Redbelt

Redbelt is a 2008 American feature film written and directed by David Mamet. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. The main character is Mike Terry, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the owner of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio and a teacher who is trying to keep his school afloat financially without breaking his strict moral principles. A series of seemingly fortunate opportunities from various acquaintances forces him to decide whether they are truly advantageous for him, or whether someone is manipulating him. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is the core of the film, and Mamet knew it from his own training. He practises the art himself and earned a purple belt under Renato Magno, who was also the jiu-jitsu consultant on the film. The portrayal of the art was thus supervised by the director's own instructor. Mamet also brought people from the MMA community into the film: the fighters Randy Couture and Enson Inoue were given acting roles, as were Dan Inosanto and John Machado, the brother of Jean Jacques Machado, who acted in the film and planned the fights together with Rico Chiapparelli. According to the critic Andrew O'Hehir, the jiu-jitsu scenes are shot and edited so incomprehensibly that the quality of the choreography cannot be judged. James Berardinelli warned that viewers expecting many fight scenes from the film will be disappointed.

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

The fights were choreographed by John Machado and Rico Chiapparelli, and the jiu-jitsu consultant was Renato Magno. Filming began around July 2007, and many of the action scenes were shot in the Pyramid hall in Long Beach, California. Ejiofor's stunt double was Aaron Toney and Tim Allen's was Todd Warren, so in the action scenes the lead actors did not do everything themselves. In an interview with Reuters, Mamet described Ejiofor's preparation as twelve-hour days of physical training. Ejiofor, however, disputed this, saying that such intensity was not his experience. The critic Steven Rea called the final fight inadequate.

Fact and fiction

The plot of the film is fictional. The red belt referred to in the title represents, within the film, the highest recognition for devotion to a martial art and its principles. It is a symbol inside the story, not a description of the real belt system in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The marble training shown in the film is also a fictional element of the story. We did not find it in the sources as a documented BJJ training method. The lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a BJJ instructor, but we have not been able to find evidence that he practised the art for a long time.

People and martial arts

• David MametDirector· Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (real practitioner)
• John MachadoFight choreographer· Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (real practitioner)
• Rico ChiapparelliFight choreographer
• Chiwetel EjioforActor — as Mike Terry· Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (portrays the art on screen)
• Randy CoutureActor· MMA (real practitioner)
• Enson InoueActor· MMA (real practitioner)
• Renato MagnoTechnical advisor· Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (real practitioner)