Final Weapon A Stephan Berwick Film
Stream: “Dorita – The Spirit” and “Finish Line” by Lou Reed
Final Weapon is a 15 minute action drama about holding, passing, and protecting an ancient form of martial art that when employed, renders the user invincible for 20 minutes, after which he/she dies. Lou Reed appears in the film as ‘The Holder’ of the secret ‘Final Weapon’ he and also contributed all of the music. Famed Taijiquan master, Ren Guangyi is also in the film, portraying ‘Holder 1.’
If that sounds good to you, maybe you’d like to enter to win a pair of tickets to the screening of Final Weapon on Tuesday, April 10 at 8:15pm at Anthology Film Archives as part of the NewFilmmakers Series. (Lou Reed will be there, along with Berwick, Guangyi and some of the cast.) Contest ends Monday, April 9 at noon, winner will be notified right away. Please only enter if you can attend.
Contest entry form, theatrical trailer and full press release after the jump.
Final Weapon is a 15-minute action drama about holding, passing, and protecting an ancient form of martial art that when employed, renders the user invincible for 20 minutes, after which he/she dies. The film takes viewers through the painful odyssey of an aging warrior making a fatal choice about using this weapon for his last battle. With Lou Reed appearing as ‘The Holder’ of the secret ‘Final Weapon’ and famed Taijiquan master, Ren Guangyi, as ‘Holder 1’, the film is fueled by a stirring use of music by Reed. The film also stars Michael Woods, one of Hong Kong’s most popular Western action performers from the 1980s through the early 1990s, who came out of film retirement specifically to star as ‘Protector 1’.
Final Weapon spurs questions about power and survival with a subtle story and diverse characters, dramatizing the vitality and fatality that comes with the power to determine ones own fate, as well as the fate of others. Inspired by the reality of weapons of mass destruction, Final Weapon reveals that there are those given the responsibility to use devastating weapons and those tasked with protecting such weapons. The question suggested by the film is whom are more important – those tasked with using such weapons or those responsible for protecting them?
The film was written, directed, and musical directed by Stephan Berwick, a Western pioneer of mainland China martial arts who was an early ‘foreign’ actor in the Hong Kong action film renaissance of the 1980s, under the famed director, Yuen Woping and action star Donnie Yen. Berwick performed in memorable films, such as ‘Tiger Cage’ and the ‘In the Line of Duty’ series. The Final Weapon is his film and musical directorial debut.
Final Weapon will be screening on April 10th at 8:15pm at the Film Anthology Film Archives as part of the NewFilmmakers Series (32 Second Avenue NYC).