A Dark Look Inside The Primitive "animal"

Rating: 8/10 (12 October 2012)

Absorbing, extremely popular fight film from a master Director. There is a sharpness to it all and it cuts like a pulsating, powerful jab. The expanded realism is indicative of a film craftsman and it has a personal stamp of authorship that separates the artist at play from those who play at art.
The crisp black and white cinematography has a residing effect that is present in the indelible. For these strokes of style (best evident in the riveting ring scenes) this film is a poetic presentation of a very reprehensible person that is a fighting force of nature.
Problem is, he can not separate that power from the professional to the personal and is a one dimensional destructive dynamo that causes a hurt whenever he is present. His brother is his fulcrum and when that breaks the fall begins.
The film is not an easy watch because the Champ is not an easy fellow to like. In fact, he is a thoroughly unpleasant person. Like so many achievers, he is driven to the top at the expense of his humanity. He is a very ignorant brute as are so many of our successful people. That is sad and so is this movie. You never feel sorry for him but you do feel sorry for the human condition.
That is the point. This is not a pretty picture and was never meant to be (one of the many reasons it was filmed in B&W). It is a glaring, dark look into the primitive "animal" that cannot make the hand-heart connection.