Cinematographic
event of 2005

    The wonderful “cocktail” of the acting qualities of Russell Crowe, the narrative ability of Avika Goldsman and the originality of the film-maker Ron Howard placed this luxury team and their acclaimed “A beautiful mind” on a pedestal difficult to overcome. The reunion of the team to shoot the film “Cinderella Man” had caused many interrogations. Above all, the expectation to see that famous threesome leap from a scientific and academic world to another world where the hero, far from being in a teaching atmosphere, is a legendary icon of American boxing.

   “Cinderella Man” is a story of human interest, in which a humble docker is fighting against the adversities in order to get his family away from poverty. It is a story of personal improvement and as in the “Cinderella tale”, we know its ending, but the small details are bringing out the difference. The atmosphere of the period simulation is exquisite, enhanced with photographic framings of half-light and ochre tones which are helping to highlight the reality.

   Being as truthful as possible with this, the producers of “Cinderella Man” were not sparing the resources to reproduce the severity of the Great Depression. The meticulous magnificence of the sceneries built on the set, imitating famine and poverty is a constant paradox.

   The elegance is the other centre of attention in “Cinderella Man”, the result of the appropriate amount of tenderness, humanity and dramatic quality, without giving way to sentimentality and melodrama.

   Russell Crowe is a tireless performer, although he has pointed out that the main factors which have launched him towards his success have been discipline and luck. Crowe has also pointed out that he has tried to get better with every new film and the different aspects of his acting career, putting in a lot of willpower and discipline, in this way repaying some of his good luck. He has described his opportunity to work with Howard again to be based on their mutual professional confidence. Howard has pointed out that working with Russell Crowe is like shooting on a heavenly island; happy because of the place, but having to fight against the climate. Deep down, the poetic reference to Crowe´s acting qualities is corroborating the commitment of this actor with life itself.
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   Not only did Crowe need advise from veteran ex-boxers; he also had to undergo a thorough and exhaustive training. Cross, uppercut, jab and other techniques had to be learned by our hero, besides gaining an exceptional fitness, always overseen by a personal trainer.

   Not for long did our Captain Jack show off his blonde mop of hair through the seas of fame. When the trumpets at the release of Master & Commander were still sounding, the versatile Crowe was already wearing a jet black epoch wig, to help him get the feel of “Cinderella man”.

   A quality that is defining the singular temperament of Crowe is his absolute commitment to all characters that he plays. On the one hand, he is bursting with confidence over his splendid physique emphasized by his forcefulness. On the other hand, his obstinate attitude is a characteristic, doing personally all the risky scenes. So, it does not surprise anybody that his shoulder got dislocated during one of his early trainings.

   This meant for him an arthroscopic repair surgery followed by an intense physiotherapy and several months delay before starting the filming. His shoulder already had caused some physical problems and he had felt after-effects since the filming of Gladiator. Without any sort of magic, oracle or potion, only with the help of a strict diet and a monitored training, did Crowe achieve the shaping of a fit and spectacular body, able to emulate the legendary James J. Braddock.
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   Boxing is not a modern sport; on the contrary, there are vague vestiges, which situate the art of boxing on the northern African continent, around 6000-5000 BC. Some hypothetical boxing demonstrations probably with a festive air and playful matches, could be seen along the Nile Valley, and also in the antique Mesopotamia and India.

   Archaeological discoveries of boxing relics that were found in the current Iraq, prove that in 1550 BC boxing celebrations for the masses took place. Homer mentions boxing in his work “The Iliad”, an art that came from Egypt and settled in Greece, and later, around 688 BC, it became an Olympic Sport, which gave us the first Olympic champion in history: Onomastes from Esmirna.

   The Roman empire incorporated the Greek sport into its culture around 27 BC, but gradually this sporting exhibition lost its original qualities, and finally became a speciality of gladiators, until the spreading of Christianity, around 40 AC, made all boxing disappear on the European continent.

   The resurgence of boxing, after this long absense, is given a reference in a fight organized in 1681 in England by the Duke of Albermarle. This way boxing was reborn, and two contenders, again with bare fists, faced each other.

   Then, the matches were organized for money, and many times they used dirty tactics when fighting. From this time James Figg, a mythical British figure, is standing out. He never lost a combat, and thanks to him people changed their mentality about boxing, and more and more, he got supporters for the boxing world.

   From 1743 boxing started to lose its unsporting features. The regulations by John Broughton -considered the father of modern boxing- had among other advances the elimination of punching below the belt and in general, anything that would put the contender at disadvantage, thus having the possibility to recover in thirty seconds.

   Gradually, fighters were defining their styles, and rankings for levels and weights were created, and the glove was introduced as part of the equipment. The rules by the Marquis of Queensberry in 1872 marked the beginning of regulated boxing, limiting the length of every round, the breaks between them, the ten-second countdown and a series of regulations to develop the confrontation into a modern kind of fighting.

   Paradoxically, the encounters between fighters did not have the support of the British laws in that period, and many European boxers decided to emigrate to the United States of America to find better support and rewards in their professional fields.

   So, a humble family was captivated by their illusion of the American dream, settling down in a land extremely different from their beloved Ireland. Raw strength was the common characteristic in Braddock´s family, a necessary requirement for the lad Jim to survive in the streets of Hell´s Kitchen.

   Life dealt the hardest blows to this brilliant boxer, but one day his friend “misfortune” was distracted and suddenly emerged a champion. He managed to remain at the top for 24 months, from June 13, 1935 to June 22, 1937, not long, if we compare it with the worldwide record that his fellow countryman Joe Louis held for 140 months, but without a shadow of doubt, his meteoric trajectory in worldwide boxing was spectacular.
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   There was an increasing desire fed among stoves and braziers during the Great Depression; Braddock dreamed of being a guest at the great royal ball, waltzing and shaking hands with the “prince of triumph” and having a more dignified life among the best American champions of Irish ancestry.

   Meanwhile, his make-believe step-mother was getting ready behind a wall of fictional wealth, as best she could, looking forward to attending this luxury ball.

   While he was day-dreaming in the midst of the ashes of the Great Depression, when many families had fallen upon bad times, Jim´s step-sisters were squandering oppulence and luxuries and wasting time on flirtations, rubbing shoulders with the heavyweight of the boxing aristocracy.

   One day, the fairy godmother appeared in a flash of opportunity with her magic wand, transforming his illusions and his green dressing gown with its shamrock, into a lovely carriage driven by the majestic horses of hope.

   When he went to the Madison Square Garden Bowl palace that evening on June 13, 1935, the dance was on the point of starting and the forceful Max Baer boasted a spectacular reputation among the followers of the “four ropes” of the ring.

   The crowds there were speculating about the uneven bets 10-1 in favour of Max Baer, the prince of the maximum heavyweight, while they were gossiping about the audacity of the recent challenger.

   The beauty that the former dock worker put into his tactics when attacking, left the powerful boxer Baer so perplexed that he could not hold out the fifteen rounds of skillful strategy.

   At the end of the match, Baer saw his crown beginning to fall, while Braddock became the popular hero of the Great Depression. Braddock is the prototype of boxer idol –known by the nickname “Cinderella man”, which the outstanding writer Damon Runyon gave him- and since then he is the icon for imitation to everybody who is waiting for to the visit of the fairy godmother.

   After his two years of romantic permanence in the great hall, the palace clock began to strike, warning him about his uncertain future. When Braddock was signing the contract to defend his worldwide title against the German boxer Max Schmeling, the first stroke sounded.

   Braddock´s manager -in defence of Jewish organizations that considered Max Schmeling a citizen of Nazi Germany- refused the contract, and next signed a commitment to defend his wordwide title against Joe Louis. The biggest and most significant sporting attraction took place on June 22, 1937. At the same time the palace clock was advancing towards midnight.

   When the eighth stroke was sounding, the challenger Joe Louis knocked out “Cinderella man”. The best thing is that the reputation of Braddock never decreased after his marked defeat, despite the fact that the last strokes were already sounding from the clock in the great hall.

   While he was hurriedly abandoning the palace and his entourage was fading away, he realized that he had lost his ephemeral glass-shoe, and he knew that he had taken more punishment between the fourth and the eighth round than he had ever received during his sporting career.

   Back home, while he was doing other tasks, he was day-dreaming and hoping that one day, a royal messenger would appear with the shoe lost at the great ball and put it back on his foot.

   After winning a match against Tommy Farr on January 21, 1938, Braddock was encouraged by his wife Mae to abandon the world of boxing, and then he retired with a record of 52 victories out of 84 matches, including 28 knock-outs and 21 defeats, and in 1964 the royal messenger finally appeared at his doorstep giving back the shoe of popularity and since then, his name has remained in the Boxing Hall of Fame.

   Don Parker -a journalist from The New York Daily Mirror- wrote about Jim Braddock and his historical dethroning: “the exhibition of courage that the gallant Anglo-Irishman gave before the final bolt of fighting struck him on the jaw, awakened admiration and compassion for him in the hearts of the spectators”. A beautiful allegory that shows the feeling of admiration and affection towards the man who once attended the palace without being invited, and danced all night with the prince of fame.
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   He was born on December 6, 1905, in New York. He dropped out of school at fourteen to work. Joseph -his brother- who already knew about professional boxing, encouraged him to get started in the world of boxing.

   This way, he began amateur boxing at seventeen, overseen by his brother, and winning more than one hundred amateur championships. He was never defeated in his first thirty-eight matches, and achieved outstanding victories over Pete Latzo in 1928 and Jimmy Slattery in 1929. When he was well into his professional career, his decline began on July 18, 1929, at the Yankee Stadium, where he was easily defeated by Tommy Loughram after having challenged him.

   Then, until 1933, he continued accumulating more defeats than victories, and so his name disappeared from the popularity rankings.

   He severely hurt both wrists during a combat celebrated on September 25, 1933 against Abe Feldman. The referee did not have any choice but to stop the uneven match, considering that Braddock was fighting under inhumane conditions, despite his bravery and self-respect. Since his financial position did not allow him to undergo the operation that he needed in order to go on boxing, he had to abandon the world of boxing.

   In the meantime, he had married Mae Fox in 1930, and she had given birth to three children. It was a hard time for them, because of the economic disasters on Wall Street, which showed absolutely no mercy towards the most humble families. He took on several jobs such as day-labourer, bartender and docker at Hudson, in order to feed his family.

   When the shadow of unemployment fell on Braddock, he turned for help to his friends as well as to charity. Sadly, these hard times have been experienced by many boxers, specially after their withdrawal from boxing.

   Later Braddock decided to return to boxing, considering that his injuries were healed. He astonished the crowd, who had come to Long Island City on June 14, 1934 to enjoy an interesting match against John Griffin.

   As from there his sporting career was back at the top of ranking, winning two successive matches, firstly on November 16, 1934 against John Kenry Lewis and the following on March 22, 1935 against Art Lasky, both confrontations in New York.

   An important date in Braddock´s life was June 13, 1935, when he was proclaimed worldwide champion of heavyweight, after defeating the previous prize-winning Max Baer.

   His priviliged situation did not last long -marked by an amazing rise and also a quick fall from success- but full of constant challenges in an endless fight against the hard conditions of life enforced by the Great Depression.

   This way, in Chicago on June 22, 1937 he lost his prized trophy, but not the amount of $ 500,000 that promoters had ensured him, in the event of Braddock losing the fight. Furthermore, he was ensured ten per cent on profits over the next ten years, from the promotional career of his contender.

   After he had competed in a match against Tommy Farr in New York on January 21, 1938 and later another one against Clarence Berman on March 26, 1941 in Charlotte, he eventually retired from boxing.

   After running some unsuccessful businesses, he lost the fortune that boxing had given him. New York again put a stop to his economical difficulties, welcoming him as a dignified worker, keeping the machinery on Verrazano Bridge well-greased. He died on November 29, 1974 and despite the fact that he is considered a modest boxer, he is a well-known figure in boxing. Undoubtedly, the timely performance of Russell Crowe has favoured the name of Jim Braddock being added to the list of stars of boxing films.
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   The pioneering film-makers had already showed their first steps in the world of boxing, giving us images, from the most grotesque parodies to the most tragic realities of fiddled final scores.

   Particularly the 1940s were a landmark in the story of the film industry, filming the best boxing pictures: “Gentleman Jim“ (1942) with Errol Flynn playing the role of boxer James J. Corbett; “Champion“ (1949) with Kirk Douglas in the role of an ambitious and hypocritical boxer; etc.

   Next we had the opportunity to see the hidden face of boxing with Humphrey Bogart in the remarkable picture “The Harder They Fall“ (1956). Also Paul Newman had his opportunity to perform Rocky Graciano in the film “Somebody up there likes me“ (1956).

   Many film-supporters were astonished by the sudden appearance of a rock musician named Elvis Presley, who performed a rare mixture of punches and ballads in the film “kid Galahad“ (1962). Later, an unknown Sylvester Stallone won fame with his popular saga “Rocky“ (1976) leaving behind him several roles as supporting actor in different films.

   Robert de Niro did his bit in “Raging Bull“ (1980), as well as playing the part of Jake La Motta. Even Denzel Washington -who was a fellow actor of Crowe´s in the cast of “Virtuosity“ (1995) -appeared on the screen as Reuben Carter in the film “Hurricane Carter“ (1999).

   The alliance between the Mecca of the film world and boxing has had other strong reasons, too; so, the film “Ali“ (2001) paid tribute to Cassius Clay, who was inmortalized on the screen by the actor Will Smith.

   One day Clint Eastwood felt fascinated after reading a screenplay, dealing with a boxer heroine, and he thought it was a good story for the screen. The drama of “Million dollar baby” (2004) is using the pretext of the boxing world to display both loneliness and melancholy, and when the ring bell is striking, the heroine is facing another reality, and her dream to become a millionaire is getting to be a controversy.

   This way, we get to “Cinderella Man“ (2004) where Russell Crow e is shining in a spectacular way, emulating the energetic profile of James J. Braddock with his customary dynamic brilliance.
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   There is no doubt that Crowe has a splendid physique as a result of his training and healthy food and no alcohol. At the same time, Renée Zellweger with her voluptuous appeal is cautivating us through her sensual portrait together with the visceral reactions of the well-built actor. And so, she is the element of equilibrium in the plot and our inner desire for success shown in its naivety.

   Again Crowe is surprising us with his dazzling acting capacity. With his visual expression, he is radiating the fighting spirit of the incredible life of a man, who was facing up to many misfortunes and calamities.

   The remarkable performance of Crowe reinforced his talent to impersonate the fascinating life of an unpretentious, likeable and honest man. His great and natural capacity for acting gives us the smell of success from the very first scene, while allowing pleasant memories to colour the moment bringing to memory the crazy 1930s.

   At the same time, we get involved with the man, who became a professional boxer in an unconventional way, cheering his victories and suffering his defeats. Obviously, we will find that, as in many films, Braddock´s life has a happy ending. At the end of the day, what matters is that there are various possible readings of “Cinderella Man”. If you believe that “they lived happily for ever after”, maybe you are not in the wrong …

   The last scenes in a film are not always accompanied by a demonstration of pyrotechnics and colourful flashes in the sky. The satisfaction of spectators is not measured by a spectacular ending, but by the intense input of actors who are identifying with the character that they are playing the part of. The impersonation of Jim Braddock is terrific and it brings us great memories of the daring Jeffrey Wigand (The Insider), of the defiant Maximus (Gladiator), of the professor John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) and of the intrepid Jack Aubrey (Master & Commander) pointing out some of the most charismatic characters. It will not be necessary to set light to the fireworks; Russell Crowe´s party has not finished and we will see him again playing the part of characters defeating adversity, either because he has a great similarity with them or because it is his fate…
 
                                                                                                                   Evangelos*