Redbelt is the latest film from the prolific and subversive writer and director David Mamet; it will not fail to disappoint those who love Mamet’s works for their complex and intricate dialogues. A dark and twisted journey through the world of the mixed martial arts (MMA) subculture, Redbelt manages to incorporate David Mamet’s usual philosophical concerns, the analysis and criticism of dominance and masculinity in today’s society.

The main character Mike Terry (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a martial arts instructor who rescues a terrified Chet Frank (played by Tim Allen) from a violent encounter in an American bar. Chet Frank is a leading Hollywood star and the incident leads to an offer of work for Terry in Chet’s latest film…an offer that seems too good to be true.

Prior to this encounter, Terry, under financial pressure approaches a loan shark for help; an offer of work in a Hollywood film is like a golden ticket out of misery. As Terry becomes embroiled in the plot the film proposal begins to collapse, revealing a much more sinister undercurrent to the seemingly innocent scheme.

Terry, a deeply philosophical character, is an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but his strong ethical stance means that he chooses to use his expertise to teach street kids to defend themselves, rather than engaging in competitive combat. In a typical David Mamet storyline, the job offer turn’s out to be a con with the aim of coercing Terry into fighting competitively, the financial pressures slowly erode Terry’s moral strength and he begins competing.

You can see here David Mamet’s objectives of producing a criticism for the masculine dominated ideology that runs through the heart of the action-film industry; the films tag line is “there’s always an escape”, this is basically reflecting the idea that by using intelligence and subversion, there are ways of undermining these ideologies. This is symbolised by the choice of martial arts assigned to the main character. Jiu-Jitsu is based on the philosophy that given the right knowledge, the weak can defeat the strong. This is symbolic of the overall message, and the fact that Terry is using his expertise to teach kids to defend, rather than fight could also be considered as symbolic; a modern day David and Goliath. However, whether the weak win out in this film is for you to establish once you watch it.

The choice for the main actor has been a particular stroke of genius; Chiwetel Ejiofor is renowned for his versatility as an actor and was chosen by David Mamet for his ability to play two such different roles as those of Kinky Boots and Children of Men; surely helpful for playing such a psychologically divided and morally confused character as Terry.

Although the DVD has already been released in the USA, Redbelt is to be screened in cinemas across the UK from the 26th September 2008.