"The Drummer" (which screened at the Asian Pacific Film Festival) is about a band of ZEN musicians and a troubled young man who stumbles upon their humble community in the mountains of Taiwan.
"For me," noted director Kenneth Bi,
"It began with a stage performance."
After attending a theatrical production by the world-renowned drummers, the genesis of an idea for the feature film crystallized.
Jaycee Chan - son of famed actor Jackie Chan - adeptly plays a lost young man born into a crime family in the mean streets of Hong Kong.
When a gang war breaks out, and a bounty is placed on his head, SID flees to Taiwan to escape their wrath with the help of his father's tainted cash.
One day, the bored young man hears the sounds of drums echoing throughout the valleys of the majestic mountains, which sparks a journey up a path to their humble community.
Over the crest of a hill, he is startled to spy a serene group of men and women pounding on a set of drums in a rigorous, almost sacred manner.
He later learns they are Zen Drummers practising for an upcoming world tour.
Because Chan's character played the drums when he was a youth - mainly to vent his anger and distract himself from the painful memories of a broken home life - he strides up, cocky and full of swagger, and demands to demonstrate his skills on the skins.
When the Buddhists are hesitant to respond, he retorts like any typical spoiled American brat.
"I'll pay you."
It is quickly impressed on the lad that drum-playing is whole different musical experience in this spiritual community.
In fact, the rhythmic playing is not the "be all" and "end all" at all; but rather, part of a Zen philosophy in a holistic approach to life.
When SID begs a teacher for the chance to step forward and display his skills on the drums, a wise Master solemnly responds.
"He teaches you how to play the drums and I teach you 'how not' to."
Moments later, after beating the heck out of the skins (in what amounts to an audition) it is evident to the Masters that while SID is "talented", he is not ready spiritually to join in.
So, like a typical disciple, he is assigned various tasks designed to steer him on the right path.
In essence, he must come to understand the "hearbeat" of the mountain, the meaning of day-to-day existence - and likewise - be able to fathom the rhythms of life itself.
When the angry young man is asked to fetch water for the drummers, he is forced to walk several miles for gas when it is discovered the tank for the water-pump is empty. After a long arduous stroll to purchase the fuel, he toils with his unwelcome burden all the way back to camp.
Frustrated by these seemingly worthless annoyances, he ends up lashing out.
"I'm just a slave to you."
After all, he doesn't understand the methodology of the teacher, or the reasoning behind the daily chores.
The incident reminded me of an old proverb:t
Before enlightenment -
Chopping wood, drawing water;
After enlightenment -
Chopping wood, drawing water.
The Master then asks SID to go down to the stream and pluck up forty rocks and return to the camp with them in tow. Although bewildered by the request, he proceeds to carry out the task. When he returns with the odd assortment of pebbles, SID is then instructed to place the rubble into a satchel.
Once accomplished, he is instructed to carry the bag of stones over his shoulder wherever he journeys around the mountain each day.
For those who are familiar with practice of ZEN, the instructions of the teacher are not entirely bizarre in nature.
A Master glimpses into the soul of the disciple and assigns a koan (a puzzle) for the seeker to solve - one that is uniquely tailored to ensure a disciple's spiritual growth - with the ultimate aim of setting them squarely on their "path".
In essence, the seemingly innocuous teachings aid the student in fathoming their place in the grand scheme of things, so that they may come to know the true essence of existence on the earth plane.
Only in this way, can the mystery of the "moment" be realized.
Mr. Bi noted that when he first arrived in Taiwan, he sauntered up the mountain and stumbled across the Zen Drummers, much like the character does in the film.
"There I was in the wilderness of the mountain. At the top, when I turned and looked back, a modern city sat in the distance."
In a moment of revelation - it struck him that the "people" were living in the mountains - and that the "animals" were stalking the city below.
With powerful insight and expert storytelling techniques under his belt, Kenneth Bi manages to capture the remarkable transformation that occurs for SID on the journey from the dark underbelly of life into the Divine light of the Godhead.
