Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: Media


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Circle of Iron/The Silent Flute (1978)

My friend Dalmazio reminded me yesterday of a movie that I re-watch usually once a year, and that would fit my highly hypothetical guide to sword & sorcery movies, despite the fact that it does not feature any sword that I can remember, nor is the sorcery so prominent.
The movie is called Circle of Iron, but is also known as The Silent Flute, and was originally written by Bruce Lee, that would have starred it.
The movie was planned for 1969, and should have featured James Coburn (who also had a hand in the original story) as a co-star, but then the project fizzed.

It was produced nine years later, with David carradine in the role that should have been Lee’s, and Jeff Cooper in the role that had been imagined for James Coburn or Steve McQueen.

The first mystical martial arts adventure… well, it is a way to put it. Continue reading →


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Chasing Lost Voices

lost voicesSunday morning I woke up early and I watched a movie, a Japanese anime from 2011.
As it often happens with Japanese animation products, the film goes under a number of different titles.
The original Hoshi o Ou Kodomo literally means Children who chase stars, but the film is best known as Children who chase lost voices or as Travel to Agartha.
And now you can probably see the reason for my interest – Agartha being one of the great legends that haunt the Silk Road and Central Asia.

The film was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, a young director with a number of short animations in his name. The feature is very Miyazaki-like in tone and setting, and this is quite fine with me. Continue reading →