What is the heart of a martial arts film? Is it the fighting? The art, the skill set? The stunts? The (at times) brutal violence? Yes, to a large extent the reasons we watch these films is because we are either a fan or a practitioner of the art and these movies come with their own set of rules and mythos that the genre demands. And we seek out.
Early films from American filmmakers revolved around almost comic book types of martial artists. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way - they were fun, albeit unbelievable. The main characters were more traditional in style and approach and rarely were these men the 'bad guy' - they most certainly were not street thugs who ended up in jail from beating a man to death like the central character in "Confessions of a Pit Fighter."
As the martial arts in movies evolved so did the storytelling. Inner journeys became more common. Regret, though, in the form of a wasted life and the toll a life of brutality can take weren't foremost in those journeys. Director, writer, producer, stunt coordinator and actor Art Camacho plays out that theme writ small and tight in the mean streets of East L.A. where the elegance of life is razor thin and violence in many forms is your daily reality.
Hector Echavarria, a true martial arts master in many forms, plays Eddie Castillo, a man who is almost an unbeatable street fighter with feet and fists that devastate and punish and a jaw that can take massive amounts of abuse. These aren't the sanctioned fights of "Warrior" - they aren't even inside an underground fight club. They take place wherever there's an empty lot and a ring demarcated by tricked out cars and motorcycles driven by men every bit as badass as the fighters they are betting on. Castillo fights, wins, f*cks and goes home to a small apartment where he and his younger brother live.
During one fight, Echavarria's character kills a man with his bare fists and his younger brother (Ricardo Medina) witnesses it. Unknown at the time, this has a major impact on younger bro. Castillo goes to prison where he is beaten constantly by the guards until he fights for them, and brutalized further by the life style that's even worse than the mean streets he grew up on.
But as bad as he has it, the younger brother Castillo left behind has it worse. Only it doesn't seem that way because young bro is a street fighter now too - and he's good - very good. He's charismatic, well-liked and has no fear of either the alleyways of East L.A. or his opponents. What he doesn't realize is that the cycle of violence that created him will also destroy him. But Little Brother is so unaware of the toll his life-style will take, he never once gives it a thought as he drinks and fights and f*cks his way through his life. Just like his older brother who he worshipped. Even though he sees how the life rewarded his brother, Little Brother never processes the possibility of similar consequences for himself.
When Castillo gets out of jail, Little Brother is there to welcome him. It's been seven years and the time has changed both men. Castillo has learned a hard lesson - that in one hot moment, life can kick you so hard you never recover. Little Brother won't hear this, however, because he's on a hot streak - life is good and the women flow like the L.A. spillage ditches on a rainy day. Which really describes a lot of us, doesn't it?. We are typically so happy to be among the trees, we don't ever see the forest. The bigger picture of our actions escapes us in the day-to-day living we do. Before we know it, the insidiousness of our decisions comes to fruition and we look around suddenly to realize we've locked ourselves into a bad place. That is the truth in the tale here that Camacho wants to tell. Actions have direct but also generational consequences.
As Castillo tries to integrate back into the world that used to welcome him, he feels no longer a part of it. He can't really go back to who he was and he isn't sure how to move forward in a world that's left him behind. He's having a crises of identity.
Circumstances provide a terrible answer to his quandary.
When Little Brother is killed by a fighter named Matador played by Quinton Rampage Jackson (who reminds me a little of the raging Mr-T character in the third "Rocky" film,) Castillo sets out to find out how and why. In order to do that he will have to go back to pit fighting - something he's tried to learn to reject while in prison.
Initially, Castillo fights because his younger brother's girlfriend is pregnant and she needs money. Then, he begins to realize that maybe his younger brother wasn't just killed accidentally in a pit fight but rather on purpose to further the ambitions of a crooked promoter. This sets up the inevitable battle between the two men that will form the set piece of the last act.
Armand Assante plays the crooked promoter who deals in the shadowy world of bare-knuckle street fighting. There's money to be made in betting on a sure thing in the form of Rampage Jackson's character. Assante's character enlists the aid of Flava Flav who is much lower on the food chain of promoters but handles skilled and tough street fighters like Castillo who becomes one of Flav's fighters, and who he begins pushing up the ladder. In short order, it's gonna be Assante's fighter, Matador, and Flav's fighter, Castillo, going head to head for all the marbles, uh, money.
Camacho knows this material both from a martial arts standpoint ( he's a massively talented martial artist and fight coordinator) and from a street rat perspective. Having grown up in East L.A. the rhythms of the dark streets run hot in his blood. He was able to enlist real gangsters for his crowd scenes. In one interview he tells of a situation where two rival gangs almost came to war on the set which would have meant guns blazing. Camacho was able to calm the storm and finish the shoot but having filmed in the ugly parts of L.A. myself., I can tell you from experience you keep your head on a swivel and expect the worst to happen at any time. It gets real, fast.
I've always said the difference between a B-movie and an A-list film is the transitions between scenes. You don't have the time or money to shoot everything you need so you cheat the transition scenes - don't need 'em. Got the shot? Move on to the next major scene - that's all we have time for. It's a shame that Camacho didn't have the budget for this film that some of the A-listers do. The ugly, dirty, at times horrible life-style choices that poverty imposes would have been pushed to limits that I don't think we've seen before.
The fights in this film are violent, brutal and no-holds barred. There's very little "pretty" martial artistry here - except for Echavarria's spinning back kick. You can almost taste the blood and dirt when these men pummel each other. It's mano-a-mano with no quarter asked or given. When you step forward you're hit in the mouth until you either hit back or go down. Street rules meaning no rules at all.
Assante plays a credible bad guy. And Flava Flav is decent. Ricardo Medina who plays Little Brother is solid both acting and in martial arts. Yvonne Arias is muy hot as Little Brother's GF, and Brazilian pop star Gizelle d'Cole who plays Assante's arm candy is a sexy, sultry presence. I also really loved her contribution to the soundtrack "Pegandu Fogu" which plays in the beginning of the film.
This is a tough film in some ways to watch if you look below the surface and try to understand what is being said here. It saddens and shocks me to see brutality this obvious - and I have no doubt it comes from a truth that only someone who lived it can muster.
"Confessions of a Pit Fighter" is a B-movie but Camacho is a powerful and enduring filmmaker. If someone ever gives him a real budget he may well rocket into the big time instantly because he feels and films deeply...maybe too deeply for most of our taste.
It makes those of us who haven't had to fight for every scrap of our existence profoundly uncomfortable.
And that's a good thing.
