LEGEND OF THE FIST PAYS HOMAGE TO CHINESE NATIONALISM
While some 150,000 Chinese fought in Europe to defeat the Germans, Japan seized German concessions in the Shandong Peninsula (including Shanghai) while engaging its navy against Germany in Asia. The Treaty of Versailles, rather than recognizing the role of the Chinese soldiers, awarded the German concessions to Japan, in effect branding China the “sick man of Asia.” China refused to sign the Treaty, and nationalists sought to undermine the increasing influence of Japan in China during the 1920s. Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (Jing wu feng yun: Chen Zhen), directed by Wai Keung Lau, portrays the role of a fictional hero, Chen Zhen (played by Donnie Yen), during World War I and later as a hero of Chinese resistance in the 1920s. The screenplay is by Gordon Chan, who directed Fist of Legend (1994), starring Jet Li as Chen Zhen during the 1930s. Despite a plot with a romance, the film is primarily a martial arts display in which Donnie Yen shows off his muscles in the final scene. MH