So, tonight i saw a movie… called RedBelt
so… actually first I should mention that this movie, while it is about martial arts… its actually a complicated story that requires someone KNOWS about the martial arts world. NOT just what styles there are… BUT where they come from… the history.
For example, the main character, Mike Terri (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0252230/) is a jiu jitsu teacher of african american descent. He is married to a Brazilian woman, whose family is heavily into Jiu Jitsu. As you may/may not know… Jiu Jitsu is VERY big in Brazil. due to the dynamic of brazil being a center for Jiu Jitsu, people don’t often ask… WHY? Jiu Jitsu is Japanese… yet, why is it so popular in Brazil?
Well, for one… If a person goes to Japan… particularly some parts of Tokyo, they can find MANY Brazilians there. Roppongi clubs are often owned by Brazilian mafia with ties to Yakuza. and, Brazil itself has a HEAVY Japanese population.
Why does this happen? Well, the movie expects people to already know this. So i’ll explain really quick.
After japan’s fall in the 1800s , where samurais and kings became almost nonexistent, and the emeror started to withdraw from the foreign world… Brazil went on a similar path… and… possibly due to simple social curiosity, the two countries had political leaders that enjoyed some similar hobbies. During a summit in the late 1800s, the two economies were very similar and in the early 1900s they both depended on US trade to gain their stability. While japan and Brazil were both militaristic at the time, this only strengthened their ties. In 1910 Brazil saw a large immigration jump of Japanese as these two countries were at peace with each other, but similar in the world due to how the countries around them perceived them. They hadd no direct business/political ties… simply… they got along. japanese were interested in the art and culture of Brazil, as was Brazil with japan. in 1915 Esai Maeda left japan due to financial troubles he had. He went to Spain in a hope to travel europe and escape his problems, but decided after Spain, to go to Brazil. Esai Maeda was one of the founding masters of Jiu Jitsu (often practiced as Judo in japan). He became friends with Theodore Roosevelt who boxed with him, and under theodore’s guidance he went to Brazil to set up an immigration colony.
there, he met the Gracie Family. Who started to train in his Jiu Jitsu school. they were NOT the first to learn jiu jjitsu… but they were the first FAMILY and first Brazilians to make a GROUP effort to learn it as one unit. So the Gracies popularized Jiu Jitsu. While it is seen as a violent sport in Brazil, it is also commonly known by Brazilians that OTHER COUNTRIES see Brazil as a center for Jiu Jitsu.
The movie pretty much expects you to know all this!
its meant for people who know about the Ultimate Fighting Championships, about the history of Jiu Jitsu, about how brazil came to where it is, and what it would mean for an american black man, who lived in Brazil… to do Jiu Jitsu in this world.
the story is not one of action. in fact, its mostly drama and talking. It puts a clear perspective on a man who lives by honor… in a world where there is none. Brazilians and Yakuza work together to control the UFC (ultimate fighting championship), and they in turn, pay fees and marketing campaigns to Hollywood…. Mike is just a guy trying to run a business. he is calm, follows the right path, never selfish, and believes in alway doing the right thing… WITHOUT violence. There are a few fight scenes… but they are not shown directly… and often the camera is blurred… the point is not to show how cool he is… but to simply show that he HAD to defend himself. and he does ONLY the minimum to defend himself and live. He tries to not hurt the other person, and he never throws a punch.
His wife betrays him as his CONSTANT need to do the right thing gets in the way of the business… therefore… he almost goes bankrupt. In a way… she is right… because their bankruptcy destroys HER business as well. he has MANY opportunities to make money, but he chooses they are wrong and does not. He won’t compete as he believes competition is for people weak of character. yet… he could easily win many fights and win a lot of money. Because of this, his wife tricks him into getting violent once in a fight. so they can sell tickets for this fight and she can make money. She is not evil…. she is simply a woman, whose husband cannot financially take care of the house. his bills are past due, the business is bankrupt, they have no money, they are hungry… and Mike keeps believing he is doing right thing.
He protects people who get attacked… even if they are criminal. Then they go out and kill other people. But in his eyes… he cannot sit by and watch violence. Someone steals his copyright for a special move he has…. he doesn’t do anything about it. he simply believes things will come around eventually. Instead, it doesn’t. The company that stole the copyright makes millions and has a marketing success and even makes movies using his moves. he ends up with nothing.
it does a great job of integrating traditional japanese culture with brazilian flamenco culture… the music is amazng in this movie… as is the cinematography. Very beautiful. acting is also good… a bit confusing sometimes, because of a complicated history… but very good. the moral of the story however, is that he is happy… because he is confident in his path that he chose. doesn’t matter what happens to him. he ends up happy anyway.