The Subtle Artfulness of The Art of Self-Defense

In this day and age of confused gender roles, a time in which what it means to be a man is continually brought into question by academics and activists, The Art of Self-Defense offers up a black comedy to examine this very issue. Written and directed by Riley Stearns (Faults 2014), who seamlessly weaves his dark humor into a slow burn thriller to remarkable effect. Jesse Eisenberg stars as Casey Davies, an accountant afraid of his own shadow and painful awkward in social settings.

After being violently attacked by a gang of motorcycle riding thugs and while recuperating he is first compelled to purchase a firearm. Of course, there is a waiting period of a background check before he can actually make the purchase and directly after this, Casey stumbles upon a karate dojo offering a free trial in lessons of self-defense. Casey takes advantage of that free trial and his metamorphosis slowly begins. He becomes enamored with Anna played by the always outstanding Imogene Poots and befriends another student of the dojo as his awkwardness gradually fades.

Alessandro Nivola (You Were Never Really Here) is intriguingly compelling as the dojo’s sensei which is the only name given for this character. His soft spoken and attentive personality only accentuates his commanding presence. He refuses to show emotion and yet seems able to display compassion even when he’s demanding his students bend to his will. Much to do is made about the significance of belt colors, or status. The color of the belts that the students aspire to obtain become metaphors for the necessary skills it takes in status seeking.

Henry, the friend Casey has made seeks to graduate to a blue belt. Anna, the girl he clearly yearns for also seems in line for a promotion to the next level belt status but when that time comes, to the surprise of many it is Casey who is promoted from a white belt to yellow belt, while both Henry and Anna fail to gain the status they were seeking. Casey doesn’t feel he’s earned this belt and tries to give it back but the soft spoken sensei coaxes out of hin the reason he joined the dojo in the first place. The sensei invites Casey to join the night classes which are next level lessons in the art of self-defense.

In this new world Casey has found himself in nothing is as it seems and once joining the night classes his eyes are opened to this fact. Henry, who was not invited to join and feeling the sting of being passed over for promotion to a blue belt while Casey was quickly granted his yellow belt decides to show up to the night class anyway. This does not end well for Henry. In a particularly brutal match between Anna and another (male) student who was promoted to the belt she felt she deserved, she took upon herself to demonstrate the sensei’s mistake by nearly beating her opponent to death.

While Casey is discovering a newfound assertiveness that allows him to quickly establish his alpha male dominance over co-workers who once rejected him, he is also beginning to discover the dark underbelly of the dojo and its senei. This discovery is a betrayal that he now feels equipped to deal with head on and here is where this black comedy truly becomes thrilling. This betrayal has raised questions with Casey about his past, his sense of inadequacies as a man and how maybe an alpha male doesn’t have to emulate their sensei in order to establish dominance.

Establishing dominance, that status Casey has so long yearned for, may not be the best route to becoming an effective alpha male. It’s as if Stearns is accepting at least some of the recent dialogue about the “toxic male,” and examines that notion through Casey’s journey in this dojo. More importantly, Stearns seems to earnestly offer a compelling argument that the alpha male can lead by allowing his students to find their own way.