Iron & Silk (film)

Iron & Silk is a 1990 Canadian action comedy-drama based on the eponymous book by American writer Mark Salzman. It details his journey to China after college to study Chinese wu shu, better known in the west as kung fu, and to teach English. Though not trained as an actor, Salzman starred as himself, as did Pan Qingfu, who claimed no one else could portray him on film.[1] Salzman's experiences occurred in Changsha, Hunan, though the film was shot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The film was directed by Shirley Sun, and was the editorial debut for Geraldine Peroni.

Iron & Silk
Directed byShirley Sun
Screenplay byMark Salzman
Based onIron & Silk
by Mark Salzman
Produced byShirley Sun
StarringMark Salzman
Vivian Wu
Pan Qingfu
Jeanette Lin Tsui
CinematographyJames Hayman
Edited byJames Y. Kwei
Geraldine Peroni
Music byMichael Gibbs
Production
companies
Distributed byPrestige Films
(United States)
Cineplex Odeon Films
(Canada)
Release dates
  • January 20, 1990 (1990-01-20)
(Sundance Film Festival)
  • February 15, 1991 (1991-02-15)
(New York City)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Mark Franklin arrives in Hangzhou, China to teach Chinese teachers the English language. He learns the refinements of correct behavior among Chinese people, makes friends with his pupils, falls in love with the young doctor Ming, learns wushu (Chinese martial arts) from the famous teacher Pan... but also learns about political repression, especially when he's forbidden contact with some of his friends.

Cast

Main cast

Others
  • To Funglin as Old Sheep
  • Hu Yun as Fatty Du
  • Dong Hangcheng as Teacher Cai
  • Lu Zhiquan as Teacher Li
  • Xiao Ying as April
  • Yang Xiru as Dr. Wang
  • Zhuang Genyuan as Teacher Xu
  • Jiang Xihong as Teacher Zhang
  • He Saifei as the Yue opera performer who played Madame White Snake
  • Xia Saili (He Saifei's sister) as the Yue opera performer who played Xu Xian
  • Chen Huiling as the Yue opera performer who played Xiaoqing

Reception

The movie gained mostly positive reviews, ranging from a "modest charmer; a true sleeper"[2] to "unsophisticated [and] bittersweet".[3] The movie was met with some criticism, ranging from "an unhappy teenager's fantasy of finally fitting in"[4] to "we're talking geekarama here".[5]

References
  1. Kristof, Nicholas D. (January 22, 1989). "FILM; An Old Eli Performs As Kung Fu Star in China". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  2. Brown, Joe (March 8, 1991). "Iron & Silk". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  3. Thomas, Kevin (March 8, 1991). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Iron & Silk': Innocent Abroad". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  4. Kehr, Dave (February 22, 1991). "Ambiguous 'Iron & Silk' Is Cut From Different Cloth". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  5. Briggs, Joe Bob (October 9, 1992). "'Iron & Silk': Ok, It's Great Kung Fu But The Star Is A Wimp". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-02-12.


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