User reviews

I hit the couch to eat lunch and turned on Sundance channel and came in at the first third of the movie . . . didn't leave the couch. Good movie. As in the other movie reviews there is no real new story line here, but what caught me was the lighting. Shots were she is with her family are shot in darker lighting and when Semra is in the environment her heart wants to be in (ex. Kung Fu studio) the lighting is much brighter. Simple little things like this and the floating camera (?) make it a good MOVIE and add power to the story and the acting. I don't know if it was intentional, but Semra's "less is more" acting really helped sell the internal struggle she was going through to deal with the chains of Turkish societal and familial expectations. Now I can't wait to see it again from start to finish - and with my 12 year old daughter who just started serious training in sports. Should be required watching for girls in Jr. High.

Not a bad movie at all and it tells an interesting story of Aicha, a young Turkish girl who wants to learn kung fu. Her Turkish parents, like many immigrants want her to get good grades and get into medical school. Defying her family, Aicha starts secretly training at a professional, co-ed kung fu club. A boy, Emil, helps Aicha train for the club championship and they fall in love. Aicha is forced to decide who she is and what she wants.

This is more a movie about culture and it shows how immigrants to the west with Muslim values never really get to fit in as they cling to traditional ways of doing things. The coldness and at time cruelty of her father is probably not very unusual in similar family's. The fact that Aicha wants to do Kung fu is sort of irrelevant as she could have chosen anything that her family didn't approve of.

As for the movie itself Semra Turan is pretty good as the main character, although there is to much of her running in panic that gets a bit annoying. Cyron Melville as Emyl, the boy who falls for her is a decent actor, pretty good acrobat but clearly not a martial artist. I've never liked movies that overly feature wire work but this is what the director wanted.

So if you like good Kung fu movies this isn't really for you, but as a movie about clashes of cultures it is pretty good.

A beautiful and touching movie that deserves a wider viewing than it is likely to get. Semra Turan plays Aicha, a second generation Turkish immigrant, who tries to break the mold. Neither entirely at home with her moderately conservative Muslim family, nor with her liberal Danish friends, Aicha's martial arts experience becomes a fight to find herself and have the strength to allow herself to be who she wants to be in spite of both family and friends.

Director Natasha Arthy manages to balance introspection and narrative so that it has depth without becoming ponderous philosophical discourse, and drawing on Xian Gao's choreography skills pays off in spectacular fight sequences. In the end, however, it is Semra Turan's stunning debut performance that gives this movie spirit. Raw charisma and requisite martial arts skills are complimented by heart to make her personal drama believable.

Well worth your while.

When you are in a gloomy or depressed mood, go watch this film. It shows a lot of beauty and joy in a very simple everyday setting, and it is very encouraging, in particular from a feminist and a humanist perspective.

When you know both the Turkish language and either the Danish or the German language, go watch the film in any case. Half of the dialog is Danish in the original, synchronized to German in the translated version, the other half Turkish, subtitled in Danish or German, respectively. When i watched it in Mannheim, Germany, the reaction of the Turkish-speaking audience proved that there must be a lot of humor in the Turkish dialog, which, deplorably, mostly escaped me, being only imperfectly rendered in the subtitles. Still, the film is interesting even if you lack knowledge of the Turkish.

Esthetically, the movie is playing a lot on the theme of speed and slowness. On first sight, there is lots of corporeal movement fast as lightning, making it a quick, an agitated film. In particular, even though this is a Kung Fu movie, watch out for the running scenes, beautifully expressing a wealth of emotions. But there are quite a few very slow, emotionally intense scenes, too. And above all, the characters develop at a much slower pace than you would expect in a drama about the coming of age; still, there is some movement in the characters to: Closely watch the villain Omar, whose part and acting i liked very much.

The contrast of speed and stillness nicely contributes to the depiction of human rage and dignity - shown at once, in the same characters, at the same time.

The level of realism for a female practising martial arts is very poor. Awful.

The lead character is a featherweight at best. In real combat sports, even pro fighters have poor chance against someone 5-10kg heavier. In the movie she fights man clearly far heavier than her and their interaction is unrealistic at best.

The teacher coaches in Chinese Martial arts - the routine practised by the students are modern Wushu style routines but they are dressed in Japanese 'Gi' and wearing coloured belts. There are no belt ranking in traditional Chinese Martial arts. There are samurai swords in the background and the training mat Japanese style.

For a movie that centred around the theme of Martial Arts, it appears that the makers of the movie made little effort to research on their theme. It is rather appalling

When I went to watch this movie my expectations were really low, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I thought I was going to watch a boring teen-flick, BUT in fact the plot is interesting and well executed, the acting was somewhat convincing - especially from Melville who really shows his talent in this movie, and the fight scenes were - for a low budget movie - very well done .

I think this movie deserves a broader audience than it has received. It is a movie, which can be seen by the whole family - maybe not the smallest of kids, since it contains some rather rough scenes. A movie about love, and the problems that can occur, when you go against your family traditions.

Yes, the movie is very much like "Bend it like Beckham", but I actually think this movie pulls it off better.

I watched this movie with no prior knowledge of it, and was immediately sucked into the film. It is a film that is beautiful to look at and has the ability to evoke emotions within the viewer causing them to live the story with the main character. The cinematography was absolutely wonderful, and served to make the film somehow realistic and surreal at the same time. The soundtrack was perfect and each song seemed to compliment the moments on screen, but was almost a character in and of itself. The acting was believable and realistic and the star of the movie "Aicha" really makes the audience connect with her and feel her plight, and the choreography of the fight scenes was wonderful. I was so pleasantly surprised by this movie and it is one that I will absolutely have to recommend to friends.

In regards to comparisons with Bend It Like Beckham I would say this film is like it's older mature cousin. Bend It Like Beckham was cute, fun with a traditional Hollywood fairytale story. This film strips all the Hollywood fairytale and plonks the story in the mundane real world. The romance is careful and considered with real world reactions, the family reconciliation doesn't leave you with a happy happy family feeling, the Yoda equivalent offers opportunities but no answers and seems helpless through most of the film and the main character's kung fu obsession doesn't end with all conquering victory.

What you do get instead is a character tug of war where one side wants her to be a traditional Turkish girl and the other wants her to embrace modern Western idealism. For me this is what makes the film clever. It's not simply about a girl trying to overcome her limitations but a girl fighting to not be boxed in by any ones social norms whether it be Eastern or Western. The Western lifestyle is not held up as some moral superior as it is in many other films of this nature. This film is simply about a girl trying to forge her own path without having to embrace everyone else's values.

As a final note I noticed a lot of people thinking she is being kicked out of her martial arts class at the beginning of the film due to aggression. While it is true she is aggressive she's not being kicked out. The teacher notices her frustration at having no challenging opponents because she has out skilled everyone in the class the teacher feels be better of in a more advanced school. If you ask me this is good teaching and I wish more teachers were this observant.

Makes the Karate Kid look like Romper Room.

Not a martial art movie as such, more of a coming of age film, but the reason it caught attention is that the fighting scenes are actually better than you would find in films that actually ARE fight films! Great direction, great acting. Great use of background and motion. The central character has many scenes where she is running seemingly without direction or purpose, a metaphor for the twists and turns in her life.

Does a great job of showing western viewers the "other" side of the coin, what is like to come from a culture that limits expression rather than encourages it.

Very engaging. Highly recommended.

i found this little independent gem to be well crafted.it's about a Turkish girl living in Copenhagen,who wants to do her own thing,but her family being very conservative Muslims have their owns plans for her.the title obviously gives much of the plot away.but there's more to the movie than that.there's the cultural divide,and the gender bias as well.the fighting scenes are very well choreographed and are very elegant,almost balletic.there are no fancy camera tricks here.i was also impressed with the lead actress Semra Turan.i also like the ending.it wasn't your typical ending.then again,this isn't your typical movie.i'd say it's well worth a watch.for me,Fighter is a 9/10

Cinematography--Compared to 'The Wrestler,' a degree of verite and cinematic skill that disarms the viewer, and then hypnotizes as well.

Acting--The dialogue is minimal, but the pauses and silence poignant.

Story--The conflict in a 'balkanized' Denmark is volatile, as we saw recently jihad murders in the Netherlands and riots in France. While I harbor no love for Islam, the departure from the West from Christian values holds no cause for celebration.

The director of this film managed to mirror the two societies in a way that belabored neither, emphasizing the development of Aicha as an individual who became a champion, not so much in the ring, but to all those around her. Even her worst . . . I will stop here to avoid the spoiler.

I am a passionate about karate/kung fu/kickboxing movies. My cousin use to be like ten years ago, when he was younger. We have 7 years difference, and i became crazy about this style around 1 year ago... and i gave back the passion to my cousin. When this was released here in Quebec, i talked about it to my cousin, to my surprise he didn't wait to be with me to rent it... like we usually rent these movie together. And when he saw it, he totally dislike it... said to me there was not much fights and the story didn't save it... Well it took me almost 8 months to finally rent it, a night i really didn't know what to pick... and here we are... Glad i did, cause i totally enjoyed it... Sure there is indeed not that much fight and this have nothing to do with grudge match bloodsport style or undisputed style... Its all about the story, about a little girl who want to do what she want and should be allow to do so like every normal north American can do, but sadly she is born in a country and a culture that is way too much old school like its still the 1800s.... I may shock people here but i could never and will never understand the Muslims culture.... I am just SO NOT in religion and old school way of life... So for me that movie was very important, it use a subject i really like(martial arts) to demonstrate a story about racial problems and discrimination... It may not show a lot of fights, and they are very basic too, but its so much more than that.... Im the kind of guy who can appreciate an old school 1995 kickboxing movie about a grudge match between the former and the new champion, but i can also appreciate a good story movie and this is what it is.

The film notes describe the main role family, as Turkish immigrants which living in Denmark. However, it is so clear to understand that the fact is, the behavior and the culture point the family is absolute Kurdish. Similar social pressures and even cultural murders keep going on Turkey today on Kurdish ethnicity societies. What a worry...

It is widely accepted issue in Turkey today, the Kurdish immigrants living in European Countries today, which have moved from Turkey at 70's are culturally connected to the feudal moral laws system, by growing daughters and women under pressure, are giving harm to the Turkish International Image. Also, as same as widely accepted another issue is the Turkish or Kurdish immigrants on these countries are the reason negative aim about the Community Europe Nominee.