Be Water

There was allegedly such a crowd at the Polish premiere of Enter the Dragon that the windows at Warsaw’s Iluzjon cinema were smashed. Even if this is an urban legend, there is no doubt that Bruce Lee is one of pop culture’s greatest icons. To this day, he remains an inspiration for athletes and filmmakers (Quentin Tarantino, to name one), and there are statues of him in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and even in the Bosnian city of Mostar. Although Lee’s adult career (he also performed as a child) lasted just a few years, he managed to change not only how martial arts are portrayed in film, making the genre more popular worldwide, but also the way in which Asians are portrayed, especially in the United States. After all, a biopic of Lee is about more than recollections from the set of The Green Hornet and Fist of Fury; it is also a story about racism, discrimination, and the breaking of social barriers. Bao Nguyen’s documentary, based on archival interviews with Lee, Lee’s own notes, and conversations with Lee’s family and friends, is a tribute to the Little Dragon on the eve of what would have been his 80th birthday.