![Screen Shot 2021-04-26 at 下午12.21.35.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23xLFhuA9qmkiqnobhvgvkTU2d16CtJE53zQBq14EtXRCJmmcoHWCyyYyyPgHHZWKXHKa.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**

*Synopsis:* 

*A 36 years old accountant takes to learning karate after being brutally mugged and beaten by a mysterious gang of bikers. His growing passion for the discipline improves his skill and confidence, but he goes on to find that there is a far darker underbelly to his newly adopted dojo and it’s lead teacher.*

**Work Woes and White Belts**

The Art of Self-Defense is a dark drama starring Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role of Casey Davies, but there is no tech prodigy or magician to be found in this story, but rather a timid accountant in his late 30’s who tries his best to keep under the radar, avoid confrontations and lead a simple life with his little Dachund by his side. It is on one fateful night that he runs out of dog food and decides to venture out into the darkness, providing nature the opportunity to show off it ruthless and random brutality. For out of nowhere, a gang of bikers ambush and beat him close to death, leaving him bed ridden in a hospital, the event serving to only further compound and highlight his vulnerability and further aggravate his weaknesses and fears. 

The traumatic experience results in the protagonist proceeding to follow the steps to secure a firearm from a local gun store in the hope of ensuring protection from future harm, but despite this, fate would conveniently place a karate dojo within his sights on his walk home, and the teachings of the powerful, confident and wise head instructor within would inspire him to learn karate.  It is within the hallowed walls of the dojo that Casey would begin to develop the toughness and confidence that he had always been lacking, The eventual attaining of his yellow belt would mark one of the proudest moments of his life, and under the tutelage of his sensei, he would begin to make further changes in order to take the energy, skills and mindset from the dojo into every other area of his life.



![Screen Shot 2021-05-02 at 下午3.07.14.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23tGY4GAF269w529zRVDvDKF89UanFG3nKtaSsiGHHkH7ksuzX3ctHBgXb4EnrAKL5QiG.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**

![Screen Shot 2021-05-02 at 下午3.07.52.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23vsLSQr8ZP5eSXyz8Cu1ytF51j16bbojfPg8XdAq4kZpuA87CT2DAKs1rN9TUAwNaCbn.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**



 

While Casey went on to find a love and passion for his newfound hobby, a far darker and more sinister set of truths would start to make its presence felt as Casey became better aware of certain dynamics within the dojo’s hierarchy. Uncomfortable and rather bizarre practices would unfold as Casey became closer to his sensei who would eventually give him privileged access to the dojo’s nighttime activities. While Casey started off believing that his sensei was a trusted, wise and experienced practitioner of the martial arts who cared for his students despite his tough exterior, he would rather come to discover the man he had held in such high esteem would, in fact, turn out to be a highly sadistic, manipulative mad man posing not only as a corrupt instructor, but as the poster child for toxic masculinity. With the help of the only female practitioner who already found herself deep in the hole of the dojo’s dealings, Casey would work to use his new set of skills to rid himself of the person that gave it to him in the first place. 

**The Good**

The Art of Self-Defense does well to veer violently off course from the assumption that all that is on offer here is the typical zero to hero story. While I began thinking Karate Kid and Mr. Miyagi, I would progress to uncomfortably squirming at the reality of Fight Club and Tyler Durden, and that is precisely the tone that this films takes, and it would not surprise me one bit if this was the exact blend that the film maker was gunning for. 

What starts out as a relatable story of a man trying to empower himself, transforms into the slow and unassuming entanglement within the web of a manipulative and misogynistic karate instructor with a fair bit more than a few skeletons in the closet. The film does a fair job at juxtaposing the prescribed virtues of karate and the far more aggressive, merciless and slightly bizarre activities of the night classes, which serve to reveal the true nature of the sensei and the dark dynamics of his enterprise.


![Screen Shot 2021-05-02 at 下午3.08.50.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23w2exgcm9UcnQbjMDHdnPz147tDmnJqmsWxZ25hxaM1enF2UiSbhoZF5fhNxDRUtQd8Q.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**

![Screen Shot 2021-04-26 at 下午12.26.31.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23t79KYCBUGzBDa8zsk9d1iC9UHe8W4eLiFDqnVhYQ2oar3AfofU76fdE7MPCaGvXNsuE.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**

 

The film found a good rhythm and did well in presenting puzzle pieces that found their place when the appropriate time would arrive, leaving no occurrence to go to waste. There’s a brutality that comes across as rather unexpected in the film and creates a decent amount of intrigue that never fully allows the viewer to get comfortable, the film doing a good job of disrupting its pace with jaw dropping scenes and unexpected twists.

**The Bad**

While impressing with its unpredictability and dark sensibilities, I couldn’t help but think that a different decision could’ve been made for the casting of the lead role. While Eisenberg has classically been type casted as the weak nerd in many previous films, there was something that didn’t really feel right about his somewhat robotic portrayal of Casey or the awkwardness with which he approached sparring sessions and fights. There were also scenes that just came out as less believable, and the scenes in Casey's office in particular, felt a little too close in similarity to scenes in a film like Fight Club that attempted to showcase the same sentiments.  

Some of the fight montages also came across as play fighting, but were at least well balanced out by some of the more real and visceral events in later scenes.


![Screen Shot 2021-05-02 at 下午3.10.15.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23tkpRyjckMLeETDs9uWqNjFqPLFqGWYVDjtwR6GZ8m3oxbi2DUWi8Kw4k6xAHTYfR6jn.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**
![Screen Shot 2021-04-26 at 下午12.28.07.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/oryans.belt/23w2HFhanRWfVtPkxwpQFMsoP6mLnnfqxa6nX1RWMny65g7B6S4K82s3PEW46WuRzdXa4.png)
**Screenshot From Mac**

 

**Bow To the Master**

A film like The Art of Self-Defense is one that easily flies under the radar, and unfortunately so, as this was a film that did well to take a classic concept of acquiring combat skills and showing the troubling politics and implications behind it. Again, I like the composition of the film, and how every scene did not go to waste, rather, they fit in snugly within the greater narrative. I feel the strong spirit of films such Fight Club and Green Street Hooligans in this one, and in similar fashion to these aforementioned films, it demonstrates the pleasure that comes from pain, the satisfaction that skin and bones heal and that one can choose to go from victim in the world to an alpha who fears nothing. 

Of course, it also shows the downfalls to this mentality and the price that one can end up paying for it. But in a time where mixed martial art has become the popular choice for fitness and functionality, the film shows the great potential we all have within us and the strength that can be developed with others who are drawn to the same practices, the film doing well to demonstrate the comradery that is forged on the blood stained mats of the dojo. 

The film is certainly not going to be every person’s cup of tea, the brutal violence is well spaced out but still has a gut churning effect which makes this one hard to watch twice, but it is nonetheless worth a look for its pacing, production, writing and delivery, and gets credit for giving an age old concept tough skin and razor sharp teeth. Wax on and wax off, grasshopper. Wishing you all happy viewing ☺. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bms6Hba-3A