EVERYBODY’S STILL KUNG-FU FIGHTING Serge Ou’s Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

The reason the 1967 Hong Kong protests are brought up early on in Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks is that they are credited with the boom in the subgenre’s popularity. The documentary contends that, through their stories, kung-fu films tap into the very human feeling of being trapped by circumstance.

There is a scene in Once upon a Time … in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019) in which Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), an underemployed stunt performer, finds himself on the set of 1960s TV series The Green Hornet with Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). The Lee of the film is cocky; Booth observes as the famous Eurasian actor lectures other members of the cast and crew, and doesn’t take long to make his disdain clear. The two find themselves in a ‘friendly’ fight, during which Lee ends up being thrown against a car. It is by no means a beat-down, but Booth’s intention – and, by extension, Tarantino’s – is clear: they are taking this arrogant kung-fu guy down a few pegs.

While the plot of Once upon a Time … in Hollywood necessarily takes many blatant liberties with the truth, it enters murky territory with scenes like this one. Lee the character only has a few minutes