The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 37

,0 May 1993 The Sunday Age AGENDA 7 P9 P10 Melbourne's travelling players Alex Miller, the prize winner r0ll THE GODS on Datcti: Jam Mollison's (below) remarks at launch last week of the upcoming whlz-bang Vincent Van Oogh exhibition at the National Gallery Victoria were bullish to say the least. But there was one person who would have taken rather a dim view ot one or his comments. Fortunately for him. wasn't at the launch. After telling attendant patrons about the vials and tribulations of organising what the NGV dearly 'hopes will be a massive success esrjeclallv as it's rnyino it rlKrtJ it ft (MllliNM In p4.u Mimivn III OUUIUUII 'the considerable help from the 'many soon sore the eaiierv hdlrector was asked about the two Van Gogh works in F-'Australia and snecHirallv tha nn iuiuh ku Ontwwt Yf 1 'Holmes a Court's widow.

He said he wasn't interested in ft because it was in London, and anyway would be the least Important Van Goeh In the Was that the sound of the astonished gasps or the sharp fall in price of the Holmes a Court picture? t.iWeether Report: Pad Orabowsky (below), that or uie ivory, win De keeping a weather eye on i the thermometer today. He's Derforminff In the Citv square as pan 01 a series of free k. jazz concerts, but with the chill In kcthe air last week, he'll make sure he's got a pair of gloves with storms destroying some of the sets. Brandon was said to be exhausted. When he died, "The Crow' was nearly complete and has subsequently been finished.

Father and Son Coming to Terms With a Ghost BRANDON LEE did not tread easily In bis father's footsteps. Danny Ino-santo, who studied for years under the father and later began teaching the son, said Brace Lee always told bim to "live life as if it is your last That tenet lent an urgency and intensity to Brace's life, said those close to him, and became a guiding principle In Brandon's as well. According to Jan McCormack. Brandon's manager, who never knew Brace Lee, 'Dragon' revealed what Brandon had inhere ited from bis parents agility and intensity' from his father, strength and humor from his mother. Although his father was his first teacher, as Brandon grew older he would go to Ino-santo's school in the ocean town of Marina del Rey.

There he would spend hours training with Inosanto and talking to him about bis father. In 1991, Brandon was one of just 14 people worldwide certified by the Thai Boxing Association to teach the sport Only In recent years did Brandon become consumed with wanting to learn everything he could about martial arts and his father. "I had tried taking him down to Danny's when be was nine or 10," said Cadwell. "I hoped it would be a good thing for him to be around his father's students. But he rebelled against it totally.

When be was about 18, he went back on his own." Despite the memories and the legacy of Brace Lee that still saturate Inosanto's studio, it became one of the few places that Brandon felt be could be himself as he grew older. WIILE martial arts were Bruce Lee's first love, said his widow, acting came first for Brandon. In both disciplines, though, he learned from his father. More than 20 years ago, Bruce Lee would film fight sequences he had rehearsed with Inosanto to better choreograph scenes for his movies. Brandon adopted the same technique and would hang a video camera from the rafters of Mr Inosanto's studio so he could analyse how different moves would play on film.

He began to study bis father's philosophy and writing as well. Ms Caldwell found Brandon's library stacked with his father's books and papers, most filled with lengthy notes. The son's role in the 1992 actios film 'Rapid Fire' pulled him back to his father. There Is a scene where the character's father dies," said Jeff Imada, a stunt coordinator and friend. "He was reading a lot of his father's writings before they filmed that" Like his father before him, Brandon had returned to Asia to make his first feature film, the 1987 'Legacy of Rage', which was made entirely in Cantonese, which he spoke fluently.

His 1991 film 'Showdown in Little Tokyo', In which be co-starred with Dolph Lundgren, was his first Hollywood movie. It was followed by the lead in 'Rapid Fire'. Although none of the films did much to establish Brandon Lee's acting talents, the Industry saw something in the young actor. He had a multi-picture deal with Carolco, and Paramount Pictures was planning to distribute The Crow'. In The Crow' Brandon believed he had found a vehicle that offered him more drama and less action than previous films.

Based on a 1989 comic book series that became a cult hit The Crow is a dark story of a murdered rock star who takes on the persona of a night bird to avenge his girlfriend's death and his own. nanoy to warm up nis ringers. Mind you. It's not just the man at fthe piano who has to worry; the air has to be fairly warm for the brass instruments otherwise they go out of tune. The outlook for today isn't brilliant: 15 decrees and mavbe some Lee, whose lives parallelled each other in an uncanny fashion.

showers. But the music will be warming. The fun starts at noon and next week It's the turn of the Batch-tor from Prague. On tha warpath: Don't hold your breath for the new by Mortal sarda Marque. Tne Colombian novelist (nght) waging an rr 1 aggressive campaign against the pirating of nis novels and he has 'said that his new work.

'01 Love FAMILY and Other set in 17th Brandon Lee was haunted by the reputation of his father Bruce and, like him, met an untimely death. Betsey Sharkey reports on the strange case of the Lees. BRANDON LEE was not yet sis when he played his first film role. In the grainy, flickering Images of a home movie, the young boy could be seen jumping and kicking his way across the screen, mimicking his father, Bruce Lee, the famous martial arts master and film star. When the actor died suddenly In 1973 at the age of 32 while making his fifth film, 'Game of Death', Brandon, then eight, made a prophecy: he told his mother that when he grew up he was going to be an actor like his father.

Unexpected and unresolved, Bruce Lee's death in Hong Kong, caused by what experts now believe was a brain edema, spawned tales of battles with mythical Chinese demons as well as rumors of murder, mistresses, drugs and intrigue. Now a new film, 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee that largely celebrates the Chinese American actor's life, will be released In the shadow of yet another unexpected and unresolved death Brandon's. The 28-year-old actor was shot and killed In an apparent accident on 31 March while filming The Crow, in which he was starring. The parallels extend to the expectations surrounding their final films. 'Enter The Dragon', the 1973 movie intended to Introduce Bruce Lee to American audiences and establish him as an action star, was not released until three weeks after his death.

In the two decades since. It has made $100 million. The Crow' was the film Brandon Lee hoped would propel him out of the action genre. While Bruce Lee was a charismatic presence, no one considered him an Olivier. Indeed, showings of his films, with the audience cheering each punch and kick, bad more the feel of a sporting match than high art And when Brandon died, he was still striving to free himself from the action genre that had so defined his father.

Their films record the blttersweetness of promise unfulfilled. Brandon Lea spent a lifetime dealing with his father's death and struggling to be more than Bruce Lee's son. But just as Brandon's life was framed by his father's fame, so will his death. The Father Struggling In Two Worlds A portrayed by the film 'Dragon', Bruce IX Lee was a man caught between two cultures Hong Kong, where he was raised, and the US, where he was born and where he returned at 18 to seek his destiny. He earned a degree In philosophy from the University of Washington In Seattle, paying his way by teaching kung hi to other students and marrying one, Linda Emery.

Soon Lee began blending philosophy with martial arts, creating a new technique called jeet kune do, literally translated "way of Intercepting the fist," which he laid out In the book "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do'. Jeet kune do was a fast and to-the-point approach to martial arts that stripped away everything but the essentials. His innovations were met with outrage, scepticism and ultimately a following that would pack martial arts competitions around the country. In the process, Hollywood discovered Lee, first as a martial arts master whose pupils Included Steve McQueen, Kareem Abdul Jabar and James Coburn, then as an actor. A child star In Hong Kong he had appeared in 20 films by the time he left at age 18 Lee returned to acting in the US with small television roles.

His major break came with the 1966 television action series "The Green Hornet', In which he co-starred as the hero's sidekick, Kato. But Hollywood was to disappoint him. Lee helped develop the idea for the television series 'Kung Fu' but when the starring role went to the American actor David Carra-dine, Lee became convinced his Asian features would forever limit his future in Hollywood, and he returned to Hong Kong. Nearly two decades later, bis son would get his first real acting job co-starring with Car-radlne In the 1989 telemovle 'Kung Fu: The Movie'. Once back In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee and his martial arts films 'Fists of Fury (1971), "The Chinese Connection' (1972) and 'Return of the Dragon' (1973) became huge successes.

By 'Return of the Dragon', Lee was not only choreographing the scenes but also writing and directing. But bis films did less to establish him as an actor he rarely spoke than to showcase his remarkable physical prowess. Lee had just completed filming a death scene In 'Game of Death' when he died in century Cartagena, Colombia, i would not be published anywhere I m. vvfwiovw, VJW- rein 9 down on piracy. According I to a report in ine los Aneetes Times', he was enraged after a Cotombian judge nnnrro released a stash of confiscated, allegedly counterfeit 'Garcia Marquez novels.

The Nobel laureate asked that sales of aU his legally printed books be suspended in his native country and most 'booksellers complied. But as quickly as his works were whisked off store shelves, copies appeared for sale on Bogota streets at lower prices. "The vendors were out there selling them like Martboros," Garcia Marquez said. fXM OF THE WEEK 'The Panama Deception': Barbara Trent's startling -1993 Oscar-winning documentary presents a very picture of the US invasion of Panama In '(1989 from the Noriega-obsessed one disseminated "news" reports of the time. Its historically abased reading of events forcefully argues that the US provoked hostilities in order to Sh -undermine the Cartar-TorrlJo treaty promising US Two generation: Bruce and Brandon the apartment of Betty Ting-Pel, an actress rumored to be his mistress.

The coroner labelled the cause of death as a conclusion that is still disputed. More than 23,000 people attended his funeral. The Son A Search For Identity A FEW weeks after Brandon's death, Linda Lee Cadwell, Brandon's mother and Brace's widow, admitted that it was both a blessing and a burden to be a child of Bruce Lee. "It was a blessing because Brace was a wonderful father," said Cadwell, who Is now married for a third time. "But for Brandon it was also a burden to live up to what other people expect of you because ot who your father Is." For years, Brandon had said he was little more than a comma: Brace Lee's son, Brandon.

At the same time, his wails were covered with huge photographs of his father. In one of his favorites, taken on the lawn of their Los Angeles home, Bruce can be seen holding up a board for Brandon, then just six years old, to break with a precisely aimed blow of his hand. Both faces were turned to the board in intense concentration, one a miniature of the other. "In the end," said his mother, "Brandon had found his own Identity." At a memorial service In Los Angeles on 4 April, a day after Brandon was buried beside his father In Seattle, Cadwell tried to explain Brandon's sense of reconciliation to friends and relatives by telling of a conversation she had had with her son the day before the accident ft A from the Canal zone by the year 2uuu. Contrasting eyewitness testimony and documentary of the invasion's aftermath with the "double speak of spokesmen lor the busn administration, rt presents a devastating account of what the UN called flagrant violation of international law" and of the 'media's complicity In it.

Political dynamite, screening at the Carlton Movie-House. (See interview page 9) VIDEO OF THE WEEK From Grace' (1991): Of Interest largely because it's the directorial debut of rock singer John encamp (he's still John Cougar M. to me) and because it's written by noteworthy novelist-'iscreenwrfter Larry McMurtry. The tale of a rock singer (MoHoncamp) whose return home to Doak sparks an identity crisis or two, 'Falling From Grace' Is at its best when it deals with the simmering, male-dominated social cauldron of life in smalltown Ptctm ooms MEH manager, said Brandon cried when he read the script written by the director Rob Cohen. But Brandon vowed he would never see the film.

He told his mother that "it would be too painful and too difficult to see our lives portrayed In that sort ot Intimate way," she recalled. In the early stages of the development of several executives at Universal Pictures suggested that Brandon Lee be considered for the role of Brace. Brandon dismissed the idea Immediately, too, and the part of Bruce Lee went to a 26-year-old Hawaiian actor, Jason Scott Lee, who Is not related. Brandon had gone up against Jason Scott Lee for a leading role in Vincent Ward's 'Map of the Human Heart' a role that Jason Scott won. The aura of tragedy that surrounded Brace Lee seemed to haunt the production of both 'Dragon' and The Crow'.

From the beginning, Cohen believes, "Dragon" was touched by what the Chinese call yuan fan, "fate of the deepest Within a two-month period, while 'Dragon' was in pre-production, Jason Scott Lee's grandmother died; the actress Lauren Holly, who portrays Linda Lee, lost her 14-year-old brother in a fire; the producer, Rarfaella De Laurentiis, lost an uncle she was close to, and Cohen had a heart attack that nearly forced him off the project From the outset "The Crow', too, was bedevilled by freak accidents, ranging from an electrocution that severely burned a technician to the destruction of a workroom by a disgruntled employee. Even the weather In Wilmington, North Carolina, where the film was being made, was unseasonable. aot aecessarlly meaa that the film will de well commercially. Galley says that "Strictly Ballroom', for example, weald probably have a wider-based audience appeal thaa The Plane'. Alaa Flaaey, maaaglag director ot Roadshow Film DistrlMitioa which will distribute the film la Australia, agrees.

This film Is aot 'Strictly Ballroom' la aa-tare. The key questiea Is, glvea the aatare el the film, caa It bo as saccesafal as passible? Aad the sec aad questiea Is, hew de the wlas at Caaaes (Holly Huater, eae ef Its stars wea the best actress award) aad Its commercial success impact overall ea the Aastrallaa film ladestryr I thlah It will relaforce the diversity of films belaj made la this ceaatry. We have had 'Proaf, 'Death la Braaswlch', 'Aagel at My Table', 'Romper Stamper' aad the forthcoming The Heartbreak Kid. "For aa ladastry that relies oa a home poaalatloa base at just 17 million, that Is aa Incredibly eacearaglag alga." 11 USA. But Meilencamp turns his character, written as enigmatic and troubled, into a brooding vacuum and the film implodes around him.

THEATRE OF THE WEEK Toy: Patrick White was not particulaily known Msa dramatist but his play, 'Big Toys', being revived -Iby'Playbox starting on Tuesday, packs a wallop as a moramy piece, aioert a black comedy about In the 1970s, which Just might stlH have a 'certain resonance today. Featuring Julia Nihil and CarrWo Oantnor, it Is directed by Malcolm 'album of the week Irving In a Boom Time', Tom Robinson (Festival): Soon to tour here, and best known in the past for the "doo" hits '2-4-6-8 -Motorway' and 'Glad To Be Gav'. The Survivors Days of Love, Night of Loss BRANDON'S life paralleled his father's In very personal ways as well. Like his father, he had one great love In his life. In his case, it was Eliza Hutton.

now 29, who was a story editor when they met three years ago. They were to be married on 17 April, just after "The Crow' was scheduled to finish filming. It took a long time for Brandon to get to that point said his mother. "Brandon was afraid of getting married." said Cadwell. "A lot of it stemmed from the fact that he knew what it was like to make a commitment with your heart and then lose that person.

He had experienced it with his father, and he did not want to repeat that pain." Said Cadwell, who spent the weekend Brandon was to be married with Ms Hutton: "It is beyond my realm of cosmic thinking to think that it was meant to be. It just happened. I'm not beginning to make sense of It I just think we were fortunate that he had as many years as he did. They say that time cures anything. It doesnX You just lean to live with it and go on." New Vack Times aoe CatnpioiK Her win ensures there wifl be Keen interest from film companies around the world her future work.

I 1 'Robinson has gone acoustic for his new recording. ampicn's 'Piarco' strikes the rigEit chord Brandon Lee: strived to free himself from his father's action genre. She had been In a shopping mall when a poster promoting 'Dragon' caught her eye. Some teenagers had gathered in front of it and as she walked up, she heard one of them ask, "Who's Brace Lee?" To which another answered, "He's Brandon Lee's dad." A friend who studied martial arts with Brandon, related the anecodote: "When Brandon heard the story, he said. 'Mom, when I was 17, that would have meant a lot to me.

Now It doesn't make any In the last few years, he bad really come to terms with the pressure of living in his father's shadow." 'Dragon', with Its portrayal of a larger-than-life character. Is likely to sharpen the focus on the father. As designed, the film Is not a typical martial arts movie but an intimate exploration of Bruce Lee's life. Jan McCormack, Brandon's personal film was glvea a 26-mlaate avatlea at Its first sc reeling at Caaaes, The film's triamph Is also being celebrated by the Aastrallaa Film Cemmte-slea. "It Is terrific lor The Plane'," says Ms Lyaa Galley, actlag chief executive aad director of film development at the cemmlssiea.

"Whea a film achieves that level ef success. It teases atteatlea ea the ladastry where that film comes from. la this ease, beaeflts will accrae to the Aastrallaa aad New Zealaad film ladastry. "It will also feces atteatlea ea the quality aad diversity of work earning eat of Australia. For Jaae Campiea, It will meaa that her career Is assured From aow oa there will he keea laterest la her work, la what she does aext aad what she waats to ao aext from film compaales reoad the world." Galley explalas that a wla at Caaaes la particularly prestigious becaase the festival Is attended by the film world's leading havers, dlstrihaters aad flaaaciera.

However, evea wlaalag the award does "This Hve performance acts as an excellent showcase -for Robinson's perceptive writing, political passions, Vw gentry acerbic wit fans will appreciate the Vony the title and cover shot. On the evidence of 'this latest outing, Robinson's shows at the Continental Cafe should be well worth catching. FRm ami vMea by Tern Ryant theatre by John larkbu maie by Brian Wise. "I thiak Aastrallaa films nave been noticed la Earope a ad la the United States for quite a leaf, time for their ladlvidaal Idiosyncratic quality," says Jaa Chapman, the film's producer. "Perhaps aow we will be kaowa as well for matare epic works becaase The Piaao' Is aa epic It Is la maay ways a classic kind ot film.

Although It has a period setting, It has modera sensibilities." When Campiea first took her script ta Chapman mere thaa five years age, the Brodaeer was Immediately takea by It "We both share aa Interest la romantic Gothic liters tare," she explains. This la the kind of film I weald like to have made since I waa about 17 years old. It deals with a wemaa who completely fellows her i passiMs aad while sMtt ef as sever get te de that la ear uvea, to partake ot It la llteratara or la film la very eagrocalaa. I kaew straightaway that this weald be aa extraordinary aadaalqae film." That eeavlctlea was validated wbea tha By Muriel Reddy TO celebrate the historic win af her film. The Plane', at the Caaaes Film Festival, Jane Campiea breakfasted quietly with close friends at her Elisabeth Bay heme la Sydaey.

They may weU be the last few hears la the shade for the filmmaker whose career Is new set te shoot to the stars. But It Is etberheod, set the fatwe ei-rectlea at her career, that la dominating the thoaghts of the tt-year-oM New Zeals iscr who baa become the first woman direct ar to wla the Palme d'Or la the festival's 46-year history. Campiea Is expect-lag her first child la Jaly. Aad while high Meed aressare saeaas she has to slow aewa her life aatll the birth af her baby, little caa new stop the laaetas ta her career sad the film she conceived mere thaa eight years ago. The flint's swcccse at Caaaes will also raise the prof lie af the Aastrallaa film Wastry AITS I OS by Andrew Dyson Guernica General Hospital I'l.