Silver Screen Streak List #22:
01. The Warrior (2001)

I can get pretty smug regarding online lists of obscure movies, as there are usually not many surprises for me. Credit where it's due: Out of 28 movies on its list, The Independent came up with six that I had never heard of before, including the first on the list: Asif Kapadia's The Warrior (2001). Kapadia has become known recently as a documentary director, winning an Oscar for Amy (2015), about singer Amy Winehouse, and I'm a fan of his later examination of the legendary footballer Diego Maradona (2019).

Almost two decades earlier, The Warrior was Kapadia's feature debut and won the BAFTA for Best British Film. It's a visually grand period piece about a prestigious swordsman (Irrfan Khan) in feudal India who goes through a 21st Century moral revaluation of his 14th Century vocation: Maybe he's a bad guy? With its minimalist (and increasingly clichéd) narrative underplayed in favor of its ambitious canvas, The Warrior works well as a quiet mood piece with a somber, reflective vibe. Kapadia relies with deserved confidence on Roman Osin's grand cinematography and veteran Khan's subtle performance, and it pays off. The Warrior could have easily gone wrong by overstating its simple premise or overloading the sparse story with unneeded plot, but it's extremely well-measured all-around and a capable demonstration of a fledgling director with an uncanny mastery of tone.