Fists of Humiliation

FIST OF UNICORN aka Bruce Lee and I (1972)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

So the palms of Unicorn Chan are so powerful that once they make an impact on someone's chest, they kill the person. Not before Unicorn Chan starts thinking of his powerful palms does an image of Bruce Lee suddenly show up on screen as a double-exposure. And we get many scenes where Unicorn uses his arms more than his legs in a fight and then, as if Bruce Lee is suddenly speaking to him, the palms work their magic and kill the opponent.

Unicorn Chan is not much of an actor but he has the ability and grace of a natural fighter. His presence is not commanding, despite numerous close-ups. He plays some sort of bum who parades from one town to another and sleeps under bridges. Some kid notices him showing off his flips and jumps. Chan is welcome by the kid and his mother. There is trouble in the nearby town where the local hoodlums kill people left and right, and Japanese women are used as whores though some of them are actually Chinese pretending to be Japanese! Unicorn is humiliated by these men at one point when he is forced to crawl between one man's legs! Imagine Bruce Lee being humiliated like that! Then the kid cries and calls Unicorn a coward, and then he apologizes. We are also treated to two men who stutter throughout the film, and even try to one-up each other in a stuttering contest.

"Fist of Unicorn's" action scenes were choreographed by Bruce Lee as a favor to Unicorn Chan who helped Lee get his kung-fu feet planted in Hong Kong cinema. Lee might have taught Unicorn how to act as well. By the way, Lee can be glimpsed in the opening scenes showing off his prowess to Unicorn, though a double is obviously used! That means Lee had no intention to act in a scene with his own friend! Sacrilege! As for Unicorn Chan, little is known about him. This was his only leading role and it did nothing for his career. He appeared in some of Bruce Lee's films and did a brief cameo in "Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth." Anyone that makes a film as abysmal as "Fist of Unicorn" might consider never making a film again. Who wants to be consistently humiliated?