Fantasia XXVIII Review: In THE OLD MAN AND THE DEMON SWORD, Fábio Powers Has The Power!
3 min. read
I’m new to Fábio Powers. His latest, The Old Man And The Demon Sword is not something I would have expected to see take a banner spot on a major festivals, but this is the case per its World Premiere listing for Fantasia Festival. Additionally, to say that it’s “different” film would almost certainly be understating its worthwhile significance.
Narratively, The Old Man And The Demon Sword is just over an hour long and bodes nothing short of a bonkers, shoestring budget affair with lowbrow special effects overall student film-level production value juxtaposed to the discerning performances of its cast. What Powers holds back on for most of the way is that this is entirely intentional in its execution, particularly given what happens in the last several minutes.
The first 95% percent of the film is all camp all the time as we follow the trajectory of a demon cursed to live in a sword until its rightful user can use it enough and help free it. The poor schmo that ends up with the thing however is Antonio (Antonio da Luz), a vagrant drunkard who finds himself stumbling into a monk’s battle with a gang of blotchy, all black demons called “Fears”.
The remainder of the film is nothing short of an aloof buddy comedy that also turns a little introspective at times. Antonio is consigned to train and learn how to use the sword until it can charge with an enough power to shatter the force field that has completely walled off his rural village and its residents from the rest of the world. Until then, he finds himself striking a rapport with the sword as the two begin delving in a range of subject matter that also examines faith, religion and purpose.
The two find themselves confiding in two personalities along the way: A bright spiritual entity known as “The Good Hour,” and a local ventriloquist whose home Antonio stumbles upon during his quest. Rounding out the film’s spectacle are several fracas between Antonio and the Fears, including hordes of batshit flying demons. There’s a fight with a minotaur, and a demon living in someone’s smartphone, as well as a cool motorcycle chase during which the sword finds a way to take Antonio’s moped and briefly weaponize it.
The final confrontation sees Antonio face to face with the village priest, and that’s when the whole of The Old Man And The Demon Sword turns way on its head. Thing is, that’s really the film’s most glimmering quality, and quite possibly speaks more to Powers’ reverence and vision than the shoddy D-list action horror The Old Man And The Demon Sword bodes as to the unengaged.
There’s no question that The Old Man And The Demon Sword would have been an electrifying action horror spectacle given the kind of means, creative caliber and sharpening. I easily see it as a film that mingles the exploitative horror, gore, and grit of Jason Eisner’s Hobo With A Shotgun, with the coolness of Hideaki Sorachi’s creation of Nizo Okada and the Benizakura for “Gintama”.
Story compartments like these, assembled with plenty of filmmaking gumption and action muscle through a Portuguese filter would have been a dream for me. No, of course that’s not what this movie is, and still, The Old Man And The Demon Sword still pulls off something remarkable, refreshing and poignant in its aftermath. If you’re gonna have any faith in something these days, have faith in that.
The Old Man And The Demon Sword was reviewed for the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival which runs from July 18 through August 4.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
