Iron and Silk

Iron and Silk

As a student in America, he searched for ancient wisdom. As a teacher in China, he learned to find it within himself.

1991 · 92 min · ★ 6.2 · Drama, Comedy

Iron and Silk is a 1990 movie 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. Salzman's experiences occurred in Changsha, Hunan, though the film was shot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. (Wikipedia)

Directed by Shirley Sun · Written by Mark Salzman

Your Rating

Cast

Mark Salzman Teacher Mark
Qingfu Pan Pan Qingfu
Vivian Wu Ming
Hangcheng Dong Teacher Cai
Xihong Jiang Teacher Zhang

Make it a double feature

3h 9m together

Iron and Silk

A Great Wall

Both from Shirley Sun.

More from Shirley SunSee all →

American Playhouse

American Playhouse · 1982

American Playhouse

SeriesDramaComedy

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

A Great Wall

A Great Wall · 1986

MovieDramaComedy

When computer programmer, Leo Fang, is passed up for promotion, he feels it is because he is Chinese, and quits. He takes his Chinese-American family to Mainland China to visit his relatives, the Chao's for a vacation. The clash of cultures, between the men, wives, and teenagers, leads to some confusion, and misunderstanding.

More Like This

Maria Full of Grace

Maria Full of Grace · 2004

Maria Full of Grace

MovieDramaThriller

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind · 2001

A Beautiful Mind

MovieDramaRomance

From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.

7 Virgins

7 Virgins · 2005

MovieDramaCrime

It is summertime in a blue-collar, marginal district of a city in the South of Spain. Tano, a teenager currently serving a sentence in a juvenile reform center, is given a 48-hour leave to attend his brother’s wedding.

The Green Mile

The Green Mile · 1999

MovieFantasyDrama

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

Cléo from 5 to 7

Cléo from 5 to 7 · 1962

Cléo from 5 to 7

Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.

12 Mighty Orphans

12 Mighty Orphans · 2021

12 Mighty Orphans

MovieHistoryDrama

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.

Once Upon a Time in America

Once Upon a Time in America · 1984

Once Upon a Time in America

MovieDramaCrime

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Beyond Silence

Beyond Silence · 1996

MovieDramaMusic

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams · 2006

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams

MovieDramaHistory

A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.

Contempt

Contempt · 1963

MovieDramaRomance

Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter · 1984

Ronia: The Robber's Daughter

MovieAdventureDrama

Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.

Batman Begins

Batman Begins · 2005

MovieDramaCrime

Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs · 1991

The Silence of the Lambs

MovieCrimeThriller

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter