Film looks at early days of kung fu icon Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee's path to stardom and his early death is a familiar story.

Less has been said about the early days of the young man who would grow into a global kung fu icon and model of Chinese ethnic pride.

A new $4.6 million Chinese-language production scheduled for release two days before what would have been Lee's 70th birthday on Nov. 27 aims to fill the gap. Drawing from the memories of Lee's siblings, "Bruce Lee, My Brother" traces the actor's life growing up in Hong Kong before he left to study in the United States.

"Many people know about his movies and his fighting philosophy after he became famous. But very few people know about his family, his parents, his first love, what he did on movie sets as a young actor," producer Manfred Wong told The Associated Press.

"This production offers a new perspective to understanding a person. We see someone who is real and fragile. The Bruce Lee we see in his films is deified," said Wong Yiu-keung, head of the Hong Kong Bruce Lee fan club and an adviser to the film.

Lee honed his craft as a martial arts instructor in the United States before making his debut in the short-lived TV series "The Green Hornet." Struggling to break into Hollywood, he returned to his hometown of Hong Kong, where he catapulted to global fame with hits like "The Big Boss" and "Fist of Fury" before dying in 1972 at age 32 from swelling of the brain. - AP