The Invisible Fight
The Invisible Fight
A hilarious martial arts comedy from Estonia's Rainer Sarnet that blends metal and kung-fu in the most unexpected of settings.
1973. The USSR-China border. Rafael is on guard duty when he is attacked by mysterious fighters. Utterly fascinated by the long-haired black-clad Chinese hippies flying around blasting the forbidden Black Sabbath music from their portable radios, Rafael is struck by a revelation: he too wants to become a kung-fu warrior. Fate leads him to a monastery where Orthodox monks offer to train him in the ways. But the road to the almighty power of humility is long, winding…and kicks ass.
Programmer's note: There’s movies... and then there’s Estonian Orthodox metal-head kung-fu movies! Probably the wildest cinematic mash-up you’ll see this year (and we have Riddle of Fire in the mix!), the latest from mad genre scientist Rainer Sarnet (November) imagines what happens when a Black Sabbath-obsessed teenager joins the orthodoxy to learn the secrets of “black metal kung fu,” 36 Chambers of Shaolin-style. Set in the years of the Soviet Union and conceived with a gleeful sense of deadpan comedy, a mastery of genre cinema’s retro appeal and a tender heart to underpin it all, The Invisible Fight unfolds like the Tarantino-Kaurismaki lovechild you didn’t know you needed.
—Ariel Esteban Cayer
Australian Premiere
1973. The USSR-China border. Rafael is on guard duty when he is attacked by mysterious fighters. Utterly fascinated by the long-haired black-clad Chinese hippies flying around blasting the forbidden Black Sabbath music from their portable radios, Rafael is struck by a revelation: he too wants to become a kung-fu warrior. Fate leads him to a monastery where Orthodox monks offer to train him in the ways. But the road to the almighty power of humility is long, winding…and kicks ass.
Programmer's note: There’s movies... and then there’s Estonian Orthodox metal-head kung-fu movies! Probably the wildest cinematic mash-up you’ll see this year (and we have Riddle of Fire in the mix!), the latest from mad genre scientist Rainer Sarnet (November) imagines what happens when a Black Sabbath-obsessed teenager joins the orthodoxy to learn the secrets of “black metal kung fu,” 36 Chambers of Shaolin-style. Set in the years of the Soviet Union and conceived with a gleeful sense of deadpan comedy, a mastery of genre cinema’s retro appeal and a tender heart to underpin it all, The Invisible Fight unfolds like the Tarantino-Kaurismaki lovechild you didn’t know you needed.
—Ariel Esteban Cayer
Australian Premiere
when and where
date and time
MON, OCT 16, 2023
9:30 PM - 11:40 PM
9:30 PM - 11:40 PM
Presenters
Similar Sessions
The Invisible Fight
MON, OCT 16, 9:30 PM
Screen Festival
A hilarious martial arts comedy from Estonia's Rainer Sarnet that blends metal and kung-fu in the most unexpected of settings.
1973. The USSR-China border. Rafael is on guard duty when he is attacked by mysterious fighters. Utterly fascinated by the long-haired black-clad Chinese hippies flying around blasting the forbidden Black Sabbath music from their portable radios, Rafael is struck by a revelation: he too wants to become a kung-fu warrior. Fate leads him to a monastery where Orthodox monks offer to train him in the ways. But the road to the almighty power of humility is long, winding…and kicks ass.
Programmer's note: There’s movies... and then there’s Estonian Orthodox metal-head kung-fu movies! Probably the wildest cinematic mash-up you’ll see this year (and we have Riddle of Fire in the mix!), the latest from mad genre scientist Rainer Sarnet (November) imagines what happens when a Black Sabbath-obsessed teenager joins the orthodoxy to learn the secrets of “black metal kung fu,” 36 Chambers of Shaolin-style. Set in the years of the Soviet Union and conceived with a gleeful sense of deadpan comedy, a mastery of genre cinema’s retro appeal and a tender heart to underpin it all, The Invisible Fight unfolds like the Tarantino-Kaurismaki lovechild you didn’t know you needed.
—Ariel Esteban Cayer
Australian Premiere
The Invisible Fight
THU, OCT 19, 7:00 PM
Screen Festival
A hilarious martial arts comedy from Estonia's Rainer Sarnet that blends metal and kung-fu in the most unexpected of settings.
1973. The USSR-China border. Rafael is on guard duty when he is attacked by mysterious fighters. Utterly fascinated by the long-haired black-clad Chinese hippies flying around blasting the forbidden Black Sabbath music from their portable radios, Rafael is struck by a revelation: he too wants to become a kung-fu warrior. Fate leads him to a monastery where Orthodox monks offer to train him in the ways. But the road to the almighty power of humility is long, winding…and kicks ass.
Programmer's note: There’s movies... and then there’s Estonian Orthodox metal-head kung-fu movies! Probably the wildest cinematic mash-up you’ll see this year (and we have Riddle of Fire in the mix!), the latest from mad genre scientist Rainer Sarnet (November) imagines what happens when a Black Sabbath-obsessed teenager joins the orthodoxy to learn the secrets of “black metal kung fu,” 36 Chambers of Shaolin-style. Set in the years of the Soviet Union and conceived with a gleeful sense of deadpan comedy, a mastery of genre cinema’s retro appeal and a tender heart to underpin it all, The Invisible Fight unfolds like the Tarantino-Kaurismaki lovechild you didn’t know you needed.
—Ariel Esteban Cayer
Australian Premiere
