Director Riley Stearns says he didn't realize he was making a perfect movie for 2019 when he started writing "The Art of Self-Defense " four years ago.
But his darkly comedic riff on toxic masculinity starring Jesse Eisenberg as a timid and "weak" man who takes up karate just kept becoming more relevant. The Harvey Weinstein allegations broke during the shoot in 2017 and the #MeToo movement became a phenomenon.
"It was kind of weird that this idea that I had been feeling was very personal to me was really starting to spread into a direct discussion," Stearns said. "More and more people are relating to the film in ways that I originally wouldn't have intended, which is hugely humbling and very interesting to see."
This image released by Bleecker Street shows Imogen Poots, left, and Jesse Eisenberg in a scene from "The Art of Self-Defense." (Bleecker Street via AP)
"The Art of Self-Defense" is currently in 540 theaters nationwide, where it's finding a healthy audience amid all the flashier blockbusters and superhero films in the multiplex.
Eisenberg's character Casey Davies is mocked even for his "feminine" sounding name. After getting brutally beaten one night by hoard of masked motorcyclists, he stumbles on a local dojo run by an over-the-top alpha played by Alessandro Nivola and signs up for classes. And things take an unexpectedly dark turn.
"There's an absurdity to him because he's timid in such an extreme way and aggressive in such an extreme way," Eisenberg said. "Casey is a product of this very unusual world. As much as I loved the character I also loved the world he exists in which is a world where people speak in this very unusual, blunt, earnest way."
This image released by Bleecker Street shows Imogen Poots in a scene from "The Art of Self-Defense." (Bleecker Street via AP)
Imogen Poots plays the film's sole main female character, an instructor at the dojo who despite all her skills has not been promoted to black belt. Sterns did this knowingly, but also made a concerted effort to make sure his below the line team was predominantly women.
"It's a film about men, starring men, written by a man. Everything about it was so overtly masculine, which I knew, I was making fun of it, but still at the end of the day was not going to be on the side of films passing the Bechdel Test," Stearns said. "My intent then was to say, let's find the best people for the job to take on these department head jobs but also really try to focus on finding the best women for the jobs as well, to really try to counteract that. I just knew I didn't want it to be a set full of men. It was really important for me to have that female perspective."
Both Stearns and Eisenberg see some of the changes happening in the industry as many wake up to the injustices women have been subject to for too long. Soon after filming "The Art of Self-Defense," Eisenberg found himself on the set of "The Hummingbird Project," with Salma Hayek and Erika Rosenbaum, who both allege Weinstein sexually harassed them.
This image released by Bleecker Street shows Alessandro Nivola in a scene from "The Art of Self-Defense." (Bleecker Street via AP)
He remembers that the day that Hayek was writing her New York Times op-ed on set about the alleged harassment , something else happened in another department.
"This guy on set made some misogynistic comment in the wardrobe department and was fired on the spot," Eisenberg set. "And I remember thinking, 'This is amazing. This day fully crystalizes the changes that are possible: Two women bravely telling their stories about a person with outsized power in our field and another guy having to be held accountable for something he did that was awful on set... I just thought, if this is sustainable this is great."
Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
This image released by Bleecker Street shows Jesse Eisenberg, left, and Alessandro Nivola in a scene from "The Art of Self-Defense." (Bleecker Street via AP)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — At least 90 people were injured in Argentina's capital when a passenger train struck an empty boxcar on the tracks and derailed Friday, authorities said, a rare collision that fueled questions about basic safety.
The train was on its way from Buenos Aires to the northern suburbs when it derailed around 10:30 a.m. on a bridge in the trendy neighborhood of Palermo, safety officials said.
While it was not immediately clear why the idled boxcar had been on the bridge, Argentina's railway union said several meters (yards) of copper cable used to carry power along the tracks had been stolen from the railway, disabling the signaling system intended to prevent such accidents.
Union leaders fiercely opposed to libertarian President Javier Milei's economic austerity blamed the government for its failure to invest in public infrastructure.
“We have been demanding for 10 days that the stolen signaling cables be repaired," rail union leader Omar Maturano told the country's independent Radio Con Vos station. “The government said there was no money for spare parts.”
Prosecutors said they were investigating.
“There is not enough information about the mechanics of this accident,” Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Macri said from the crash site where he praised the swift evacuation of victims.
Dozens of injured were treated at the scene and 30 people taken to hospitals in moderate to serious condition, at least two by helicopter with chest trauma and broken bones.
Alberto Crescenti, director of the city's emergency service, said rescuers with police dogs had helped 90 people trapped in the derailed train, lowering some by rope from the highway overpass scattered with twisted metal and shattered glass.
Dazed passengers staggering out of the derailed boxcars told local media the train had stopped on the bridge for several minutes before starting up again and slamming violently into the other train, jolting passengers and veering off the rails in a jumble of sparks and smoke.
Officials at the Argentine rail authority, Trenes Argentinos, said service on the popular rail line had been suspended, complicating travel for many commuters.
The collision brought increased scrutiny to rail safety in Argentina, where a string of train crashes from 2012-2014 left over 50 people dead and hundreds injured. It emerged at the time that outdated infrastructure, delays and human error had left the railway system vulnerable to crashes, prompting the government to invest in new safety and braking systems.
With Argentina's economy spiraling and anti-government protests gripping the streets, the crash quickly spawned contradictory narratives, with both government officials and leftist union leaders using the incident to further their agendas.
“The rail company has been totally degraded because there's no budget," said Maturano, from the rail union.
President Milei reposted comments on social media blaming his left-leaning predecessors for neglecting public infrastructure and running up a massive budget deficit.
In the midst of Argentina's worst economic crisis in two decades, police have repeatedly reported would-be cable thieves being electrocuted in the act. Those who succeed wreak havoc on the rail system in stealing metal to sell to scrapyards, where local media says the going rate is about $7 a kilogram ($3.18 a pound).
The Argentine website Infobae in February called copper cable theft “a trendy crime for the crisis.”
Police tape off the site after a passenger train collision in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A paramedic transports an injured commuter after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Railway workers inspect a passenger train after it collided with another in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Franco Dergarabedian)
Railway workers inspect a passenger train after it collided with another in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A police officer talks to a commuter who was injured when two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A train wagon that collided with another stands on the rails in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Paramedics transport injured commuters after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
