El puño del cóndor

The team of director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, martial artist Marko Zaror, and Gina Aguad (Zaror’s mentor and mother) has been making action films in Chile for the past 17 years. Their works include Kiltro (2006) and Redeemer (2014). Although Zaror has crossed paths on-screen with John Malkovich and Mel Gibson, worked with directors including Robert Rodríguez and is soon to be seen in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), he is finally due to break through as a global action star and make his mark on the international film-festival circuit beyond the usual genre and Asian fests. El puño del cóndor is the right occasion.

Reliance on special effects is kept to a minimum, as Zaror and his co-stars are genuine practitioners of martial arts – and their well-placed fight scenes are stunning. Surrounding these spectacles is a colourful plot that self-consciously draws on Hong Kong classics and Chilean history and mythology, but also shows deep respect for the genre. Zaror plays twins, but sorting out good from evil, and knowing exactly who possesses the sacred book of their Master, will doubtless require several sequels. In the meantime, revel in the complicated ‘backstory’ flashes and the galvanising scenes of rigorous training. El puño del cóndor offers pure genre, but also pure cinema: physical, exciting, magical and intoxicating.

– Adrian Martin