Silent Flute Full Movie

[Terresa Cherrie]

Circleof Iron is a 1978 martial arts fantasy film directed by Richard Moore and co-written by Bruce Lee, who intended to star in the film himself, but died before production. The film is also known as The Silent Flute, which was the original title of the story conceived by Lee, James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant in 1969. After Lee's death in 1973, Silliphant and Stanley Mann completed the screenplay, and Lee's part was given to Kung Fu television star David Carradine. Filming began on 28 October 1977 and ended on 20 December 1977. Many other well-known character actors also had small roles in the film, including Roddy McDowall, Eli Wallach and Christopher Lee.

At a martial arts tournament, fighters compete for the right to begin a quest to challenge Zetan, a famous wizard who possesses a special book of enlightenment that is supposed to contain all the world's wisdom. An arrogant barbarian fighter, Cord, defeats every opponent, but he is disqualified for fighting dishonorably. Cord decides to follow the eventual winner, Morthond, hoping that he can lead Cord to Zetan.

While the two fighters are resting, a blind flutist walks by them and into a nearby building. Cord follows the blind man and sees him easily dispatch a gang of thugs who attack him. Impressed by his fighting skills, Cord asks the blind man to be his teacher. The blind man refuses, but Cord follows him anyway. Cord becomes frustrated with the way the blind man teaches his lessons in riddles, after which the blind man disappears.

Cord finds Morthond wounded from the first trial. Morthond asks Cord to help him end his suffering and pursue his quest to find Zetan. Cord does, and he faces a tribe of monkey men whose leader, the Monkeyman, is a great fighter. Cord challenges and eventually overcomes the Monkeyman, who then tells him how to find his second trial.

On the way, Cord encounters a man in a large cauldron of oil who is attempting to dissolve the lower half of his body. The man is hoping to end his sexual urges to find enlightenment. He invites Cord to join him in the cauldron, but Cord refuses, and the man warns him that Cord will eventually break his own vow of celibacy.

Cord then comes upon a band of travelers holding a festival. Cord meets with their leader, Chang-Sha, who offers to let Cord sleep with one of his wives, Tara. Cord declines due to his vow and instead challenges Chang-Sha to combat. The contest is set for the following day, as Chang-Sha has already agreed to fight a muscle-bound African warrior. Chang-Sha defeats the African, killing him. During the night, Cord is joined in his tent by Tara and they make love. Cord, enthralled with her, asks Tara to stay with him forever. The next morning when Cord awakes, he finds that the entire band has left, and that Tara has been crucified, enraging Cord.

While trying to find Chang-Sha, Cord reaches an oasis, where he again meets the blind man. Cord again asks him to be his teacher; the blind man agrees, and they travel together. Encounters with a poor ferryman couple, a band of raiders and a spoiled child become opportunities for the blind man to teach an exasperated Cord a few life lessons before they go their separate ways once again.

Cord finally finds Chang-Sha and his band. Cord now holds himself responsible for Tara's death, but he insists on fighting Chang-Sha to learn the location of Zetan. After pummeling each other for several minutes the fight ends in a draw, but Chang-Sha tells Cord how to find Zetan anyway.

Cord reaches the island where Zetan lives. He encounters Zetan and the sect that protects the book of enlightenment. Cord expects to fight, but Zetan explains that Cord has passed the trials and is entitled to read the book. He even asks Cord to replace him as the new keeper of the book. Opening it, Cord finds that the book's pages are simply mirrors. Zetan explains that there is no book of wisdom, and that enlightenment is found only in oneself. Cord walks off laughing, declining to take the frustrated Zetan's place, and leaves the island. Having found a measure of peace in his life, Cord rejoins the blind man who passes on his flute to him, indicating that Cord will now take on the role of teacher.

The story illustrates a great difference between Oriental and Western thinking. This average Westerner would be intrigued by someone's ability to catch flies with chopsticks, and would probably say that has nothing to do with how good he is in combat. But the Oriental would realize that a man who has attained such complete mastery of an art reveals his presence of mind in every action...True mastery transcends any particular art.

The film's reception was mostly negative, with critics citing poor acting and martial arts, but it has gained a cult following.[5] It currently holds a 38% "rotten" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews.[6]

The film was released on DVD on September 28, 2004, and on Blu-ray on May 19, 2009, by Blue Underground. Extras include audio commentary with director Richard Moore, and "Playing The Silent Flute: Interview with Star David Carradine." The DVD extras also include "Bruce Lee's The Silent Flute: A History By Davis Miller & Klae Moore," and First Draft Script by Bruce Lee, James Coburn & Stirling Silliphant (DVD-ROM). The Blu-ray extras include interview with co-producer Paul Maslansky, interview with martial arts coordinator Joe Lewis, and audio-interview with co-writer Stirling Silliphant.[8][9]

Three swordsmen sat down at a table in a crowded Japanese inn and began to make loud comments about their neighbour, hoping to goad him into a duel. The master seemed to take no notice of them, but when their remarks became ruder and more pointed, he raised his chopsticks and, in quick snips, effortlessly caught four flies on the wing. As he slowly laid down the chopsticks, the three swordsmen hurriedly left the room.

This story illustrates a great difference between Oriental and Western thinking. The average Westerner would be intrigued by someone's ability to catch flies with chopsticks, and would probably say that has nothing to do with how good he is in combat. But the Oriental would realize that a man who has attained such complete mastery of an art reveals his presence of mind in every action. The state of wholeness and imperturbability demonstrated by the master indicated his mastery of self.

And so it is with martial arts. To the Westerner, the finger jabs, the side kicks, the back fist, and so forth, are tools of destruction and violence, which, indeed, are a couple of their functions. But the Oriental believes that the primary function of such tools is revealed when they are self-directed and destroy greed, fear, anger, and folly.

Manipulative skill is not the Oriental's goal. He is aiming his kicks and blows at himself, and when successful, he may even succeed in knocking himself out. After years of training, he hopes to achieve that vital loosening and equability of all powers, which is what the three swordsmen saw in the master.

In everyday life the mind is capable of moving from one thought or object to another--"being" mind instead of "having" mind. However, when one is face to face with an opponent in a deadly contest, the mind tends to stick and loses its mobility. Stickability or stoppage is a problem that haunts every martial artist.

Kwan-yin (Avalokitesvara), the Goddess of Mercy, is sometimes represented with one thousand arms, each holding a different instrument. If her mind stops with the use, for instance, of a spear, all the other arms (999) will be of no use whatever. It is only because of her mind not stopping with the use of one arm, but moving from one instrument to another, that all her arms prove useful with the utmost degree of efficiency. Thus this figure is meant to demonstrate that when the ultimate truth is realized, even as many as one thousand arms on one body may each be serviceable in one way or another.

"Purposelessness," "empty-mindedness," or "no art" are frequent terms used in the Orient to denote the ultimate achievement of a martial artist. According to Zen, the spirit is by nature formless, and no "objects" are to be harbored in it. When anything is harbored there, psychic energy loses its balance, its native activity becomes cramped, and it no longer flows with the stream. Where the energy is tipped, there is too much of it in one direction and a shortage of it in another direction. Where there is too much energy, it overflows and cannot be controlled. In either case, it is unable to cope with ever-changing situations. But when there prevails a state of "purposelessness" (which is also a state of fluidity or mindlessness), the spirit harbors nothing in it, nor is it tipped in one direction. It transcends both subject and object; it responds with an empty-mind to whatever is happening.

True mastery transcends any particular art. It stems from mastery of oneself--the ability, developed through self-discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the surrondings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself.

In a letter to Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, dated Tue, March 4th, 1969, Bruce Lee wrote, "We had a meeting on Project "Leng" last Friday, James Coburn, Stirling Silliphant and I. Project "Leng" is a code name for our martial arts motion picture. "Leng" is a chinese word meaning beautiful."

In February, 1971, Bruce, Coburn and Silliphant went location scouting around India. Unfortunately, they ran into some problems. Bruce still expected the film to go ahead but Coburn had other ideas. He didn't believe they had the right locations to use for the picture and eventually it was shelved.

The story is quite simple. A martial arts seeker named 'Cord' is after a book of enlightenment that will reveal all of life's answers. He has to pass a number of trials and is helped by an old blind man who plays a flute. Finally he confronts the 'Keeper of the Book' (Zetan).

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