"You even dream about beating me, you better wake up and apologise!"
Easily one of the greatest, most moving and inspiring movies I've ever seen is "
When we were Kings", the almost unbelievable story of the so-called "
Rumble in the Jungle". The story itself is quite astounding, and i say unbelievable because you just can't believe it isn't scripted. You just can't believe that even if it is based on real life events, it hasn't been given that Hollywood gloss, that lick of unreal veneer that story-telling gives events that both elevates them and cheapens them at the same time. Well it hasn't, and neither has "
Facing Ali".
The story of Ali's entire boxing career is told through the sometimes cloudy recollections of those that fought him, "Facing Ali" is no "when we were Kings". The latter is a film that is commensurate with Ali's stature. It is to sports documentaries what Ali was to boxing. It won an Oscar to prove it. It is the rightful testament to Ali's legacy. But "Facing Ali" deserves to be an uber-extra to that film, sitting alongside it as a worthy supporting feature in a truly memorable double-bill. Whether you care about boxing or not, the things these two films say about their times and about humanity in general are relevant to everyone.
The film begins with Sir Henry Cooper, and moves through the various opponents Ali faced - either as Muhammed Ali or as Cassius Clay, his "slave name". Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and many others you probably don't remember whether you were alive at the time or not. It not only charts the background of each of their encounters with him, but the times in which they were set and the circumstances that brought each fighter to these moments; moments which for all of them together clearly form among the most profound experiences of their lives. Naturally, each boxer's chapter features footage of their historic bout, with all the drama and violence that entailed.
As Cooper says right at the outset, there never were any middle class boxers; no one would take a beating like that unless they had to. For almost all of them, a heavyweight boxing career either proved an alternative to a life of crime, or a distraction from one. Many did time, many knew those who had done time. Many learnt to fight either on the streets or in prison; many used boxing as a way to drag themselves out of the gutter. A gutter society seemingly forced them into. Many had terrible lives cursed by either drugs, murder, suicide or broken homes - to say nothing of the brutal social inequities suffered by the African American, a community to which almost all of these men belong.
Each of their stories are moving in their own right, none are without the colour of at times the most miserable misfortune. But they are set against the backdrop of the awesome story that is Muhammed Ali, a story that still continues today. Despite the things he might have said of each of them in the poetic sledging that preceded each fight (for instance he said of one opponent, "he too ugly to be the champion of the world. The champ should be pretty like me!".) they all speak of him at the end with tears in their eyes, with deeply sincere words of profound respect and gratitude; so much so that it will in turn bring tears to your eyes.
What is so great about the man? It would be impossible to sum up in a few short words, especially by someone who hasn't even met him. His campaigning for the rights of the African American at a time when those others brave enough to do so were shot down in their prime? The
stand he took against the Vietnam War at a time that meant most of America cursed his name as a traitor? His very public conversion to Islam at a time when it was almost even more unacceptable to middle America than it is today? His bravery and courage to many times fight boxers much younger and/or more formidable than himself, and win? Or is it his struggle against
Parkinson's Disease which he continues to wage to this day?
It's difficult to say what it is that is so enduring about Muhammed Ali, but that he is a living legend seems so universally agreed. Perhaps it is that very altitude of stardom that he has reached by way of the many great feats he achieved - including three world championships - he serves to restore some hope and faith in what humanity can be. Moreover, his demise was so sad, and his latter years are so tragic, it reminds us that even the greatest are still mortal. No one - no matter how majestic - can transcend that mortality.
If you love boxing or completely loathe it, you won't find a more awe inspiring story than that of Muhammed Ali, and these two films together I feel do that story complete and utter justice.
