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IMDb > Kuro-obi (2007)
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Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   385 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 21% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Shunichi Nagasaki
Writer:
Jôji Iida (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Black Belt on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 October 2007 (Japan) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Sport more
Tagline:
Real Fight, Real Karate, Real Japan.
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
Poetic and powerful more

Cast

  (Credited cast)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Black Belt (International: English title)
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Runtime:
95 min
Country:
Japan
Language:
Japanese
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR
Certification:
Australia:M
Company:
Cross Media more

FAQ

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17 out of 21 people found the following comment useful:-
Poetic and powerful, 17 July 2008
8/10
Author: foodi from Vancouver

Disregard kobushi's review. His years of experience practicing karate have apparently clouded his judgment considerably. No one save perhaps himself and a handful of others cares a hoot about the true to life mechanics of real-world karate. Suffice to say his approach to the film is laughable in its narrow-mindedness.

The film presents a deceptively simple and elegantly told martial arts fable, set against a backdrop of an increasingly militarized japan. The fight scenes , tho admirably staged and completely credible (and shocking in their immediacy), are merely the seasoning on a powerful tale of good vs. evil. The stylistic flourishes and acrobatic excesses which plague most other martial arts movies are completely absent, and that is a welcome and long overdue development. The script seamlessly fuses the protagonists' journeys of self-discovery with the setting in which the story unfolds. The director's calm, measured approach is refreshing in its economy, a rare thing in a martial arts film. There is a charming honesty about the whole project that makes it difficult to resist..

As the two protagonists wrestle with their own diametrically opposed natures and strive to discover the secret of their training, the inevitable standoff between them is subdued but satisfying, like the film itself. The supporting characters (and I'm thinking mainly of the evil army general), though two-dimensional, are well-written and performed. The acting is uniformly excellent, a laudable accomplishment since apparently many of the martial artists are non-actors..

More than likely the film will be derided by the ADD generation, but i thought it was a welcome return to the style of old Japanese classic films (Reminiscent also of early Bruce Lee movies, in content as well as in spirit). It isn't pretentious or abstruse enough to be labelled an art film, and it shuns the spectacle of mainstream schlock. Kuro-Obi is a humble, poetic film both funny and moving.. and is adorned with a beautiful musical score.

a resounding 8/10

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Other movies like this one? waneagony
Kyokushin? Or Shotokan? Thecesar-1
Great movie. platothelapdog
Is this karate kid bombTHEbass
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