Thought-provoking and philosophical art martial movie that Bruce Lee wrote the script prior to his death in 1973 ; disagreements over location shooting -Lee preferred India- led the film to be abandoned until after his death when the rights were acquired by David Carradine . Dealing with Cord the Seeker, competes for and loses the right to go on a quest for the Book of All Knowledge held by a wizard named Zetan . This is an intelligent martial art film in which our hero goes out on a quest for the Book of Enlightenment . The Silent Flute, a story written by Lee shortly before his death , features a martial artist rebel name Cord (Jeff Cooper , a good friend of Carradine's , though Joe Lewis was also considered for the role) . He must pass various trials along the way that educate him in Zen philosophy . Among the characters that he runs across are a blind flute-player (David Carradine , his flute is seen playing in the film, is the same flute he is seen playing in "Kill Bill: Vol 2" and was originally offered the part of the main character Cord, but preferred the multiple roles intended for Bruce Lee) , a monkey chieftain, a death character, and the leader of a gypsy tribe, who acts as a reluctant mentor to Cord . Some trials involve combat, while others involve riddles or encounters with unusual characters, such as a man (Eli Wallach) who has been standing in a barrel of oil for 10 years in an attempt to remove the lower half of his body . Finally Cord meets sorcerer Zetan (Christopher Lee) and discovers an extraordinary surprise .
This cult movie flick displays lots of violence , action filled , thrills and fierce combats . This luxurious martial arts film was marvelously filmed with good production design , nice costumes , luxurious cinematography , breathtaking scenes and enjoyable musical score by Bruce Smeaton . This is a good adaptation and late great Bruce Lee's The Silent Flute will return to the big screen as a new rendition . Philosophical and brooding screenplay , in fact Bruce Lee and James Coburn wrote the original story with the intention of starring in the movie themselves . It's considered by some reviewers as an apology for Buddhist religion but jammed as philosophical arts martial picture . The flick displays spectacular and groundbreaking fights decently choreographed .
This is a colourful, Israel shot and rightly budgeted movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are magnificently staged . According to a recent biography of Bruce Lee the film was intended to be shot in 1969 with Lee playing the 4 roles of The Blind Man, Monkeyman, Death and Changsha, and the lead role of Cord was offered to Steve McQueen . McQueen however turned down the role after remarking that he wasn't prepared to make Lee a star, and instead it was offered to James Coburn.
Amid the grandeur of the scenarios and impressive fights is developed an interesting as well as strange intrigue . Evocative and glimmer photography by Ronny Taylor , a prestigious cinematographer who photographed hits as Star Wars , Gandhi , Chorus Line , Sea of love , Cry Feedom and many others . Pick-up shots were done for all the fight scenes in Los Angeles, California after the principal shooting was wrapped in Israel. These pick-up shots were done because it was felt that the fight scenes as filmed were not up to par. The picture was professionally directed by Richard Moore , he was hired to direct this film because his work as a cameraman convinced the producers that he could deliver a sound visual interpretation of the story . Now Circle of Iron producer Paul Maslansky has secured rights and financing for a new feature length film, which will be written by his son, Sasha Maslansky, and based on Lee's original work . As "The Silent Flute¨ will be an epic martial arts adventure film that promises to honour Bruce Lee's original artistic and philosophical conception. It also promises to reach new levels of action and adventure never before seen in martial arts filmmaking .
