nor does point the finger
at the one who is guilty,

but he looks at himself

as being responsible for
that unspeakable crime.

[band music]

[Man] Through the experiences

and histories of these folks,

Bruce comes to understand how
he appears to white Americans.

Asians have been
completely other-ized.

[audience clapping]

[Leroy] Jesse and Bruce
and I would go Out,

we'd swap girlfriends.

So that everybody was
with the wrong race.

[lively music]

And we would go around

to see if anybody wanted
to say anything about that.

[Amy] We would all go to
the Buddhist church dances,

rhythm and blues, but mostly
the popular stuff also.

I called him a kinetic genius.

When I first taught him how
to do a double pirouette,

all he did was just watch me.

He reproduced it down to the
iota and that was amazing, wow.

Fantastic dancer and
that kinda thing,

but romantically awkward.

[fireworks blasting]

We just kinda drifted apart.

I mean, Bruce had
a lot going for him

but it wasn't enough for me.

[Narrator] September, 1962.

Dear Pearl, this letter
contains my dreams

and my ways of thinking.

As a whole, you can
call it my way of life.

Ideas are what America
is looking for.

Ideas have made
America what she is.

And one good idea will make
a man what he wants to be.

When you drop a pebble
into a pool of water,

the pebble starts
a series of ripples

that expand until they
encompass the whole pool.

This is exactly what will
happen

when I give my ideas a
definite plan of action.

Warm regards, Bruce.

[Shannon] My father opened
his first official school,

called the Jun Fun Gung fu
Institute, in Seattle in 1963.

[Leroy] That was
a transition time

but once he found out, "I
Can make money doing this,"

all the original people
just dropped out.

Looking back on it, Bruce
always had an agenda.

He was a product now not
a friend and a teacher

and so he opened that studio
and that's where he met Linda.

[Linda] His goal all his life

was to show the beauty of his
Chinese culture to the world,

and so he started with me.

[somber music]

We were both at the
University of Washington

and we would go to this area

where there were tall white
columns and a big grassy area,

and we would practice gung fu.

He was very outgoing,
very personable,

very hands-on with showing you
how to stand and what to do.

"Okay, Linda, you put
your arms like this."

He threw me over his shoulder

and I'd lay flat on the ground

and he leaned over and he said,

"How would you like to
go to the Space Needle?"

"Sure, I'd love to," so
that was our first date.

[calm music]

He loved the lifestyle that
you could lead in America.

And at that time he wanted
to establish gung fu schools

all across the nation, he had
big dreams, big aspirations.

[somber music]

He wanted me to experience
eating Chinese food

and seeing Chinese movies.

He took the whole group
of gung fu students

and we went to
the Cocosi Theater

to watch the movie
called The Orphan.

[lively classical music]

When he appeared on the screen,

and he was actually
the star of it,

I was totally
shocked, taken aback.

Here he was, a movie star.

I was kind of, like, looking
at him like, "Is that you?"

And he said, "Yes."

But he didn't think
that was anything super.

To him it was like, "That
was my job when I was a kid."

[lively music]

[Alex] Ah, a diplomat.

[Bruce laughing]

[Jeff] Bruce Lee is born
in San Francisco Chinatown,

the closest thing on the
U.S. continent to Hong Kong.

It's the biggest
Chinatown by far,

owing to immigration
of Chinese laborers

because of the gold rush.

[Jeff] The reason
that Lee Hoi-Chuen

and his opera troupe
end up in Chinatown

is they find that they can make
good money touring the U.S.

[Shannon] My
grandmother came along

on this particular trip,

and she was pregnant with
my father at the time.

That is why my father was
born in San Francisco.

[Man] He is an
American citizen.

[baby cooing]

[Sam] Bruce Lee's
been acting in films,

ever since he was a baby.

He literally grew up on the
set of the Hong Kong cinema

in the backstage of
the Cantonese opera.

[man singing in
foreign language]

[Robert] During 1940
after Bruce was born,

my grandmother was talking
to my father over the phone,

saying, "Hey, there
is gonna be a war

pretty soon in Hong
Kong with the Japanese."

But my father, being very
Chinese, family is number one.

We're gonna bring Bruce home.

I mean, if anything
should happen,

it's gonna be a whole family.

[Interviewer] And you moved
to Hong Kong shortly after?

[Bruce] Yes, when I
was three months old.

[Rob] My father came from a
very poor family of fishermen.

My mother's uncle was Hong
Kong's first millionaire,

his name was
Sir Robert Ho Tung.

[South Asian music]

[woman speaking in
foreign language]

[Rob] I think we
were pretty well off.

We had two maids,
we had a chauffeur.

My father also took care of
his older brother's family.

So there was, like maybe about
15, 16 people at all times.

Bruce was a free spirit.

He's always been a
ruffian type of guy.

I mean, not good at schooling
but good at fighting.

[people chattering]

I remember a lot of celebrities

would come by my father's
house.

One director/producer,

noticed that Bruce was
a very active person.

He said, "Well, maybe
you should give him

a small little role, you know?

Seems like he was born with
that talent to be an actor."

So my father let him play a
couple of small roles first.

[young Bruce speaking
in foreign language]

[Sam] The movie The Kid,

which he starred at
the tender age of nine,

he symbolized someone

who came from just a lot
of profound suffering.

[speaking in foreign language]

It's this Chinese phrase...
[speaks in foreign language],

savoring the sweet while
remembering the bitter.

Nostalgia for suffering.

[speaking in foreign language]

[Rob] My father
at first didn't want

him to be in showbiz,

but then the movies that he was
making were doing very well.

He was one of the top child
actors so he allowed it.

[Robert] In school
people were looking at him

and say, "Hey, who
you think you are?"

And then a few guys just
ganged up and beat him up.

So he said, "I'll need
to learn something

to defend myself
when the need comes."

[Bruce] Man is always
in a learning in process.

[Kareem] Ip Man
had a broad sense

of what martial arts was about.

He wasn't just in
a narrow space

and I think Bruce Lee really
was his ideal student.

[Narrator] My instruction at
the time would come up to me

and say, "Long, relax
and calm your mind.

Forget about yourself and
follow the opponent's movement.

Let your mind do
the counter movement

without any interfering
deliberation.

Above all, learn the
art of detachment."

[water gushing]

After spending many hours
of meditation and practice,

I gave up and went
sailing alone in the junk.

On the sea I thought
of all my past training

and got mad at myself
and punched the water.

Right then, at that moment,
a thought suddenly struck me.

Was not this water the
very essence of gung fu?

[water running]

This water, the softest
substance in the world,

only seemed weak.

In reality, it could penetrate

the hardest substance
in the world.

That was it, I wanted to be
like the nature of water.

[calm music]

[Rob] At that point,

he already was pretty
good at Wing Chun

and there was another
style called Choy Li Fut,

and one will always
go against the other.

And they will always
fight on rooftops.

Bruce will come
back with bruises

or something with a black eye.

My father would not tolerate
that kind of fighting.

[car horn blaring]

[lively music]

[Sam] In his 1960
film, The Orphan,

basically, Bruce Lee was
playing himself in some ways,

a juvenile delinquent.

[woman shouting]

[dramatic music]

[loud footsteps]

[Rob] The straw that
broke the camel's back

was when an undercover cop
get a hold of my mother,

"Your son has been
fighting and we are worried

that he might be involved
in gangs later on.

If he doesn't stop
what he's doing now,

we will have no choice
but to arrest him."

My father said, "Well, since
he was born in United States

and we have good
friends over there

that can take care of him, why
don't we just send him back

and let him try it on his
own, see what happens?"

[people chattering]

[man speaking in
foreign language]

[Rob] I remember the day before
he left, I was asleep

He woke me up, "Robert, I'll
be leaving Hong Kong tomorrow

and not knowing what
I'm going into."

I've never seen him that
uncomfortable before.

He was troubled, he didn't
know what to expect.

He was scared.

He was just an 18-year
old and that was it.

My father sent him
to United States

with only $100 in his pocket.

[calm music]

[phone ringing]

[man groaning]

[Linda] When we were dating,
we did go to a lot of films.

And one of them was
Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[man screaming]

Mickey Rooney just
looked ridiculous,

Bruce was just ashamed

that his Asian culture would
be represented that way.

If you don't stop that
phonograph right this minute,

I'm going to call the
police department.

[Jeff] When you saw
Asian Americans on screen,

they were usually crazed,
maniacal, robotic stereotypes

or serving white folks.

[Man] The coolie
makes $0.10 a day.

Nobody to ladies
and kind to gentlemen,

please to introduce myself.

[Sam] Hollywood had
always treated Asian people

in blatantly racist ways.

[audience laughing]

[Man] We got 39 chopsticks.

[audience laughing]

No, stacked like pagoda.

[audience laughing]

[Andre] Hollywood
would take a white person

and make 'em play a Chinese,

as opposed to putting
a Chinese in the role.

Talk to Nancy Kwan,
talk to the actors

that had been here
in those days.

Yes, who is this?

[Nancy] I can't think
of any Asian leads

at that time, really.

They were all played
by Caucasians.

John Wayne played Genghis Khan.

By who's lead do you
cross my land?

My blood says take her.

[Andre] The Chinese community

didn't really raise
hell about it,

even though it was outrageous,
casting white people?

Life even at its best
is hardly endurable.

How can you be so unfeeling,

what kind of a man
are you anyway?

[Amy] But even glasses
and small frames,

no muscularity at all.

I think for most Asian males,

it was imprinted in their brains that
this is what they are.

[Man] Asian-American leads,

if they're men, they
can't kiss white women.

They can only kiss
Asian women, if at all.

Well, you tilt
head to one side

and I too head to other.

[calm music]

Clever, these Chinese.

[Man] There's really no
role for an Asian-American

to express another
side of their humanity.

[lively music]

[Narrator] October 20, 1963.

To the sweetest girl, from
the man who appreciates her,

Linda, to live content
with small means,

to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely,

await occasions, hurry never.

In other words, to
let the spiritual,

unbidden and unconscious, grow
up through the common, Bruce.

[Linda] The fact that
Bruce chose to marry

a Caucasian person
was an expression

of how he felt about
America already.

There were still
a number of states

that outlawed interracial
marriage, it was

looked down upon.

My mother had a harder time

with accepting that Bruce
and I would get married.

My mother tried
to get us to wait,

but we had already made plans.

After she got to know him,

she really loved him and
thought he was great.

[suspenseful music]

[Dan] I met Bruce
Lee in July of 1964,

demonstrating at the
first International

Karate Championships
in Long Beach.

[Barney] It was Bruce
Lee's first real exposure

to the masses.

[Bruce] Kung fu is
originated in China.

It is the ancestor of
karate and jujitsu.

It's more of a complete
system and it's more fluid,

by that I mean
it's more flowing.

There is continuity and
movement

instead of one movement,
two movement and then stop.

The best example would
be a glass of water, why?

Because water is the softest
substance in the world,

but yet it can penetrate
to the hardest rock,

granite, you name it.

You cannot grasp water, you
cannot punch it and hurt it.

So every gung fu man is
trying to be soft like water

and flexible and have depth
itself to the opponent.

[Dan] Bruce Lee
of that time period

was searching for what
he called the truth.

[Barney] Basically he just tore
apart the different styles

and was promoting simplicity
and lack of tradition.

[Dan] No one thought like that, he
thought outside the box

and I just fell in love with
the stuff he was showing me.

[thunders rumbling]

[Shannon] 1964, 1965
were pretty pivotal years,

there was a lot going on.

[Narrator] To Taki
Kamura, February 1, 1965,

our baby's here.

Name, Brandon B. Lee, a
big, healthy boy, of course.

[birds chirping]

[somber music]

[Linda] One week
after Brandon was born,

Bruce's father passed away,
and that was unexpected

and Bruce was just
really crushed.

I mean, that was a
terrible loss for him.

[somber music]

[Robert] He was crying. You
know, he was crying real hard.

Because at that point he knew

that even though his father
had sent him to United States

with only $100 in his
pocket, it was good for him.

[somber music]

Before he went to
the United States,

he was looking for
the external stuff.

He's got his looks, he's
got his flashy clothes.

He figured that's how a
human being should be.

But when he got to
the United States,

he understood what life
is really all about,

to be independent, to be
responsible for yourself.

And not only yourself,
but your family.

[Shannon] I was at
home, the phone rang

and it was William
Dozier's office.

I had no idea who that was,
they said he was a producer.

[thunders rumbling]

As we now know, at that
1964 Long Beach tournament,

there was someone
in the audience

by the name of Jay Sebring,

a hairdresser to the
stars in Hollywood.

Jay saw my father
give this exhibition

and he was really,
really impressed.

And he happened to know that
his client, William Dozier,

who was a Hollywood producer,

was looking for an Asian actor

for a show that he was casting.

[Linda] So, wow,
when Bruce came home

and I said, "You
won't believe this.

There was a call from
this producer in Hollywood

who wants you to come down
and have a screen test."

And he was shocked,
he was so surprised.

[calm music]

Bruce had never expressed to me

any aspirations for
becoming an actor again,

because he was still
concentrating on his goal

of opening martial arts
schools around the country.

[alarm beeping]

[Man] Test X2,
take one speed.

Now, Bruce, just look right into the
camera lens, right here

and tell us your name, your
age, and where you were born.

My last name is
Lee, Bruce Lee.

I was born in San Francisco
in 1940, I am 24 right now.

[Man] I understand
you just had a baby boy?

Yeah.

[Man] And you lost a little
sleep over it, have you?

Oh, three nights.
[laughs]

[Man] And tell
the crew what time-

[Linda] And that screen
test is exactly how Bruce was.

Well, it's mostly
in the morning-

[Linda] He was a very
outgoing, confident person.

So he knew what to do

and he just presenting
himself as who he was.

[Man] All right, now
the camera will pull back

and Bruce, show us
some gung fu movements.

This is a Crane Form.

Start off.

[Bruce yelling]

The Tiger, that
start like a tiger,

using claw to claw the face

or the beak of the
crane to the eyes, move.

This is some of the
movement involved.

[Man] Thank you very much.

This is what we
mean by simplicity.

[Linda] They were so impressed with
Bruce's screen test

that they wanted to
find a property for him.

So they paid Bruce $1,800,

which was the most money
we'd ever seen in one place,

to hold Bruce for 18 months.

Excuse me.

[people screaming]

[Reporter[ The violence
we saw was quite.

We saw Negros hosed and beaten,

harassed with dogs
and cattle prods.

[Andre] The '60s was
a time of great upheaval

and social change

because it was the culmination
of the civil rights movement

with Martin Luther King,
the marches on Washington.

Who taught you to hate
the texture of your hair?

Who taught you to hate
the color of your skin

to such extent that you
bleach to get like the white?

[audience clapping]

[Linda] There were
tragedies in that time,

and Martin Luther
King were killed.

Martin Luther King was
shot and was killed tonight.

[people screaming]

[Linda] Bruce felt
that the country

was in trouble at that time

because of all this
racial clashes.

[Kareem] Bruce was aware of
the black liberation movement.

He expected black Americans would
stand up for their rights.

[people screaming]

[Jeff] As African-Americans
are building massive support

to advance the civil rights

and human rights
of all Americans,

the pushback is, well,
African-Americans are too loud.

Look at these Asian-Americans.

If they were silent and
docile like Asian-Americans,

then maybe they'd
be more successful.

As an American whose
ancestors came from Japan,

I have become accustomed
to a question,

why can't the negro
be like you?

[Man] In that shameful
hierarchy of race in America,

Asian people were treated
better

than black Americans
were treated.

[Man] So the
model minority myth

is a stereotype of
Asian-Americans as compliant,

who are assimilating,
never make a fuss

about discrimination,
poverty or exclusion.

They just put their
heads down, work hard,

following the rules that white
society lays down for them.

[Sam] We Asians
were never treated

as full-fledge human beings,

but as a very narrow
spectrum of humanity.

And that to me,
is blatant racism.

[dramatic orchestral music]

[Linda] So Bruce
was still waiting

on what was gonna
happen in Hollywood.

Finally when they said
they were going to go ahead

and make The Green Hornet,
then we settled in Los Angeles.

Well, here the
both of them come.

Here is Bruce Lee,
he's playing Kato,

and Ben Williams, who will
be doing The Green Hornet.

[Jeff] The way that Bruce
finds a way into Hollywood

is to play a sidekick,
literally the Asian servant.

Well, I'll say
it the Chinese way

[speaks in foreign language],
thank you very much.

[Man] And The Green Hornet

is where he begins to break
open the model minority myth.

I think it's easier
for me to tell you

what Green Hornet will not be.

It will not be an
imitation of Batman.

Green Hornet will stand
very much on its own.

Let's roll, Kato.

[Man] He is Kato, the
person whose job it was

to just drive the
Green Hornet around.

They see Bruce and his
physical kinetic gifts

and they say, "There's
gotta be some sort of a way

that we can use this on
screen."

[Shannon] When he was
in The Green Hornet,

they were sending him
to an acting coach

but the acting coach was
like, "There's no dialogue."

[Narrator] Dear Mr. Dozier,

Kato is an active partner
of The Green Hornet

and not a mute follower.

I'm not complaining but I feel
that an active partnership

with The Green Hornet
will definitely bring out

a more effective
and efficient Kato.

My aim is for the
betterment of the show.

[Shannon] And so they gave
him a lot more speaking parts.

If we ever meet up with
that masked gung fu man again,

I want him.

[Shannon] He had to
fight tooth and nail

for every centimeter
of ground that he got.

[Man] I was number two.

Maybe with the idea
to become number one.

[Jeff] I mean, Bruce is
treated as if he were an extra.

And so this pay equity
issue is a perfect example

of the second-class treatment
that non-white actors faced

at that point moment.

[Man] Who's the strange
fellow on the bicycle here?

[Man 2] I think his name is
Bruce Lee.

He looks very
familiar as Kato.

Well, you need any help?

[all laughing]

Yeah, a little gung
fu going on around here?

What is gung fu, Bruce?

Well, gung fu is a
Chinese form of combat.

Arts like karate or jujitsu
derive from gung fu.

Now you're originally
from San Francisco...

[Dan] When he went
into the Hollywood scene,

he once told me, "I can educate
people faster through film

than I can by writing a book

or opening 100 schools
here in America."

Don't you have
some karate schools

or something in San Francisco?

-In Oakland, really.
-In Oakland?

Yeah.

And did you open up a
school down here or what?

No, not yet because, you
know, every day we're shooting

and it's pretty busy.

ABC, where I'll be seeing
you in The Green Hornet.

I am Bruce Lee, inviting you
to join me every Friday night

on most of these ABC stations.

[Jeff] Bruce comes onto
the screen, he ignites it.

He leaves an impression on
folks all around the world.

His very presence on screen
is a protest in and of itself.

As Asian-Americans,
as people of color,

we get affirmation from the
culture around us, right?

Being able to see
another person on screen

who looks like you
is galvanizing.

It makes you feel like
you're supposed to be here.

It makes you feel
like you can do things

that you maybe didn't
think you could before.

[Sam] Of course he find out

that the right place turn
out to be the wrong time.

Because America and Hollywood
may be ready for change

but not that much change.

-[somber music]
-[typewriter keys clicking]

[Man] The Green
Hornet was canceled

because it just didn't
do great in the ratings.

[somber music]

[Linda] When Green
Hornet was canceled,

that was a very
vulnerable time for him.

He was very disappointed, very
down but he reset his goals.

During that time, he read
books,

he also did so much writing.

So that was a profitable
time for him as well.

Bruce was doing a number of
things to make ends meet.

Sometimes he got an acting
role, which is not very often,

and sometimes he was
the stunt coordinator.

[Nancy] We did the film
The Wrecking Crew together.

He was fun, he was
great to work with.

Bruce would come up to
the house, hang out.

And Bruce had a plan
that he was gonna become

a big gung fu martial
arts movie star.

I said, "Go for it."

He refused to play any parts

that were demeaning
to Chinese people

and for the next few years,
he had very few parts.

[Shannon] It would've
been really easy for him

to sort of get stuck
in a hamster wheel

if he was just going to do it

the way Hollywood
wanted to do it.

[punches thudding]

[Linda] It was tenuous,

we just never knew where the
next paycheck might come from.

And we went through
some very lean times.

But even though we
were struggling,

we had a lot of time together.

Shannon was born
and I tell you what,

she had him around
her little finger

from the moment she was born.

She was just adorable
to him, he doted on her.

And so for me, those
were really happy times.

Our family was all together,

Bruce was available to
be with the kids a lot

and that was a happy time.

You set up a school in
Hollywood, didn't you?

For people like James
Garner and Steve McQueen

-and the others?
-Yes.

Why would they wanna
learn Chinese martial arts?

Because of the movie role?

Not really, I mean
most of them you see,

to me at least the
way, when I teach it,

all type of knowledge ultimately means
self-knowledge.

So therefore they want to
learn to express themselves

through some movement, be
it anger, determination

or whatsoever.

[video rolling]

[mean groaning]

[Bruce] Here is the natural
instinct and here is control.

You are to combine
the two in harmony.

-[Interviewer] Ying yang.
-[Bruce] Right, man, that's it.

Okay, now let's run it
back and see what happens.

[child laughing]

[speaker speaking off mic]

Is it turned on?
I wanna save you this one.

[Jeff] Bruce fits right
in with the counterculture.

He is as a martial arts
teacher,

sort of Asian guru in a way,

bringing deep and ancient
wisdom of the east

to these white folks
on the west coast.

[Linda] Steve McQueen was at
the height of his career

at that time, as
was James Coburn.

Ted Ashley, the Chairman
of Warner Brothers.

I think it was kind
of a thing to do

'cause Bruce had a number

of those Hollywood
type old white males

that wanted to be known

for hanging out with
this cool Chinese guy.

[Diana] One of
my earlier memories

is being at Uncle
Bruce's Bel Air home.

Brandon and I would run through
the hallways of the house

and then we would come
busting through the doors,

right in the middle

of where my godfather's
talking philosophy

and he has a circle of different
students all around him.

It kind of almost had this
bohemian kind of spirit to it.

You had all these people
from different walks of life,

I just assumed this is the
way the world was going to be

growing up.

[Kareem] I met Bruce
through a mutual friend,

the Editor of
Black Belt Magazine.

He said, "Bruce is in
teaching a tradition style

but it's very interesting
and it's innovative."

[Announcer] Seven
foot, one inch high,

[background noise
drowns the speaker]

The highly-publicized
sophomore is unstoppable.

[Kareem] Bruce was
interested in all sports.

He felt that
everybody in the world

might have just a
little bit to contribute

to the canon of martial arts.

[calm music]

[camera clicking]

[men groaning]

[Robert] After training,

Bruce mostly spends
his time in his study.

He has a Sony videotape machine

that plays tapings
of Muhammad Ali.

Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray
Robinson, Joe Lewis,

black boxing champions were
the pride of black Americans.

-[dramatic music]
-[audience applauding]

[Jeff] He was open

to all these different
types of influences.

What he would study would be

where their power
was coming from.

And he would think
about what worked better

for his particular body.

I must tell the
audience that Bruce Lee

had a bit part or
a supporting role

in the Longstreet series,

and this had an enormous
effect on the audience.

What was it?

I think the successful
ingredient in it

was because I was
being Bruce Lee.

Like I say, honestly
express myself at that time.

-[man shouting]
-[dogs barking]

There's this thing you do.

In Cantonese...
[speaks in foreign language]

The way of the
intercepting fist.

-Intercepting fist, huh?
-Or foot.

[Bruce groaning]

You see, to reach me
you must move to me.

Your attack offers me an
opportunity to intercept you.

In this case, I'm using my
longest weapon, my side kick,

against your nearest
target, your knee cap.

This can be compared to
your left jab in boxing,

except it's much more damaging.

Hey, at least you're
gonna teach me all these.

I cannot teach you, only
help you to explore yourself,

nothing more.

All right, come one
let's some of those kicks.

[Sam] The 1960s influenced
Bruce Lee greatly,

an age of experimentation,
disillusionment,

existential angst was way high.

There was a very
conscious attempt

to challenge the
established western way.

[Frank Chin] I live here, my grandmother
lived here, she died here.

So I belong here.
Now, I hate this place.

If I were an outsider,
I'd just burn it down

and say, "Split, leave it."

But because this is
my home, ridiculously,

absurdly, cruelly my home,
I don't wanna go like that.

So I'm fifth generation

and the sixth generation
is growing up now,

I don't wanna see
another generation

just completely mind-wrecked.

I don't wanna 'em to grow
up with the either/or thing,

so they feel that
they're born foreigners.

[Jeff] Before 1968,
we were Orientals.

Orient means the east and
the east in compared to what?

If you look at the
way that folks shift

to beginning to name themselves
publicly Asian-Americans,

what you see is the
shift in saying,

"We're not gonna be
defining ourselves

in relationship to the
west, wherever the west is.

We're gonna define
ourselves from within."

Bruce, at the same time, is fighting to
get his philosophies

and his ideas onto the screen.

Don't charge me blindly,
you gotta listen, listen.

Now, you don't
get to burn our deal.

Huh if you don't heal a bird,
you cannot heal your opponent.

[Shannon] My father
continued to try

to get roles in Hollywood.

I just want to be left alone
to live like an American,

you are archaic.

And you're a fool

to think that you can
break away from us

merely because you choose to.

[Shannon] He did get
some roles on Marlowe

and Longstreet and
some other things.

But I think a lot of people
who worked in the studio system

saw him as a novelty.

He realized pretty
quickly that the impact

that he was wanting to make
was not gonna be possible

just by auditioning for roles.

He felt like the only way
for him to showcase himself

was to create his own roles.

[images rolling]

[Paul] When Bruce first
came to our attention

and we'd seen his TV shows,

we realized that there
was something there.

And so we came up with this
series about a Shaolin monk

who came to America to help
the Chinese on the railroads.

[Linda] Bruce had
conceived of the idea

which became the Kung
fu TV series eventually.

He had presented it
to Warner Brothers,

he was very excited that
they liked this idea.

[Nancy] So I said,
"I don't know, Bruce."

I said, "I don't know if
they are ready in Hollywood

to accept a Asian as a
lead in a TV series."

He said, "You wanna bet?"

So, yeah, okay, I
bet, so we made a bet.

[Tom] And it was
an afternoon meeting

in my lovely office
at Warner Brothers.

-Mr. Marlowe?
-Yes.

[Tom] And he slammed my
door shut with his foot

and started swinging
this nunchuck.

And it was whizzing by my nose

and I'm like, "What's
going on here?"

And Bruce said, "Feel my arm."

And it was like touching
a rock.

$500.

And for whom I'm I
doing this nothing?

Winslow Wong, that is I.

[Tom] We talked about
the role in Kung fu

and of course Bruce
would love to do it.

But the bottom line

was Bruce's accent was
gonna be a little tough

on the American
television audience.

Okay.

[loud banging]

[glass breaking]

[Tom] In the television
world,

there were only three clients.

There was no reason
commercially to diversify

for the sake of
diversification.

No one of them
could take a chance

on going too far out
of the mainstream

'cause you lose that
giant television audience

and you're screwed.

[camera clicking]

[Kareem] There's bias
in the film industry

against people
who weren't white.

So Kung fu, which was
written for Bruce,

the people at the studio
decided

that America was not
ready for an Asian hero.

And they gave the part, I
forget the guy's name now.

[Man] The series,
Kung Fu with...

[Nancy] And of course the TV
series went out to be Kung Fu

and David Carradine
starred in the TV series.

[Tom] ABC got a
lot of flack for it,

I got a lot of flack for it,

Warner Brothers got a
lot of flack for it.

But at the end of the day,

you have to be able to sell
what you're out there selling.

I didn't find one Asian actor

that I thought I
could sell to ABC.

[dramatic music]

[Jeff] Hollywood is racist
because America is racist.

Those images that
Hollywood then puts out

reinforce American's racism.

It's a vicious cycle,
it just goes in circles.

[calm music]

[Shannon] And he was like,

"Okay, that is what is
happening right now.

So how do I move around
that and change my course?"

And I think the key was
that he didn't get stopped,

he didn't let
himself be stopped.

He's like, "I get it and
I've already made up my mind.

I'm doing this so I'm just
gonna keep pushing forward."

[helicopter blades whirring]

[calm music]

Let me ask you however about
the problems that you face

as a Chinese hero in
an American series.

Have people come
up in the industry

and said, "Well, we don't
know how the audience

are gonna take a non-American"?

Unfortunately, such thing
does exist in this world,

like, I don't know, certain
part of the country,

where they think that
business-wise it's a risk,

and I don't blame them,

I mean, in the same way
it's like in Hong Kong,

if a foreigner come
and became a star,

if I were the man
with the money,

I probably would
have my own worry

of whether or not the
acceptance would be there.

But that's all right.

You still think of
yourself as Chinese

or do you ever think of
yourself as North American?

You know what I want
to think of myself?

As a human being,

because, I mean, I don't wanna
sound like as Confucius say,

but under the sky,
under the heaven, man,

there is but one family.

It just so happened, man,
that people are different.

[Linda] He felt the
sting of being rejected.

[suspenseful music]

And Bruce was just crushed.

He couldn't understand
it, he said, "What, why?"

I mean, he was so hurt

and just disgusted
with the whole system

and he was determined to
do something about that

in his own way.

[Narrator] Dear Ted,

I am sorry to hear about
the outcome of the warrior.

Well, we cannot win them all

but dammit, I'm gonna
win one of these days.

[airplane engine roaring]

[Interviewer] How did
you discover Bruce Lee?

[Raymond] Well,
I first saw him

in an interview on
television in Hong Kong.

He did some fantastic things.

[Linda] When Brandon was five,

he and Brandon made
a trip to Hong Kong.

That's when he was recognized

as being Kato in
The Green Hornet.

Everybody in Hong Kong knew he
had made good in American TV.

[Man] I just called him,

I pick up the phone
and called him.

But he said, "If you want
to make good action films,

kung fu films, you should do
ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, you know?"

I said, "Yes, yes,
but if you'll help me,

together I'm sure we
can build something."

[water running]

[Narrator] The truth is I
am a yellow-faced Chinese,

I cannot possibly become
an idol for Caucasians,

not to mention rousing the
emotions of my countrymen.

Because of this,
I decided to come back

to serve the Chinese
film industry.

[Andre] He was the prodigal
son that had returned.

[dramatic suspenseful music]

[Linda] It was exciting
to live in Hong Kong,

it's a very exciting city.

It's a little bit harder to
live there with a film star,

because as he became
so popular there,

it became harder for
us to go out and about

without him being mobbed
by fans and stuff.

First of all, the word
superstar really turn me off

and I'll tell you why,

because the word star,
man, it's an illusion.

I mean, I do not look
upon myself as a star.

I really don't, I mean,
believe me, man, when I say-

[Sam] When Bruce Lee
returned to Hong Kong,

it was difficult for him to gel

with the rest of
the film industry.

For one thing, he was
American-educated.

Oh yeah, he is this...
[speaks in Chinese]

half a devil figure.

You think you're a big shot

because you came
back from America?

Uh-uh.

[Andre] Being a mid-Pacific
man, by definition,

there were gonna be people
that would attack him.

[Jeff] To say that
Bruce is mid-Pacific

is to say that he's neither
Chinese nor American.

Somebody who lives
between both worlds.

[Linda] Sometimes I walked
into a store or something

and hear the clerks

say things uncomplimentary
about me in Chinese,

of course they didn't realize
that I understood them.

I think people looked at Bruce

as this magnificent
specimen of a Chinese man

and why did he marry this
plain Caucasian girl?

[Sam] So it's a
mixed part of things.

Stigmatized, hated, resented
but on the other hand,

respected and envied and
even worshiped sometimes.

[speaking in foreign language]

[Andre] After Big
Boss and Fist of Fury,

Raymond was willing
to listen to his ideas

about directing and
about story lines.

[people laughing]

[Shannon] He wanted
everything

that he was going to
do undertake to do

to be of the best possible
quality that it could be.

[Diana] He made fighting
on screen dialogue

and really there was subtext
to what he was expressing.

[Man] The way he
integrated the east and west,

he at once introduced a
lot of western thinking,

western film making.

For example, the character
played by Chuck Norris

was not the cartoon
villain of Fists of Fury,

but he's a respectful
karate fighter.

[kick thudding]

[dramatic music]

That evolution is
very, very important.

[background noise
drowns the speaker]

-[crowd applauding]
-[punches thudding]

[kicks and punches thudding]

[dramatic music]

[crowd applauding]

[Andre] By the time we
were doing Way of the Dragon,

Warner Brothers has realized

that there was more to
Bruce Lee

than they'd originally
imagined.

And by then, Bruce had started
working on the Game of Death.

[Kareem] Bruce called my home

and said, "Hey we got a movie
going, can you come over?"

It was, like, September

but I did have ten days where
I could get to Hong Kong.

And he said, "Look,
I can't pay you yet."

They hadn't financed
the film yet.

We shot our scenes, then
it was time for me to go.

[men groaning]

[kicks and punches thudding]

[Jeff] Bruce began
sort of a dream project

called Game of Death.

It's exactly at this moment,

the moment at which
he's established

not just as an actor but
as a writer and a director,

that Hollywood begins to
realize

what it is he
actually has to offer.

[Bruce sighing]

[Fred] So I went to Hong
Kong.

At this point Bruce was dying
to do an international film.

Raymond Chow was
completely against the idea

of losing his star.

And so I negotiated with
Raymond over and over

but it looked like
it was all finished,

at which point the
night before I left,

Bruce and I and Raymond and
everybody went out for dinner.

And at dinnertime I said,
"Bruce, it's a shame

you're never gonna become
an international star

because Raymond will
not make a deal."

And Raymond looked at
me and he went blank

and he said, "All right,
I'll make the deal."

And that's how they
became partners

with Warner Brothers and
myself in Enter the Dragon.

[calm music]

[Linda] It had a
little bit of a hard time

getting off the ground

because Bruce was not
happy with the script.

He wanted to put
some things in it

that would give the film
a little more substance.

Bruce refused to start, he
refused to go to the set

and the American crew was there

and everything was costing
money and everything,

and Bruce didn't wanna
show up on the set.

[boat engine roaring]

[Shannon] I'm sure
he was at times,

a very challenging person.

He was full of
fire and intensity.

[Andre] He could
be a young punk.

He wasn't always the
gentleman, Jim Dandy.

He'd tell you the stories, he was an
[beeps] from time to time.

Bruce had the same
sort of insecurities

that all successful actors
have.

Is everybody
supporting my project?

Are they doing what's best
for me and for the movie?

[Linda] Finally,
he got his way.

What was that, an exhibition?

We need emotional content.

[Linda] Any time in the film,

if that is a little
bit philosophical,

that is something that
Bruce put into the script.

[kick thudding]

That's it.

-How did it feel to you?
-Let me think.

[slap reverberating]

Don't think, feel.

It is like a finger
pointing away to the moon.

Don't concentrate on the finger

or you will miss all
that heavenly glory.

[Nancy] What he
was trying to do

was to make the kind of
films that he wanted to make.

His vision...

Never take your eyes off your
opponent, even when you bow.

[man speaking in
foreign language]

[Paul] We didn't start out

to make the success
of Enter the Dragon,

we started out to make the
best film we could with Bruce.

As it started, we realized
we had tapped into something

really, really spectacular.

There was Bruce, doing
what he was destined to do

and it felt wonderful.

He was electric.

[Doug] There's something
very unique about stars,

there's an integrity
to their humanity

and they are who they are,

and they're very comfortable
within their own skin.

That was a large part of what
mesmerized people about Bruce.

[man screaming]

[suspenseful music]

[Nancy] I think he
loved it, being famous.

That's what he wanted,
that was his goal.

Now I don't know,
maybe when he got there

and he says, "Well."

You become famous but then
you have to sustain it.

Fame costs, yeah,
it's very costly.

[Dan] The only thing
I can remember he says,

"Here in Hong Kong, I just
don't know who my friends are."

And I said, "What do you mean?"

He says, "You don't know if
they want a part in the movie,

that's why they're
being friendly with me."

So I think he felt very lonely.

I don't think I would
wanna have his life.

You don't have any private
time,

you don't have any
time to be yourself.

[Linda] In May,
1973, he did collapse

and that was a very scary time.

[Robert] He came over
with Linda and Raymond Chow

for a physical.

One of the doctor told him

that he's got a body
of an 18-year old.

[Man] We just sort of played

around in the gym a little bit.

He said, "I'm fit as a fiddle."

And that's the last
time I saw him.

[roaring]

[water running]

[Andre] I remember
it very well,

we started in the
morning at the studios

for a meeting with
George Lazenby, myself

And he was complaining of a
headache, a migraine headache.

Then George showed up
and we talked for awhile,

he was actually in
very good spirits.

We were anxiously
looking forward

to the release of
Enter the Dragon.

And Bruce was gonna
be flying to L.A.

to do The Tonight Show.

Bruce and Linda and the kids

were all gonna be there for
the opening of the movie.

He was the same energetic,
full of ideas, laughing,

whatever, except
he had a migraine.

Betty was Betty Ting-Pei, we
had been talking with Betty

about her having a part in
the movie, The Game of Death.

He showed up for lunch,
she gave him Equagesic

and he decided to lay down,

take a nap, to get
rid of his headache.

And she let him sleep

and then when she
tried to wake him up,

she couldn't wake him up.

[somber music]

[water gushing]

[Linda] I was
called by Raymond Chow

and said to come
to the hospital.

And I said, "Why, what
happened, what happened?"

And he said, "Something
like the time before."

[siren wailing]

And so I went to the
hospital, they brought him in,

and actually by that
time he was already gone.

It was unbelievable.

Of course I was devastated
but I was there, I saw him.

[Robert] The phone rang

and I notice my
mom started to cry,

I said, "What's going on?"

A friend of hers called her

saying that Bruce
passed in Hong Kong.

I said, "No, come on,
it's a joke, right?"

The friend asked her to turn
on the four o'clock news.

[speaking in Chinese]

[somber music]

[Andre] The forensic pathology
came to the conclusion

that it was the Equagesic that
caused the cerebral edema,

from which he never awoke.

[Linda] I think that people
wonder about his death so much

because they can't believe
that this 32-year old,

very strong, very
virile man is just gone.

So yes, they keep questioning
and coming up with theories

and all of that.

But it don't matter, he's gone.

[girl giggling]

[birds chirping]

[Shannon] I remember
certain things.

The funeral was such a crazy
situation with so many people,

it was just chaos.

[speaking in foreign language]

[Linda] I was shepherded
through the crowd.

It was almost like being numb.

[crowd chattering]

[Andre] Linda, two
steps in front of me,

and I've got Shannon
sitting on my arm.

And Brandon is down beside
me and there are two more

of our Golden Harvest
people on the other side,

and we're trying to make our
way into the memorial hall.

[speaking in foreign language]

[Linda] My two children
beside me, it was stressful.

[calm music]

I didn't feel I had
the opportunity to

[crowd chattering]

[Andre] Literally ten
days later in the States,

Enter the Dragon was opening.

[Paul] Warner Brother
went all out with it.

We premiered at Grumman's
Chinese Theater.

They closed off Hollywood
Boulevard for a dragon parade.

[Andre] I ended up looking at
the outside of the theater,

totally bedecked in the
artwork of Enter the Dragon,

with a line around the block.

Jesus, this is Bruce Lee

and he didn't live long
enough to see the outpouring.

[Narrator] Even though I,
Bruce Lee, may die someday,

without fulfilling all my
ambitions, I feel no sorrow.

I did what I wanted to do.

What I've done, I've
done with sincerity

and to the best of my ability.

You can't expect
much more from life.

[Andre] Standing at the
back of the theater,

watching your film
on the screen,

and sensing that you have an
audience that is loving it,

I mean, we all did,

we all wished he could've
seen what it became.

[calm music]

[Andre] The fact that
he didn't live long enough

to see the impact that he and
those four movies would have,

is personal tragedy.

[Sam] If he had
not die so young,

his myth would not
be so compelling,

so profound and so touching.

[Kareem] I know Bruce
woulda had a greater impact

if he had lived longer,

but I don't think that
diminishes in any way

what he was able to achieve.

[Diana] He provided a
safe environment for me,

as this biracial
child growing up

and made me see the
potential of my future,

of what the world could be.

[Andre] He was east meets west,

but he understood how
to try and bridge it.

He was a very unique
individual.

[Linda] He is that man
that he was when he died

and he'll always be
regarded that way.

I think he has superseded
his own expectations,

and that he is a guiding light

for people all over the world.

[Dan] I don't think
there's been a day in my life

that I haven't thought
about him, what can I say?

I loved the man.

[crowd chattering]

[cameras clicking]

[man speaking over radio]

[Linda] I decided to
have him buried in Seattle

because he loved the
time he spent there.

At least I could approach
him and say goodbye

and it was easier.

I knew what he wanted,

he wanted me to take
care of his children,

raise his children,
so we just marched on.

It was not easy.

[Shannon] As a martial
artist,

one of the most
important concepts

is the notion of
bridging the gap,

bridging the gap between
me and my opponent,

bridging the gap between
me and my dreams.

[Bruce screaming]

I see my father as a person

who was interested in
creating these bridges

and keeping them open for
people to travel across.

20 years later, when
my brother passed away,

my father's writings
were given to me

and I started reading them,

and I remember just
feeling cracked open.

The medicine for my
suffering I had within me

from the very beginning,
but I didn't take it.

The ailment came
from within myself

but I didn't observe
it until this moment.

That, I don't know, suddenly
put my fate in my own hands

and if you are willing
other take up the mantle

of healing yourself,
being your own fuel,

being your own light, then
you can shift your perspective

and you can forge your own
path.

[Linda] His philosophy was
one of self-actualization.

Don't accept that you
are this stereotype image

that is cast upon you
by others.

Find what is worthwhile about
yourself and express it.

I said empty your mind.

Be formless,
shapeless, like water.

Now you put water into a
cup, it becomes the cup.

You put water into a bottle,
it becomes the bottle.

You put it in a teapot,
it becomes the teapot.

Now water can flow
or it can crash.

Be water, my friend.

[lively music]

[Announcer] We proudly
welcome

to the Hollywood Walk
of Fame, Bruce Lee.

[crowd clapping]

[Man] One, two, three.

[people applauding]

[speaks in foreign language]

My dad left a really
wonderful legacy

and I meet people
all over the world

who really admire
him, admire his work

and really have been
positively affected by it too.

[Reporter] Like many
of his generation,

collector Jeff Chin
faced discrimination.

That period in 1973,
it was like magic,

like overnight, Chinese males
became the big men on campus.

[nunchuck hissing]

[Reporter] Over 700 people

showed up at the
Warned Brothers Studio,

with the hope of being the successor to
the late Bruce Lee.

Did you anyone at the audition

who reminded you
of your husband?

Nobody having the
character of Bruce.

[crowd shouting]

His mom and his
brother are with us now

to tell us more about the man

karate experts are now calling
the Galileo of martial arts.

Why did he assume such
mythical proportions in life

and even more so, after death.

He has really a
dynamic personality

and he can really
project that personality

in front of the screen
or in front of people.

Sometimes when you
talk about Bruce,

you use the present tense-

I still do, I always will.

[somber music]