Black Belt (2007)

A Karate masters three students compete for to be the new master against events of historical events.

Director:

Shunichi Nagasaki

Writer:

Jôji Iida

Stars:

Akihito Yagi, Tatsuya Naka, Yûji Suzuki

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Akihito Yagi	...	Giryu
Tatsuya Naka	...	Taikan
Yûji Suzuki	...	Choei
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenji Anan
Takeshi Bito	...	Punk
Arashi Fukasawa	...	Kenta
Hakuryû	...	Police Captain Kiichi Tanihara
Rei Hanaoka
Atsushi Hida
Yû Kamio
Takayasu Komiya	...	Ohmoji
Tatsuya Mori
Atsuko Nakamura
Yôsuke Natsuki	...	Eiken Shibahara
Shin'ya Ohwada	...	Gouda Hidehisa (as Shin'ya Ôwada)

Storyline

The events take place in 1932 in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, in which the corrupt leaders of the Japanese army are trying to take over all the Karate dojos for their own personal benefit. Amidst these circumstances the master of one of these dojos dies before passing on the Kuroobi to his successor, leaving three of his pupils the task of deciding amongst themselves who deserves it most. After they bury their master, they are forced to leave the dojo and join the Japanese army. At this point, their journey leads them on rather different paths both in life and in the understanding of their master's teachings of martial arts, only to reunite them at the end.

---

Plot Keywords:

dojo | karate | manchuria | martial arts | red balloon | 

---

Taglines:

Real Fight, Real Karate, Real Japan.

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Sport

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The styles of karate used by the characters are all different: Taikan trains Shotokan style. Giryu trains Goju-Ryu style. Choei trains Kyokushinkai style

User Reviews

Kuro-Obi (Black Belt) Review

I do not have the language of a movie critic, just that of someone who appreciates the art. I have seen a lot of martial arts movies and I rate this one highly, not that it was real slick, but because of its simplicity and a nice feeling of time and place. I enjoyed the fight scenes because I have not seen many hard style films. So this was a treat to see actors who are Masters keep the fight scenes (with few exceptions), dynamic and strong. This movie captured my mind many times and gave me the immediacy of, "how would I react in similar situations?" And if I was up against a well trained fighter of this style, how would I do?

Like many of the reviewers, I was also at first confused by the final words of the master. As the movie progressed my interpretation was to fight with no mind, "mushin no shin," fully aware, not fixed, no plan, no target, no thought, no emotion. With just the body and deep consciousness in-charge, ready to express the art spontaneously as the fight presented itself. If you are truly in the no mind state you are not striking, "it" is doing the striking (I have had that experience but not as much as I would like). I did not see this in the final fight. But I would think that even the best martial artists would have a difficult time with that expression of the art as an actor, far too dangerous.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

13 October 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Black Belt

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Cafe Groove, Cross Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White