The Warrior

When a man of the sword relinquishes violence, he finds it has terrible price. He journeys to his home village where he will find the violence he running from has preceded him.

Written and directed by an English person of Indian descent, with the original inspiration coming from a Japanese folk story, this movie is part of the new Internationalism in cinema. This is in no way, an Indian film, rather it British.

The words have been used by other people and I am going to use them too, then go and spank myself for being so unoriginal.

Simple. Beautiful. Poetic.

Ouch.

It is a great example of found cinema, where many actors are simple found at the locations, with some sets being made, and many people, and sets being real. Including one major character being played by an Indian street kid.

I like this sort of movie, and if you do you will probably love this movie too.

the warrior is amazingly well filmed in great locations. the plot is not one of the most amazing to ever to be put to screen, and the ending did leave a lot to be desired. But this film had it's moments and Irfan Khan put in a great performance. but this is a film to be taken as a spectacle of cinematography and on that level i doubt any one can find reason to criticise this visually stunning film. i recommend this film if you have the time and enjoy the spectacle of an amazingly filmed movie but it doesn't have the best story line and the ending leaves a lot more questions then answers.

A very worthwhile film, assuming you don't need rivers of blood, yucky closeups of severed body parts or explosions every twelve minutes to hold your interest.

Most stories about the killer who renounces violence feature a lip-smacking, almost pornographic delight in the violence itself. This film successfully avoids that trap.

The story has echoes of samurai tales to it, though the settings are the deserts of Rajastan and the mountains of the Himalayas - lowlands bad, mountains good, as always.

The lead actor is both expressive and restrained, the support is sufficient, and the whole experience moving. I hope a DVD version gets issued in the US before too long.

With his debut feature 'The Warrior', Asif Kapadia has immediately identified himself as a director worth watching.

The story follows the journey of the warrior (Irfran Khan) as he attempts to renounce his violent past and find a new life of peace in the mountains of Northern India.

Sickened by the brutality of his role as leader of a band of warriors, he puts down his sword, vowing never to kill again. However he does not account for the wrath of the Warlord who sends his men to hunt him down, with terrible consequences.

A timeless, almost Zen-like film has strong echoes of the work of Sergio Leone, opting for minimal dialogue and careful pacing, and making full use of the spectacular vistas of Northern India's desert and mountain regions.

I suspect you will have to search hard to find this film at your local multiplex, but it is well worth the effort. If you're feeling a tad jaded after too many blockbusters, here's a film to reaffirm your faith in cinema.

"Thumbs Up/Down" makes little sense in general, but when it comes to Asif Kapadia's "The Warrior," it's virtually repugnant to say just yes or no to such work of rare and consuming integrity.

This brilliant new British director made his debut at 29, when the 2005 Miramax US release of "The Warrior" appeared in its initial form in 2001. It is shot entirely - and spectacularly, with the painterly prowess of a Zhang Yimou - in India of long ago. It is a work onto itself, without regard to convention or audience comfort.

Kapadia does not bother to introduce his subject or to invite viewers into the world he depicts, he thrusts them into it with the first frame, and he doesn't stop... until about an hour into the film, there is a brief episode not involving gripping, threatening, breathtaking conflict.

As does the director, the great new star in the title role, Irfan Khan, is also making his debut, but he has a face, a presence that you feel you have always known. He plays the top warrior, the enforcer and executioner for a inhumanly cruel warlord, a man slaughtering men, women and children of the villages that don't pay their taxes in full. When he suddenly stops killing and seeks a different life, the hunter becomes the hunted.

From this point on, when Hollywood would follow one of two or three possible scenarios, Kapadia continues to enthrall the viewer, the story unfolding in its own unique, riveting way, never becoming slack, lazy, predictable. Intensity continues unabated, suffused with meaning and complexity.

From India's Rajasthani Desert to the Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh, there are spectacular backdrops, but Roman Osin's camera is consistently on the faces - ancient, stoic faces (most of the cast never acted before), showing the barest signs of emotion - magnified in context and in the close-ups.

At the most horrendous moment of "The Warrior," the face on which we'd expect the reaction is suddenly hidden by the camera shifting up so that we see only a riot of colorful turbans. We both want to see that disappearing face, and are grateful that we don't have to witness it.

"The Warrior" takes control, arousing and maintaining intense feelings that you'll rarely experience in a theater. Which way the thumbs that wave high for the usual infantile drivel? Let's just break 'em.