ldoig

This is very highly recommended if you're a genuine boxing fan. Goes well into the psyche of the sport while covering fighters in Jimmy Tibbs stable including his own son Mark (I think that's his first name), the soon to be retired Mark Kaylor and...Bradley Stone. That's what really hits you, knowing that this charming young fighter talking about his views/worries about the sport would himself be dead a few years after the film due to injuries sustained in the ring. I could probably go on about this, it's great to spot the fighters from that time (you see many, Chris Pyatt, Derek Angol, Michael Watson, Chris Thompson all very shortly) but also to see the East End from that period - you can see Canary Wharf in the skyline out of the gym which I guess hadn't been there all that long at that point. Also for those not into boxing, it's great to see fighters in their "changing" rooms waiting to go on, a sight people are unaware of that perhaps should be. The documentary is of its time so don't expect anything snazzy, though in a way that's another good point as it makes you aware how ridiculously "style-ised" things have got in recent times. Check it out.

I'm sure that even if you're reading this you're very possibly curious about what it's like and I would recommend it...though perhaps only if you've got nearly three hours to kill and you're heavily into samurai flicks, or I guess like Tatsuya Nakadai.

Basically this is very inconsistent, with flashes of real genius (and clearly an influence on modern western directors) and then there are other parts that make no sense at all. In fairness, I gather these films tend to get badly edited and that may explain a lot and as a Westerner there are always references made in these films, or ways characters deliberately behave, that we culturally just don't understand and it doesn't help us as western viewers. However, that's not to criticise our own "anglo-saxon" notion of how a story should develop, and its not to detract from the fact that there are parts of the film that frankly don't make a lot of sense, but as said, give it a watch if you are curious, just don't worry if you go "Uh!?" a lot thinking the film is a work of demented intelligence and you don't get it...the point is parts of it just don't make sense. But still, I did find if captivating and I just ignored the dodgy bits.

As for lovers of lots of blood in your samurai flick - you will definitely love parts of this. In fact, next time my friends are over I'm going to show them the gory bits! Well you know...boys...

Let's just say if you've seen the end of Kurosawa's Sanjuro, this is the same, except it happens a few times more...and in colour.