Redbelt is a strange movie. “Written and directed by David Mamet” is the only reason I would watch a film about martial arts, and may also be the only reason I am actually thinking a bit about the film. The “simple” idea is that the martial arts instructor — Mike Terry, beautifully played by the English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor — is too pure to fight in competitions. There’s an ongoing schtick about how competiton is weakening, how he doesn’t teach people to fight, he teaches them to prevail, a lot of noble warrior stuff. And slowly, you realize that he is going to fight in a big competition. Everything goes wrong, putting Terry deep in trouble and in debt, and that’s when I started thinking. Mamet is unclear about how much of the stuff going wrong is deliberate and engineered by the fight promoters, and how much is just stuff going wrong, bad timing if you will. That ambiguity, far from being “holes in the plot” is, I think, what makes an otherwise dull fight film into something more interesting. The big fight at the end, which takes place out of the ring and thus with no rules, is the apotheosis of Terry’s schtick, and he does indeed prevail with a very slick parcours-style move. The singular redbelt of the title is his, and the ambiguities are ours to wrestle with.
Rating: 
Add your own comment
I really like this blog, I started a forum, which has a ton of information on MMA, the url is http://www.ultimatefightingforumz.com . I am not sure you guy have videos yet on this blog for MMA, but I would love to help out and provide some for you. My webmaster compiled a bunch of video feeds from youtube and other sources, that would benefit this blog as well, if you are interested. Thanks again and have a great day!
Wow, I just watched the trailer to that, and it looks pretty awesome. I’ll have to check it out. Wonder why I haven’t heard of it?
@Scott Johnstone – Thanks, but no thanks. We are not specialized enough here to merit a stream of fight videos.
I think the material may have put off critics, audiences and distribution. If it’s any consolation, I have never seen Raging Bull.
Heh. “Martial arts” is the only reason I would consider a film by David Mamet. And then I’d have to know who the fight coordinator was. (“Mixed martial arts”? Say what?)
Martial arts films should not be judged by Bruce Lee’s work or anything any American studio has set out (mostly garbage). The more recent big-budget releases, like “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers,” are almost too polished.
The really wacked-out, worth-watching stuff comes from Chinese studios in the 80s and 90s — the wuxia tradition in which the martial arts aspect has a fairy-tale overlay and wushu confers immortality and the ability to fly without wings. Ching Siu-Tung’s work (The Heroic Trio, Butterfly Sword) is some of the best.
Good point, well made. I like some of those movies, like Shaolin Soccer, but I find it hard to follow some of the wackier offerings. Crouching Tiger was very enjoyable. I’ll make a note of your recommendations and keep an eye open for them.