So last week I went to see the latest film by Gavin O'Connor. Not usually know for his box office hits, but rather those that win big at Film Festival's such as Sundance. He is formally know for films such as Pride and Glory with Colin Farrell and Tumbleweeds which hit big back in 1999. Not too familiar myself with his work, I was particularly excited to see what a fresh take he would have on the world of MMA.
The premise is a torn family which try to distance from each other in order to forget, but not really forgive. The phrase 'I forgive you, but I don't trust you' is used by Brendan Conlon (the older brother in this fractured family, played by Joel Edgerton). This pretty much gives an overview of how the story runs.
The father (played by Nick Nolte -famed for playing unstable characters) is a drunken, war veteran, fighting trainer. Throughout the film it becomes apparent that he has always favoured the younger son Tommy (Tom Hardy) as the fighting champion of the family. Even when they were younger, he trained full time with his youngest because he saw more potential.
What I drew from the film, as a media student, was the reference to Russia through the fighter 'Koba' (played by Kurt Angle, glorified WWF/WCW champion). This was brought to light through the Rocky series via boxer 'Ivan Drago'. The historical context that these films use is hinting at previous tensions between the two states in the 1940's. The cold war was an era in which the two powers came to blows and within this media platform, directors subliminally refer to this from time to time. This interests me due to the historical nature and such a story being brought in to modern day; through now common events such as sport.
Another comparison to the Rocky series that I would give Warrior is that the two films are orientated completely differently. What I mean by this is how the outcome through the film is not obvious in Warrior, but with Rocky, even though it is a timeless classic; its pretty much predictable. Through Rocky it is apparent who the hero is (Stallone), and therefore regardless of the events throughout we always know who will come out on top. On the other hand, Warrior allows you to follow the thought provoking, heartfelt story, without realising what the outcome will be. This is down to the fact that the brothers both have a 'fighting chance' (sorry for the pun) to be the hero of the story. Both with lives I as an audience member related to, this film was easy to get lost in.
The shooting of this film was very voyeuristic, visible by the angles in which the actors are framed. The shots tend to be as if the audience is a fly on the wall, seeing what is going on in private conversations and the likes. Many shots had certain objects obstructing the view slightly as to give the effect of the viewer spying on the characters.
I do like the way in which O'Connor decided to film this, due to the fact that their is a voyeur in everyone of us; or else why would we watch film? We like to see what is going on with other peoples lives. Fact or fiction.
Themes in Warrior are fairly obvious, but exciting and unique all the same. The twist that the film takes on the patriotic look at America (commonly used) is very juicy. From the back story of Tom Hardy's character, to the previously mentioned Cold War reference; the film has many paths through various characters and locations. Americans love to use patriotism within film to portray what they would perceive to be the 'American Dream'.
Enough babbling from me anyway. I will now give my verdict!
For me, this film gave me everything that I could ever want out of a sport inspired feature. It had family, violence, emotion and even to a certain extent, mystery. I like the fact that throughout the film, at no point was I greeted with mushy romance; because frankly I don't like it! I have to say, Tom Hardy's performance in this film was beautiful. He portrays a character with so much back story, you feel as if he is MMA fighter Tommy Conlon.
I give this film 10/10!
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