January 29, 2005

Hmm. Bendy.

(Posted In)

cyril.jpgWith all the well deserved hype around Tony Jaa claiming the international martial arts star throne there's a pretty major risk of overlooking some significant talent a little closer to home ... I've had some readers prodding me to look into a DVD release of the Besson-produced Banlieue 13 (no word anywhere on a French release yet, my hunch is that we'll see a Russian DVD first, and the Russian stands a better chance of being subtitled) and has just pointed out the stellar websites for Banlieue stars Cyril Rafaelli and David Belle.

We've linked to these before, but it's worth doing it again ... Rafaelli and Belle are two of the originators of a new form of martial arts that fuses traditional fight styles with gymnastics. They like to jump off buildings and generally defy gravity a lot. If you've seen the Yamakasi films - and if anyone has solid news on subtitled releases of either Yamakasi or Les Fils Du Vent, I'd like to know about them - you know what I'm talking about. Both of the artist sites above contain extensive video archives ... click and be prepared to scrape your jaw off the floor ... the videos don't appear to load properly with Firefox, so if you're having problems try IE ...

» Posted by Todd at January 29, 2005 09:51 PM
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Reader Comments

You make a point there Todd.
By the way I guess you misstyped the link.
it is
http://cyrilraffaelli.tribalix.com/

» Posted by hmm at January 29, 2005 10:29 PM

All better. Thanks.

» Posted by Todd at January 29, 2005 10:36 PM

ebay has unofficial yamakasi subtitled versions...the movie is just too basic and kinda subpar...no better than an ad featuring the acrobatic performers like that toyota commerical...

» Posted by Mark at January 30, 2005 07:31 AM

There's an HK DVD of Yamakasi. It's been out for a long time now. Anamorphic, DTS, English subs. It gets the job done. The "sequel" to the film, Les Fils du Vent, has recently seen an HK cinema release and should be on DVD soon.

» Posted by crazybee at January 30, 2005 11:19 AM

Banlieue 13 is due for a release here in France on February 15th. I wouldn't expect it to be subtitled.

Saying that though I don't think you'll miss an awful lot without subs. There more action, chases etc than dialogue anyway.

Cool film.

Peace

» Posted by SoLove at January 30, 2005 05:36 PM

I was actually about to go to the local cinema (in Jakarta); trying to look for reviews for "The Great Challenge aka. Les Fils du Vent," since I can't seem to decide between watching it or "Banyu Biru." I saw a trailer for LFdV at the theater screened right before I was about to watch "Tentang Dia." I remember thinking, "I gotta watch this the moment it screens, before it disappears.

Now I'm torn. Movies like these, LVdV, Banyu Biru, Tentang Dia, non-mainstream big screens, tend to run for a week before disappearing forever. At least the local art films get to show up later in VCD (though I can always buy a pirated DVD if ever so inclined...)

So I haven't found a review, but here's a NY Times movie description (warning: free subscription required) (easier on the dialup folks than the flash-bloated official site...)

Maybe I'll watch LVfD. But I think its better to support local cinema. But...

» Posted by fERDI:) at March 14, 2005 05:22 AM

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