Throughout a long career that is revered by many cinephiles Frederick Wiseman has mastered the art of old school documentaries that push ever so subtly for social change. With his latest, Boxing Gym, he has toned down the size and scope of his subject but has still found ways to decry this modern world which we all seem to be enjoying so much. Filmed inside the Lord’s Gym in Austin, Texas the film does little more than display the day to day operations that go on within those four walls. You’ll learn more about the sweet science and what it takes to be a pro than you ever dared dream of and the resulting monotony ends up killing the experience softly. But Wiseman’s ambition is to be applauded; he has taken a violent yet balletic sport and set out to create a piece of cinema that mirrors it.
Inside Lord’s Gym people come and go, girls train in their gym leggings with pockets and do all sorts of workout, and they talk and talk. Wiseman and his crew are there the whole time capturing the rhythm of the place. His soundtrack, in a most impressive feat, is made up exclusively of the sounds that fill the gym. There is the people pounding the punching bags, the abrasive beeping of machines and the exhausted panting of the fighters and it all melded together and forms something avant-garde that actually sings. The cinematography is also first rate. Wiseman is, for the most part, not interested in showboating although the occasional shot does have money written all over it. The film was commissioned by PBS and will eventually find an appropriate home there but in the mean time it doesn’t seem out of place at all up there on the big screen. And while the subject matter may seem mundane to you and I Wiseman clearly doesn’t feel that way; rather he’s out there staring you dead in the eye trying to convince you that these people are worth your undivided attention.
Throughout the years I’ve watched my fair share of documentaries and yet none of them have made me believe in the people I was watching quite like this one. Nowhere is there any shred of self-consciousness or awareness of camera. You feel as though you are sitting in that room with those people and that they have no idea you are there. And if we listen carefully to what they are saying I think we can surmise what Wiseman himself is trying to say. That maybe it’s time we put down the Facebooking for a bit and headed out to our local gym or other community gathering place so that we can spend some time with the living. He’ll have you believe that it is in places like Lord’s Gym that purity can be found, real people existing in the heart of real America. Here all people of all shapes and sizes meet under one roof in the pursuit of perfecting a craft, and even though there is an inherent violence to what they are doing it is friendliness and civility that rule the day. To step inside this particular gym is to take a step back in time to a bygone idealized era that you country has, regrettably, lost forever.
Despite all that positivity I still can’t find it in my heart to recommend this movie. As much as I wish it wasn’t so one can only watch perfect strangers spar and shadowbox for so long before abject boredom sets in. Wiseman has either forgotten or rejected the notion that the beauty of boxing is contingent upon the knowledge that at any moment one fighter can be struck down by a thunderous knockout. Fight fans such as myself appreciate the artistry, of course, but also love the less savory bits as well and there are none of those to be found here. There is also only a passing mention of MMA, the sport that is draining the life out of boxing, but in truth Wiseman does not care about the longevity of the sport. Okay, boxing is dying, so what who cares? He’s more interested in saving another endangered species, films like this one, documentaries that leave out the unnecessary noise and talking heads and let the images speak for themselves.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Notable Cast: Richard Lord
