The Warrior Details

Asif Kapadia's Anglo-Indian movie with Ifran Khan as the titular Warrior who works for a greedy landowner who's response to any village that can't pay its taxes is to send out his men to burn,loot and murder them.

Khan has grown tired of this and doesn't want his son Katiba growing up with this so leaves.The Landowner doesn't let anyone depart his service and sends the rest of the gang after him.

Katiba is captured and murdered before his horrified Father's eyes - he goes into grief-induced shock and is taken away by a local blacksmith.

You then expect a standard revenge story but he has renounced the sword and heads into the mountains in a spiritual journey.

He meets and is befriended by Rabia,a young boy who's parents he may well have killed and the two undertake a surrogate Father/Son relationship.

With a old blind woman who seems to know more about them than they know themselves and it all ends up in a deserted mountain village where scores are finally settled.

Its a beautifully paced piece - Khan brings a quiet dignity to the role expressing himself mainly visually(the script is muted to the point of subliminal) and once you get into its rythym it has a haunting spiritual quality(enhanced by the photography and sombre score) that belies the fact that is is Kapadia's first feature.

Not at all what I expected and all the more refreshing for that

A pilgrims progress...

A delicate and subtle tale of amorality finding spirituality on a journey of self discovery... although lacking a little in substance and style it is well worth watching at only 80mins long.