MOVIE: RED BELT

Myke Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a Jiu-Jitsu teacher from Los Angeles, his small school makes almost no money and expenses are piling up. In addition, his extreme honesty and his pure fighting spirit do not allow him to participate in the increasingly distorted competitions despite the fact that he could win them tied hand and foot because he is the host in verse. Even so, his life runs smoothly until an incident at school and his casual approach to movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen), lead to a host of situations that will force him to participate in a dishonorable competition.

I love David Mamet, he cooks it all by himself and eats it. I've always heard that a writer shouldn't direct their own scripts because you end up making unnecessary concessions to your own story and blah blah blah, but Mamet has so much experience and cinematic vision that he makes great movies out of it. of his scripts. Also, his stories and his characters are so awesome that I think he's sorry that someone else comes to direct them.

In Redbelt David Mamet once again speaks to us about honor, honesty and the constant loss of values that we are suffering nowadays. The perfect character to convey this to us is a martial arts teacher, specifically JiuJitsu, incarnated by that acting genius named Chiwetel Ejiofor. 50% of the film is him, just by seeing what Ejiofor transmits through his gestures (for example, I love the mallet when he ties his belt, that single action gives you tons of information about the character), his looks, his the way he instructs the students, how he treats his wife and the rest of the characters, etc... it's already worth going to see it. He exudes a simply mesmerizing charisma. Something similar happened to Val Kilmer's character in Spartan and that is the result of uniting a great script with a great actor, who is directed by a very intelligent guy.

The other 50% of the film is based on the plot, something normal in Mamet movies. I have read in some places that Redbelt is made up of very good but unconnected scenes, that the story is not coherent, that nothing is understood. Well, the truth is that it is not an easy film to catch because apparently it does not follow a specific course and at the same time it does not give you a moment of rest as a spectator. I mean that absolutely all the scenes tell something important and on top of that they are like puzzle pieces that you have to order to find the connection between all the plots and all the characters. I have enjoyed it infinitely more the second time I have seen it and I assure you that all details and subplots fit perfectly into the story.

If you go to see her looking for spectacular blowjobs, you won't find them. It is not an action movie but it has a few brutal scenes in which Ejiofor does a great job showing us the elegance and effectiveness of Jiu Jitsu. I find these realistic choreographies much more spectacular than seeing Van Damme delivering his flying kick from 15 different angles. Don't be surprised if after watching the movie you feel like signing up for Jiu-Jitsu classes, I searched the internet and everything to see where they were.

In his crusade in defense of the purest human values, Mamet delivers smacks in various ways. He gives the world of cinema a little bit of power by showing a very badass producer and a star in low hours (Tim Allen), and also talks about competitions that are rigged with the intention of doing business. In short, he criticizes anyone who wants to cover himself in an ignoble way, even if it is harming others. The contrast that is achieved between the gang of gangsters who would sell their mother for four dollars and Mike Terry, the hero of honesty and respect for others, leads to an emotionally tremendous ending.

Redbelt is not an easily accessible movie, you have to make an effort on several levels to fully enjoy it. But when you enter his world, let yourself be captivated by his characters and solve the puzzle, the experience is wonderful.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=_LlkIRIQeuc