Kung fu in rome movie review

In the Italian original, the new film by Gabriele Mainetti is called “La Città Proibita”, ie “the forbidden city”. The title refers to the multicultural district of Esquilino, which houses one of the largest Chinese communities in Rome, and there in particular to the area around the Piazza Vittorio, from which the office of the “Freaks Out” director is just 150 meters away. The German title “Kung fu in rome“On the other hand, there is a lot of shirt -sleeved and less poetic. But that has at least a big advantage: Almost everyone already knows after reading the title whether he wants to watch the film in the cinema or not – and you probably don't even do much wrong with this type of selection …

… Finally, “Kung Fu in Rome” offers both tough martial art action and atmospheric shots of the Italian capital. But even if he gets the content to the point, the German title, which would hardly be surprised at a third-class direct-to-DVD publication, will not really do justice to the film: Gabriele Mainetti not only delivers first-class, equally violent and winking kung fu fights, but also an unlikely love story with amazing heart and also Humor. No wonder that the film in its homeland always meets Bruce Lee on “A Heart and a Crown” (“Roman Holiday”).

The Chinesin Mei (Yaxi Liu) had been drafted extra to search for her missing sister Yun (Haijin Ye) in Rome. Now she is standing in front of a triad puff mother who should decide whether she has to work either as a slave in a brothel or in a kitchen. But Mei understands no fun and not only dismantles half the red light establishment, but then also directly the kitchen of the chinese restaurant by Triaden-Boss Mr. Wang (Shanshan Chunyu). Without mastering a word Italian, Mei only finds out that Yun should apparently be blown up with a married Roman.

And so she ends up in the restaurant of Marcello (Enrico Borello), who still suffers from the fact that his father Lorella (Sabrina Ferilli) has left him for a Chinese prostitute. While Mei continues to beat her sister undeterred and has to take up a lot, the two lost souls find together in summer Rome without a common language. However, there is still a tragic secret that will pull the floor away from them under their feet …

Already ever shot everything powder?

As if he expected that the audience reacts skeptically in the idea of ​​an Italian Martial arts stick, Gabriele Mainetti rightly at the beginning: Before we find out what the proud $ 17 million production is all about, “Kung Fu in Rome” starts with a good ten-minute sequence in which Mei flaps through dozens of opponents- First of all, tough athletes in the brothel, and then a wink and creative in the kitchen. This is incredibly impressive-and it hurts when you watch the gangster hand-handed in boiling oil like fish on the dry.

However, something like that does not just get a confessed kung fu film fan like Gabriele Mainetti. Instead, he knew what was really important-and so he first looked for a martial arts athlete and thus encountered the spectacular Tikot videos from Yaxi Liu, which was previously involved as a stunt-double from Yifei Liu in the Disney real film “Mulan”. That she doesn't speak an Italian? No matter, that fits the script anyway-and then the Bulgarian-born stunt choreographer Trayan Milenov-Troy (“Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation”) as well as other experienced Chinese stuntmen were added. In Italy, martial arts sequences were created, which would not have to hide in a Hollywood blockbuster, which is expensive ten times as expensive.

“Kung Fu in Rome” can no longer surpass his breathtaking start, even if the other confrontations in terms of choreography and staging, which are relatively rare in view of a length of two hours and 18 minutes. Instead, Gabriele Mainetti creates something that most in this genre no longer try: Mei and Marcello actually grow to heart-especially on a Vespa ride through the Roman night, in which the film really lives up to the second part of its German title and offers some of the most beautiful Rome pictures in a long time.

Conclusion: An Italian director without previous Martial arts experience would probably not have expected such first-class kung fu action. But Gabriele Mainetti's greatest performance is that a large part of the story filling material, which is only there in other films of the genre, has also been really successful in “Kung Fu in Rome”. Does that really have to be 138 minutes? Probably not – but boredom still arises, but the fights pop too much and you keep your fingers crossed for the romantic duo.