130. Cradle Of Champions; movie review
Cert TBA
100 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
Boxing is a foreign field for me because I struggle to see how hitting people around the head is a sport.
However, I have to recognise that it has given discipline to young people whose lives lacked it and offers a slim hope of glory where none otherwise exists.
New York, in particular, the Daily News Golden Gloves competition, is a hotbed of pugilism - spawning more world champions than the Olympic Games.
Bartle Bull's documentary alights upon three of the key contenders, focusing its lens on them in the ring and outside of it.
James Wilkins, Nisa Rodriguez, and Titus Williams come under the microscope as they compete in the 10-week tournament during which 500 boxers fight for the Golden Gloves. Through their parallel stories, Bull probes the pressures on three very different individuals and the sacrifices they have to make.
It also delves into the backgrounds of those who train and support them and touches on the passionate organisation of the competition.
The documentary gives a distinct flavour of New York beyond the glitz of Manhattan. These are people who are carving out a life in difficult circumstances.
Cradle Of Champions is the reality of Rocky. There is no world championship bout only nine minutes in the limelight, firstly at a down-at-heel New York club where qualification takes place and then at a bigger arena where corporate entertainers are thirsting for blood.
Only after the final fight can there be talk of turning professional and just maybe eventually making some real money.
If anyone ever questioned the amount of dedication it takes to reach there, they would not after watching Cradle of Champions.
It also lays bare the number of people who don't make it and yet, presumably, have aspired to the same goals.
Indeed, it led me to admire and pity those who need to make their mark by literally beating others or being beaten.
Reasons to watch: The real story about ambitious boxers
Reasons to avoid: Some really tough boxing scenes
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Did you know? Even though the Golden Gloves has been sponsored by the New York Daily News since the 1920s, it was modelled on an idea by the Chicago Tribune.
The final word. Bartle Bull: "I discovered this amazing world. It’s a community around New York City of the top gyms and the top amateur fighters. Found this beautiful, beautiful world that I knew nothing about. I was compelled to pick up a camera and make a movie about it. I’d been a writer most of my working life, but never made a movie. I just found this so inspiring that I had to make the film."
Reasons to avoid: Some really tough boxing scenes
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Did you know? Even though the Golden Gloves has been sponsored by the New York Daily News since the 1920s, it was modelled on an idea by the Chicago Tribune.
The final word. Bartle Bull: "I discovered this amazing world. It’s a community around New York City of the top gyms and the top amateur fighters. Found this beautiful, beautiful world that I knew nothing about. I was compelled to pick up a camera and make a movie about it. I’d been a writer most of my working life, but never made a movie. I just found this so inspiring that I had to make the film."
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