No maestro would encourage deliberate roughness

"No maestro worth the name would encourage any kind of deliberate roughness such as is exhibited in BtS."

To the reviewer who posted this, the way Villard threats his students is almost the entire point of the movie. He wanted to emulate his father's killer at all costs, because he believed that was the only way one could be the *best* (that is, the one who stays alive in a real duel). That is precisely why Suba wants to fight with him at the end. This reviewer is rated *best* but apparently was unable to comprehend the entire premise of the film, which essentially poses the question about whether there is really any honor and romance when you are fighting to the death (fencing being historically a very UNSAFE activity).

"Neither would anyone imagine a choreographed dance routine with pirouettes. THE HORROR!"

The dance routine was extremely cheesy, but once again, it was not presented as something inherently tied to fencing. The kids became attached to Suba and wanted to reward him by performing that little dance routine.

"But beneath the ugly scum of detail, there *is* a story...who is Suba (excellently underplayed by F. Murray Abraham), and why does he come to the Maestro's studio? Why does he think he can teach fencing?"

Wait, did you actually watch the film?