Boxing at the movies: Kings of the Ring, a documentary directed by Angus Mclntyre which looks through the history of boxing in the cinema from its early days right through to the present day. At first the winning formula for a film had to include women and guns and it would sell however a number of film directors have said that all you will need to captivate them is to put them into the ring which is exactly what has been done in some of the most iconic movies. Indeed if you could combine all three elements together then the drama encapsulated could well be outstanding and this is exactly what has been seen in cinema for at least the last 50 years, with films such as rocky, Raging Bull, The Fighter and Hurricane.
While the fighting element is the cake the background story and the dramatisation are the icing and the cherry. There are not many successful movies which only focus on the fighting element and not it’s implications on the protagonist and those around him/her. This is why Danny Leigh is exploring the drama behind boxing movies to show how through the generations themes generally carry a different twist from race, redemption to corruption, inspired through the minds of directors such as Stanley Kubric and Martin Scorsese who they themselves can’t seem to say out of the ring as they have returned again and again to make moves about it.
As well as showing examples from a huge array of movies “Boxing at the movies: Kings of the Ring” also features special interviews from Rock director John G Avildsen and former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis.
