My first thought for this article was to focus only on the film, �Ronin,� starring Robert De Niro, but I found, after meditating on its real appeal to me, that �Ronin� is just one element in a career that puts De Niro into the role of a warrior.
And seeing this fellow�s work as a whole teaches us more about the martial artist than looking at the individual pieces.
To be sure �Ronin� is great work, a tense and enjoyable action picture set in France. De Niro plays an ex-CIA operative who is out of work and looking for a gig. He signs on with a crew that is tasked, by whom we aren�t sure, to recover a case, which contains something super-valuable, but we don�t know what.
There is one of the best car chase sequences ever put on the screen, and I recall reading that the film company crashed a few hundred vehicles in the process. You�ll believe it, when you see it.
Jean Reno, currently featured in the film, DaVinci Code, is also in �Ronin,� playing a good natured sidekick to De Niro. They make a great team, and you�ll enjoy watching them as their respect for each others� skills and styles grows.
It occurred to me that De Niro is substantially the same guy in a lot of films, but in his case, like that of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and even perhaps, Tom Hanks, it wears well.
Basically, what I see in De Niro is the ethos of a battler, a warrior, and a martial artist.
Watch him, as I did last night in the film, �Sleepers,� where he plays a priest in Hell�s Kitchen, New York. He�s the same, thoughtful man of action that you see in a picture he directed, which I also commend to you, �A Bronx Tale.�
He�s someone who has a moral compass, a code by which he�s steering his life. While he may be the young Vito Corleone, a criminal in Godfather II, he�s a family man, and he�s also a man�s man, taking care of his pals.
De Niro is a guy that can keep a secret, won�t rat on his friends, will come through in a jam, and can take a hit, and the pain that comes along with it.
Circumstances surrounding De Niro�s characters are always ambiguous. There is no black and white, morally, when he steps into the frame.
But he stays the same, amidst the flux.
In �Ronin,� we�re treated to an update of The Samurai�s Code, where honor and duty are uppermost. In a lot of other De Niro features, we see the Code of The Streets, specifically of the neighborhoods in which he grew up.
Are they the same thing?
Check out a few of De Niro DVD�s and have your own private film festival, and then decide for yourself.
And either starting with or ending with �Ronin� is a good idea!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, Califoia, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com
For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com
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