Duel of Fists (3 Stars)

This is a Chinese film, made in 1971. With the exception of the opening scenes, it's filmed on location in Bangkok. It's been released with different titles over the years, including "Fan Chu" and "The Chinese Connection". The latter name is confusing, because several films have been released with this title.

Fan Chu is an engineer on a Hong Kong building site. He's called to the death bed of his father, who owns a martial arts school. His father tells him that shortly after he got married he was on business in Bangkok and had an affair with a young woman. A baby was born that he's never seen. His dying wish is for Fan Chu to meet his brother, who's now 23 years old. He doesn't know his son's name, he just knows that he's a Thai Boxer. It's weird for a jilted lover to keep her son's name secret but to give information about his career. It's a necessary construction for the plot, but it's very artificial. The only way Fan Chu will be able to recognise his brother is by a tattoo on his arm. That's another artificial construction, and it would never have been a help if the missing brother were working in an office.

The viewer is shown Fan Chu's brother, Wenlie. He's a highly gifted Thai Boxer, but he's being harassed by a gang boss called Xu who wants to become his new manager, so he can rig his matches. The reigning champion is Cannon, who also works for Xu. He's famous for killing his opponents in the ring.

Fan Chu arrives in Bangkok and soon meets Wenlie, but he doesn't know it's him while he's fully dressed. It isn't until he attends a boxing match between Wenlie and Cannon that he knows it's his brother.

This is the weakest Shaw Brothers film I've seen so far. The plot is infeasible from beginning to end. Added to this, David Chiang, the actor who plays Fan Chu, isn't realistic as a martial arts fighter. I don't know whether this is because he's lacking skill or the choreography is poor. The fights just don't look like fights, they look like a third rate ballet. Wenlie's fights, which are in a completely different fighting style, look more realistic.

Here are a few lobby cards from the film's British release as "The Chinese Connection".

This film has been released in Germany on Blu-ray with English and German subtitles.