Sweet science

Boxing Gym

Crit

This is the film for people who say, "I hate boxing--it's just one guy trying to slug another guy senseless." It might not make those people like the sport any better, but it will at least make them less ignorant. As is his wont, Wiseman spares us commentary, instead letting us spy and eavesdrop, and we hear a lot more about violence (including the Virginia Tech shootings, which had just taken place) than we see. Various footwork drills--including one that involves bouncing lightly around a tractor tire, the point of which is to train the fighter not to cross his (or her! several women train at the gym) feet when moving laterally--and lots of work on combinations, the trainer calling out punch sequences and parrying them with special flat gloves, testify to the scientific aspect that the sport has always claimed.

Part science, part dance. The essential difference between this film and Wiseman's La Danse is that those ballet dancers are all adepts, while the boxers here range from 4-year-olds and overweight 50-somethings to a few who actually do turn the occasional buck with the gloves. But if either of my grandchildren ever decides to step into the ring, I hope they find someone like Richard Lord to teach them how to walk out of the ring on their own power.