« Reading about India, thinking about Iraq. | Main | Why public radio is great!/sorta sucks. »
April 30, 2005
Murderball... catch it!
L and I went to see a screening of Murderball, a documentary that screened at the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival.
It's been picked up for distribution, so buy a ticket and bring a friend when it shows up at the art houses or maybe a gigaplex near you this summer.
The docu is about the athletes who play quad rugby -- professionally and in the Paralympic Games. It's a unflinching look at the Dream Team of a sport where decidedly unfeeble men ram Mad Max wheelchairs into each other at high speed on indoor courts, solely to put a ball across a goal.
I nearly forgot I was in San Francisco until the lights came up and the Q&A began with the co-directors and four of the rugby players featured in the film.
A substantial portion of Q's were actually crunchy and cruelty-free personal statements advertising the speaker's empathy and made scant mention of the film. On stage, the athletes made faces and looked a trifle disengaged as they took life-affirming questions that addressed the triumph of the will, the incredible inspiration they represent, nobility in the face of bla bla bla, etc.
One member of Team USA said he was comfortable with allowing the film crew inside his life because he trusted them, unlike most of the journalists he'd come to know. "Usually, we're at the end of the newscast -- you know, where they put those stories like the new baby monkey born at the zoo."
This film will put these guys -- and perhaps disabled people in general -- in a whole new light for most viewers. Some of these athletes are sexist, some are selfish, juvenile, or drink too much beer, but they're all really damned competitive. They're jocks to the bone, just like those cats on all those up-close-and-personal shows on ESPN and HBO.
Allow me to the be one of the word-of-mouthy that the filmmakers and distributor are counting on to tout this movie. I'm sure the P&A budget can't be astronomic, so I'm going to plant the seed in pliable minds I come across. Goooooo seeeeeeee it.
I can picture the distribution exec pitching it to his higher-ups: "Look, it's like Hoop Dreams, only in wheelchairs."
Maybe I'm a little sore about the Q&A because all the gushing hippies ate up the time, and I didn't get to ask my question. I was a little sulky, but we were filing out of the theater, and I got to buttonhole co-director Dana Adam Shapiro near the door.
Me: First of all, great movie. I really enjoyed it. Can I ask you a technical question?DAS: Thanks very much. Shoot.
Me: There were a couple of shots where I couldn't tell if you were using a Steadicam, or a wheelchair.
DAS: Ha. Well, there were always a bunch of spare wheelchairs around pretty much whereever we were shooting, so, you know. Actually, I would get Henry [co-director Henry Alex Rubin] to sit in the chair and hold the camera. Sometimes, people thought he was quadriplegic and would try to talk to him about it.
Film festivals rock.
Posted by Your Protagonist at April 30, 2005 03:10 AM