I caught the movie Fearless on the weekend. The film was based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese martial artist and founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. The film itself was good, not as good as 'Hero', but better than 'House of Flying Daggers'. The fight scenes were awesome, and worth the ticket price, with a majority of the action confined to the first half of the film.

After watching the film I was interested to read more about Huo Yuanjia, so I surfed the net for a little while. After reading the wikipedia article I started to wonder what in the film was fact, and what was fiction.

For example, the film features a fight between US boxer Hercules O'Brien, that occurs in 1909, after Huo Yuanjia accepts an open challenge following O'Brien's public insult of Chinese fighters, calling them 'the weak men of the East'. O'Brien gets his ass kicked, and national pride is restored. According to the article on wikipedia, the insult was actually made?by a Russian?wrestler in 1901, and "when Huo challenged him, the Russian forfeited, suggesting that he was merely putting on a performance in order to make a living." According to the World Chin Woo website?though, Huo "fought the Russian and effortlessly defeated him."

Huo did travel to Shanghai though to meet the challenge of a British boxer by the name of Hercules O'Brien. According to wikipedia?the match was "preceded by disagreement over what rules it would be governed by. O'Brien insisted on Western boxing rules limiting attacks to punches above the waist. Huo, on the other hand, was more accustomed to the rules of Chinese leitai challenge matches, which lacked such restrictions. They finally agreed that the first person to knock down his opponent would be considered the winner; however, the match never took place and Hercules O'Brien fled the area before the date of the match."

Huo's friendship with Nong Jinsun plays a pivotal role in the film. The film suggests that the two were childhood friends, with Nong helping Huo out with his homework whilst Huo would train. Later, Nong would open a profitable restaraunt. According to World Chin Woo Men, "Huo worked as a helper at Tianjin Huaiqing Pharmacy. During this time Huo became acquainted with Nong Jinsun, boss of the pharmacy."

The films climatic battle occurs in 1910, but some sources report Huo as passing away?on the 14 September?1909, having been poisoned by his Japanese doctor. Alternatively, it is?also reported that his death was a result of 'yellow jaundice'. Wikipedia reports that, "according to Huo's grandson, Huo's death came after the defeat of the 10 members of the Japanese Judo team. During a subsequent dinner with his opponents, Huo's illness (perhaps tuberculosis) prompted the Japanese to offer medical help, but he suffered a severe and fatal reaction to the medication given by the Japanese doctor."

In this case, separating fact from fiction proves quite difficult, and therefore begs the question, should 'Fearless' be judged as? a biopic or a fictional action film? I don't think it really matters. The film does a solid job of telling the story of a man who falls victim to his inner demons, only to confront them head on, and inspire?a nation in the process. As a kung fu action film, it hits home like a 'tigers claw'. See it if you want to learn some new Kung Fu moves and maybe learn something about humility along the way.