Sept. 30, 2023

Comfort Films 93: The Raid: Redemption (2011)

Comfort Films 93: The Raid: Redemption (2011)

In this last episode of our martial arts film month, we welcome guest Frank Bonanno as we shift our focus from Hong Kong to Indonesia with Gareth Evans's bone-crunching film The Raid: Redemption. We discuss the many types of martial arts featured in the film - most notably, pencak silat, an indigenous class of martial arts from Indonesia, the speed, style, and innovation of the cinematography, the mixing of survival horror video game and slasher horror conventions that make this a unique action film, the many fast action/fighting films that The Raid: Redemption paved the way for (including John Wick), the boundless creativity of low-budget film, how a movie this brutal could still be a comfort film, and the absolutely insane stunt work that makes this film a modern masterpiece. Slap on your body armor and storm this building with us!

Frank BonannoProfile Photo

Frank Bonanno

Born on Long Island the progeny of a badger and a gentle breeze, I was always destined for greatness. My life absolutely defies explanation. There have been arrests, kidnappings, international money laundering, car crashes, coyotes, haunted sound stages, sociopathic employers, fighting (both in and out of the ring), Samuel L Jackson, Barak Obama, Hercules, 50 cent, Star Wars and Avengers, stitches, couches, stairwells, tours, evil landlords, 120 hour work weeks, 40 hour work days, 36 roommates, spectacularly failed relationships, and a decade of partying, debauchery, hedonism and anarchy. In that time, I have worked professionally as a freelance artist, tattooer, blacksmith and production designer. I also have done every job under the sun in the name of survival. Throughout all of this madness, art has been the one constant and my reason for existing. I am half insane and I no longer relate to the world around me; I have gone though all the hell there is in pursuit of this passion, this love. My only hope is that one day it loves me back as fervently as I love it. I want to do things that are different. I don’t know if I am succeeding but I am trying. But regardless if I make a huge splash or die cold and alone, none of y’all can fuck with this.