Like all of Frederick Wiseman's films, his latest has a title that seems to say it all: "Boxing Gym" is basically an hour-and-a-half of sights and sounds from an Austin area boxing gym. As usual, though, there's more going on here. In presenting glimpses of different trainees - be they kids enjoying a fun sport, ordinary folks getting a workout, or actual fighters preparing for their next bout - "Boxing Gym" takes on a meditative quality, but that mesmerizing quality is eventually breached when the real-life violence of the Virginia Tech massacre thousands of miles away intrudes on the boxers' world and becomes a point of discussion.
The legendary director, whose films include such classics as "Titicut Follies," "High School," and "Public Housing," has made the exploration of the nature of American institutions his great artistic project, and the boxing gym is a manifestation of one way violence presents itself in ordinary American life,...
The legendary director, whose films include such classics as "Titicut Follies," "High School," and "Public Housing," has made the exploration of the nature of American institutions his great artistic project, and the boxing gym is a manifestation of one way violence presents itself in ordinary American life,...
- 10/22/2010
- by Bilge Ebiri
- ifc.com
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