Huang Kin-Lung (aka Bruce Le) is probably best known for his cinematic adventures as the most prolific of the 'clones' of Bruce Lee. He appeared in everything from Enter the Game of Death, My Name Called Bruce, The Clones of Bruce Lee and Big Boss Part 2 as well as countless none Bruce Lee inspired projects such as Challenge of the Tiger with Richard Harrison, Future Hunters with Robert Patrick and Mission Terminate with Richard Norton. But he's also directed a number of projects including 1992's Comfort Women which focused on an aspect of Japan's invasion of China which still causes controversy to this day:, the Comfort Women who were forced to 'service' the Japanese invaders.
His return to the screen after a lengthy absence is the Eyes of Dawn, which will focus on the Comfort Women once more, but in less exploitative manner than his 1992 movie. Le has based the movie - which stars Marsha Yuan (Pound of Flesh) and her mother Cheng Pei-pei, Kenneth Tsang (A Better Tomorrow, Die Another Day) and Le himself - on materials that Le has gathered over the past twenty years or so and which reveal the truly tragic experiences and emotional, mental and physical scars inflicted upon these women by following their stories over three generations.
"I personally visited several comfort women. Many of them were already in their 90s, and troubled by disease. Many passed away before they could receive an apology from Japan and so died filled with resentment. This made me feel the urgency of time. We have to do something for these old people and must engrave this humiliating history in our minds," Le says.
He then explains that he chose the name Eyes of Dawn because it carries the hope he has for a better future, "Although the pains of war will be left in people's mind forever and although the path to make Japan face up to historical issues is long and tortuous… We still need to believe this dark night will pass and the light of dawn will shine in our eyes."
We'll be interviewing Le in 2015 and talking about not only this film, but his entire career and his thoughts on the whole “Clones of Bruce Lee/Bruce'ploitation' genre.
Le is probably the most interesting of the Bruce Lee Clones, having been the busiest. He'd begun his career at Shaw Brothers appearing as a stuntman and bit-player before adopting the Bruce Le moniker and then moving onto globe-trotting spy movies, international themed projects and then disappearing in the early 90s. Le is also the subject of a new French language book Bruce is Back by Stephane Nogues.
