Jack Johnson

In a time when forming an opinion over an explored topic or a famous or infamous individual are the routine of documentaries, it's a little refreshing to look back at old documentaries due to its level of artistry involved, and the use of factual information in a discreet and educational manner. It feels completely different than what's being put at the center stage in recent years, yet it's riveting and fascinating just as much. The film concerning legendary boxer Jack Johnson (1878-1946) and directed by William Cayton allows viewers to form their own opinions on the subject matter, his life, his successes and failures as a black boxer during the period of segretation, the several controversies surrounding fixed fights and his relationships with white females, and unusual yet fun anedoctes during his down-and-out days.

Nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary, Features category (losing out to the monumental "Woodstock", truly deserving but almost without comparison), "Jack Johnson" is presented through a series of varied archive footage from the 1900's showing Johnson's many important fights, starting with the wins over white boxers which greatly divided the American society of that period to the point of race riots and threats take place.

Johnson's words in the media are performed by veteran actor Brock Peters ("To Kill a Mockingbird") in a great manner; obviously they couldn't use James Earl Jones as he was busy filming "The Great White Hope", a fictional story based on Jack Johnson. And as soundtrack to everything, the genius Miles Davis during his rock/jazz/funk fusion in the early 1970's offers a nice spectacle that works with the piece. Those two 1970's elements somehow fit with the whole presentation that, visually, looks as something made decades before that, almost like those old newsreels.

The use of those archive images are amazingly well-done as the director manipulates the material with care, attention and even allowing viewers to watch some of the most thrilling bits of the fights by repeating frames in slow motion, detailing those parts when a special attention is required since punches and reactions can confuse audiences. Did he threw that punch in such spectacular fashion? Did he really lost that fight on purpose and somehow everybody was fooled? Mr. Cayton answers those questions, while Peters narration confirms what really happened as Johnson reflects about his fights many years later when his career was fully decadent.

Besides the boxing matches and the problems with women and the law, the surprising moments related with his apparently random trips to Mexico, Cuba and Russia (where he met with the infamous Rasputin) are responsible for some of the funny and amazing bits. That's his level of popularity around the world back in the day, but they all happened as he was escaping from the law or trying to get new fights since he wasn't allowed in America for a period.

Again, there isn't any form of 'in your face' kind of opinion in the film. Was Johnson a hero or a villain? An inspiring figure that succumbed to fame and money or someone that needed to prove anything to himself, to his race or others? The rise and fall are so enormous, so dramatically vivid that one can't deny his importance, both as a sportist and also a man living on harsh times. 8/10.

When Jack Johnson fought for his world title against Tommy Burns in 1908, it looked a bit like David and Goliath and starts quite a fascinating journey for us through not just the history of boxing (replete with elements of racial bigotry and hatred) but also an almost encyclopaedic look at the evolution of the coverage of the sport on film. This documentary offers us a surprisingly comprehensive chronology of the man, with little by way of useful narrative but with plenty of Miles Davis to immerse us thoroughly in this era. Dominant throughout the early part of the twentieth century, he struggled on the personal front and when his wife committed suicide he sought refuge in Paris as the Great War clouds gathered. In his mid forties, he was tempted back to Cuba for a fight under the "insidious" heat of the sun for a best-of-45 round world title fight against the far younger Jim Jeffries and as this proceeds, you can almost see the strength and vitality sapping from his legs. Aside from the boxing, there is plenty of social commentary as the effects of his successes stimulated inspiration, celebration and division in equal measure, with even the US Congress having to legislate to prevent the televising and even the staging of prize fights to counter some of the more reactionary behaviour that accompanied his bouts. It takes a look at his other ventures, and his numerous convictions for everything from running a speakeasy to lewd behaviour, and yet with this fairly clear impetus from the government continuously rowing against him, he retained a determination to succeed. Having been brought up with nothing, he shows a clear intention to make money, and more money, and then even more and though this certainly does not portray a saintly man, it does portray one who was prepared to put in the graft and who doubtless encouraged many to try to escape from their poverty traps.