The Warrior (2005)

Very Cool!!!

Disturbing yet enthralling

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

In todays modern age we so many films that are overwhelmed with special effect or over-written scripts, not to mention that here in the US there is the tendency to overlook the foreign film industry in major markets.For viewers who truly appreciate art, you will find it in this movie. Aside from the musical score and occasional subtitle, this film could be presented as a silent film where its plot would still be completely understood and appreciated.By far, this is one of the best pieces of theatrical work I've seen. Simple and to the point, but a majestic work of art.

I have never been so disappointed in a film. This is a thin thin story that takes 1.5 hours to tell. Every word is chewed before it is spit out and each conversation, each shot is dragged out until you are ready to scream in frustration. If it went at a normal clip the film would be over in 35 minutes and even then it would not be time well spent. The story is rather pointless and pretends to be profound and abstract. The setting is modern or is it ancient? There is a warlord, there are warriors, there are beheadings galore and rape, plunder and pillage. So you think this is a time long ago - but then there are "shawls" being sold in the marketplace, the children are calling their parents Mummy and Papa - what the hell is this film all about? Irrfan is stuck in this pathetic mess as the only man who actually acts - but what can one man do with such a non-story? The locales in the desert and then Kullu are beautiful, but I could watch a National Geographic documentary on India and derive much more pleasure. The scriptwriter was hallucinating and the director out to lunch when they made this film. Only the cinematographer and Irrfan Khan were conscious. It is avoidable even for the die-hard Irrfan fan, which I am. If you do watch it keep your finger on the fast-forward button so the torture can be shortened. Take frequent breaks and you will still miss nothing as it is all in real time, every meal, every walk is in real time. Why was this considered so award worthy? The BAFTA folks must be morons.

What makes this movie outstanding is the depiction of how one individual gives up evil, and gains the cooperation of life as he is saved from death by the very child who "caused" him to give up his life of killing in the first place.Also, we see the influence of a powerful female guru who ignores him along the way, and by being detached aides in in his transformation.This is an Indian story indeed, as it perceives the law of karma in effect. You are a murderer and for your evil deeds your son dies, sacrificed for your evil and so you can change.Also, because earlier he stopped himself from killing his son's child friend, he is saved by the little girl after he has given up a life of evil.Westerners think these are devices to make a story interesting, but it is not. It is a level of subtlety we easily miss in the West. Many Indians know that these are the ways that life works. It is directed by an Indian who would now.More wisdom and insight contained here than 95% of Hollywood films.

I was blown away by this film. Not just by the edgy violence and the no-holds-barred candidness of the brutality but also by the visual spectacle of it. I like the way it was shot, I like the poetic aspects of it, I liked its symbolism, the limited Dialogue, its juxtaposition of good against evil, of beauty against certain mortality, it was just overall a brilliant film.I admit when I first saw the cover of the DVD, it didn't want to borrow it because I don't like war films, but when I saw that the main star was Irfan Khan, I had to take my chances. It turned out not to be a film about war in the very common sense at all.The story revolves around the life of a warrior (Irfan Khan) as he tries to make the transition from merciless mercenary murderer to his redemption, but is halted when his son in brutally abducted and murdered in retaliation to his leaving the mob brotherhood under which he formerly served. After making a promise to his goddess that he will never pick up a sword again, he must now avenge his son's death as well as do good by the people he has hurt or wronged in the past.