To Be the Son of a Legend

“Legend of a Warrior” documents filmmaker Corey Lee’s attempt to reconcile the broken relationship with his famous Kung Fu master father.
To Be the Son of a Legend
Legendary Kung Fu master Frank Lee (Corkscrew Media Inc. Photo taken from production)
Ryan Moffatt
5/11/2012
Updated:
5/15/2012
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/58463_01.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-235946" title="Frank Lee and Corey Lee at Frank Lee's Gym in Edmonton (Bonnie Thompson)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/58463_01-610x450.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="435"/></a>

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/58463_02.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-235949" title="Legendary Kung Fu master Frank Lee (Corkscrew Media Inc. Photo taken from production)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/58463_02-676x415.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="362"/></a>

 

Superhero

To help bring the legend of Frank Lee to life, the film is interspersed with short clips of animation, showing Frank in his younger, formidable years when fights would break out regularly in the Edmonton restaurant he worked. Inevitably Frank would be called in to “take out the trash.”

“I incorporated these little animated chapters of my dad’s life into the film to kind of tell the history,” Corey said in an interview with the Epoch Times. 

“I wasn’t sure how to approach these stories and how to really capture the idea that my dad was this superhero, because he really was. He didn’t necessarily wear a costume, but he could do all these incredible things, feats of superhuman strength and endurance.”

Not a film of impressive cinematography or visual spectacle, “Legend” is nonetheless a compelling tale of a father and son navigating a cultural and generational divide, something important to the younger Lee. 

“Obviously it’s not that I’m just trying to reconnect with my dad, it’s about reaching back and gathering information about that culture that is a part of me, too.”

“But for me the film is about family, more specifically it’s about fathers and sons. But I think that it’s also about parents and children, and it’s about those relationships that are key in our lives, whether or not we’re aware how they affect us.”

With Kung Fu providing the background for the film, life in the ring becomes a metaphor for life outside of it.

“In the ring you are alone. It’s a solo kind of a thing. It’s you against your competitor, but that competitor, maybe it’s another person, but maybe it’s all of your fears encapsulated in this opponent, or all of your hopes and dreams, or whatever it is that maybe you’re fighting for,” said Corey of his experience.

The ring was not a place where Corey necessarily felt at ease but it did serve to foster some of the transformation in the relationship with this father.

“There was a point at which in the film where I stepped outside of myself and stopped being this little kid in [the ring] and started just being a man—this grown man who just happens to be the son of this martial arts master, who is also my teacher.”

Passing on the Tradition

Enigmatic with a natural charisma and charm, Frank is at once unapologetic for his past and at the same time honest about his shortcomings as a father. True to his deep convictions in the value of Kung Fu, he seems to take the joy in passing on this tradition to his son. 

“I try to give him as much as I can give to him, and through the martial arts training he can understand me more, what kind of person I am, and what Chinese culture is about, what martial arts is all about, so he can pass to his sons.” said the elder Lee in an interview.

“I try to explain to him about the Chinese way and culture, why the martial arts are so important in life, because it takes discipline, willpower, and confidence to make everything successful.”


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Ryan Moffatt is a journalist based in Vancouver.
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