In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

137 4 “Some Things Never Change, and Some Things Do” Interethnic Conflict and Solidarity While Bruce Lee’s The Chinese Connection deals with ethnic imperialism by centralizing the antagonisms between the Japanese and Chinese in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, The Big Boss (1971), his first film, examines intra- and interethnic conflict as well as solidarity. In doing so, it prefigures cultural translations in Afro-Asian novels and films. The Big Boss follows the exploits of Lee’s character Cheng Chao An, a Chinese immigrant who goes to Thailand to join others from his village who have gone abroad in search of work. Prior to his departure, Cheng promises his mother to refrain from fighting, a vow that his uncle urges him to honor as soon as he arrives. After meeting his fellow villagers, a group of young men led by Hsu Chien take him to the local ice factory where they all work. The “big boss” and his factory manager are both Chinese immigrants, but the henchmen are predominately local Thai muscle. On the way, Hsu Chien eagerly engages in a fight to help Uncle and Auntie Ma who are being bullied by a gang of thugs. When Uncle Ma goes broke gambling at the local establishment, Hsu Chien shows him how the dice are loaded, and loans them money to get by. This does not win him any friends among the local Thai underworld figures. Soon after Hsu Chien gets Cheng a job at the ice factory, two of their fellow Chinese villagers go missing. When Hsu Chien inquires about their whereabouts, the factory manager puts him off. Since these are not the first workers to disappear, he takes his concerns to the “big boss,” Hsiao Mi. When he threatens to report Hsiao Mi to the police and have him charged with murder as a result of his inaction, Hsiao Mi orders his henchmen to fight. They ultimately kill Hsu Chien. When he fails to return home, the workers go to the factory and threaten to strike unless true efforts are 138 “Some Things Never Change, and Some Things Do”: Interethnic Conflict and Solidarity made to find their missing friends. In order to assuage them, the factory manager makes Cheng the new foreman. He takes him out to dinner, gets him drunk, and sets him up with a local prostitute in an effort to divert his attention from the missing workers. After he sobers up, Cheng goes back to the brothel, where the prostitute tells him, “There’s something in the ice.”1 When Cheng goes to the factory to investigate, he not only discovers that the factory is a front for distributing drugs, but also a means of disposing of workers who find out the truth. He finds their remains in the ice. Hsiao Mi’s Thai thugs show up, and they fight. Meanwhile, Hsiao Chiun, the big boss’s son, kidnaps Chiao Mei, Hsu’s sister, and kills all the other ice factory workers that live in the house. By deciding to avenge their deaths, Cheng casts his lot in with his fellow villagers , thereby breaking the vow made to his mother. He shows up at the big boss’s compound where the thrilling final fight takes place. Once freed, Chiao Mei leads the police to the compound. They arrest Cheng after he exacts his deadly revenge on Hsiao Mi. The Big Boss constructs an immigrant experience that brings the Chinese into contact with another ethnic group, the Thai. Subtly, the film distinguishes between the Chinese workers who come to work in the ice factory and the Thai foremen who oversee their work. While it is never made explicit that the country is Thailand, the signage of the country identi fies it as a location outside of China. The film also makes a point of distinguishing between the Chinese workers, the factory manager, and big boss on one hand, and the Thai foremen, one of whom is described as “the dark one,” and the Thai maids and prostitutes who work at the brothel on the other.2 This is not merely a situation where Chinese immigrants struggle to assimilate into a new environment. These workers maintain links to their home country, form their own immigrant community, and view themselves as distinct. When Cheng and his uncle arrive, the workers have a small gathering to welcome them. They all live in one house, which cuts down on expenses. Each worker has a...

Share