The Warrior (2001/I)

Director:

Asif Kapadia

Writers:

Asif Kapadia (screenplay)
Tim Miller (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 July 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

In feudal India, a warrior (Khan) who renounces his role as the longitme enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Amulet | Mountain | Blood | Severed Head

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Irrfan Khan	...	Lafcadia - Warrior
Puru Chibber	...	Katiba, Warrior's son
Aino Annuddin	...	Biswas
Manoj Mishra	...	Warrior
Nanhe Khan	...	Warrior
Chander Singh	...	Warrior
Hemant Maahaor	...	Warrior
Mandakini Goswami	...	Rabia
Sunita Sharma	...	The girl
Shaukat Baig	...	Clerk
Gori Shanker	...	Tarang village headman
Prabhuram	...	Blacksmith
Wagaram	...	Blacksmith's son
Ajai Rohilla	...	Quarrey foreman
Noor Mani	...	Riaz - Thief

Also Known As:

The Warrior (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

France:86 min | Argentina:86 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Himachal Pradesh, India

Company:

Bureau, The

Trivia:

The Hindi-language film "The Warrior" was chosen by the British Academy of Film and Television to represent the UK in the "Best Foreign Language Film" category at the 2003 Oscars. The AMPAA took the highly unusual step of rejecting the movie because although the film had a British-born director (of Indian ancestry) and was co-produced by three British companies, the film did not qualify as British since "Hindi was not a language indigenous to the U.K." The British Academy was forced to submit its second choice, the Welsh-language, "Eldra". In an ironic twist, "The Warrior" went on to win "Best British Film" at the British Academy Awards the following year, although it lost "Best Non-English Film" to a film from Spain.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before The Warrior tosses his dagger into the stream, a wire attached to the hilt to retrieve it from the water off-camera is clearly visible on the palm his left hand.

Simple, touching and beautifully shot

This was a really wonderful film. I saw it as the closing film of the Kent Film Festival and it was a suitably impressive finale.

It is an admittedly simple narrative about an experienced warrior-for-hire seeking redemption for his murderous ways but its simplicity is what makes it a universal parable that I felt struck that proverbial universal chord.

The veer away from the need for revenge towards a search for redemption was an interesting take on a fairly familiar feeling plot and the way the typical 'warrior film' themes were presented reminded me of Sergio Leone or John Ford westerns or the samuri films of Akira Kurosawa, such as 'Seven Samurai' or 'Sanjuro'.

Whether these films are your thing or not this is a film not to be missed because not only does it show that there is fresh, new directors coming through, but also because of the way the Himalaya's and the Indian deserts are shot (on a £2.5 million budget). It is truly stunning and was on a par with anything the afore mentioned John Ford or the great David Lean filmed.

This was a simple, touching and beautifully shot 86 minutes of film and I recommend it to anyone with a heart.