05-04-2015, 10:00 AM
Every once in a while, I will strongly recommend a martial arts flick to DOOM. This is one of those times.
[youtube]2cvX_WMResI[/youtube]
This is a classic family-slain-road-of-vengeance/youngen-meets-old-master flick, but the spin is that it's Maori. It's gorgeous, shot in the rugged wilds of New Zealand. The actors and costumes feel really authentic; it really honors native culture and belief systems. This was submitted as a Best Foreign Language film for NZ to the Oscars, but didn't make the final cut. There are vision quests (mushroom induced, but the dream visions are better).
There aren't any sword fights because Maori never developed metallurgy, but instead there are cudgels, spears, axes, jagged-tooth lined sticks and sharpened ping-pong paddles, all used with a real authentic feel for the Maori martial arts known as Mau Rakau. I would love to learn more about this style. This is really the debut showcase of it. There's lots of tongue sticking out, which is about as much as I know of Mau Rakau (I think this is called 'wiri' - the posturing and weapon brandishing psych moves prior to battle). The choreography is one action: one shot, but well conceived - simple, effective and totally brutal. Rated R for 'brutal bloody violence' it's a sanguineous flick with plenty of digital blood sprays, and lots of blood-soaked weapons. The raw tribal machismo of Maori warriors is very impressive and I loved the way their warrior code was spotlighted.
I've often said that I would love to see a Klingon movie, that is a Star Trek movie made entirely from the Klingon world view. I even have a working title: Worf's World. That's what this film is like - but it's based on something far more real, a fictional snapshot of Maori history how it might have been back in the day.
Rented this off iTunes.
[youtube]2cvX_WMResI[/youtube]
This is a classic family-slain-road-of-vengeance/youngen-meets-old-master flick, but the spin is that it's Maori. It's gorgeous, shot in the rugged wilds of New Zealand. The actors and costumes feel really authentic; it really honors native culture and belief systems. This was submitted as a Best Foreign Language film for NZ to the Oscars, but didn't make the final cut. There are vision quests (mushroom induced, but the dream visions are better).
There aren't any sword fights because Maori never developed metallurgy, but instead there are cudgels, spears, axes, jagged-tooth lined sticks and sharpened ping-pong paddles, all used with a real authentic feel for the Maori martial arts known as Mau Rakau. I would love to learn more about this style. This is really the debut showcase of it. There's lots of tongue sticking out, which is about as much as I know of Mau Rakau (I think this is called 'wiri' - the posturing and weapon brandishing psych moves prior to battle). The choreography is one action: one shot, but well conceived - simple, effective and totally brutal. Rated R for 'brutal bloody violence' it's a sanguineous flick with plenty of digital blood sprays, and lots of blood-soaked weapons. The raw tribal machismo of Maori warriors is very impressive and I loved the way their warrior code was spotlighted.
I've often said that I would love to see a Klingon movie, that is a Star Trek movie made entirely from the Klingon world view. I even have a working title: Worf's World. That's what this film is like - but it's based on something far more real, a fictional snapshot of Maori history how it might have been back in the day.
Rented this off iTunes.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse