Of
all the boxers, Muhammad Ali was perhaps the most politically
savvy. The film Ali attempts to weave politics
into what might otherwise seem a conventional biopic, with
many minutes of fight scenes, love stories, and musical interludes.
Directed by Michael Mann, whose The
Insider won the Political Film Society’s
award for best film exposé in 1999, Ali begins by depicting
a youngster named Cassius Clay, who gains awareness of the
oppression of African Americans early in life, converts to
Islam under the influence of Malcolm X (played by Mario Van
Peebles), renames himself Cassius X (played by Will Smith)
when he first becomes world heavyweight champion by knocking
out Sonny Liston (played by Michael Bentt) in 1964 at the
age of twenty-two, and then is renamed Muhammad Ali by Elijah
Muhammad. Ali, however, is an articulate early opponent of
the American role in Vietnam’s civil war. Of draft age,
his previous deferment from military service is revoked, and
he is ordered to report for induction. His conscience prevents
him from doing so, so he is arrested, tried, and convicted
of a violation of a law in which the maximum sentence is five
years in jail and a $10,000 fine. While his case is on appeal,
however, his boxing license is revoked in Illinois and New
York, he is stripped of his world heavyweight title, and the
legal costs deplete his earnings. Not so Howard Kosell (played
by Jon Voight), who respects Ali’s integrity and keeps
his name before the television audience while even his so-called
best friends desert him. Soon, Ali gets back in the limelight
by arranging a fight with reigning heavyweight champ Joe Frazier
(played by James Toney) in Atlanta, as Georgia has no boxing
commission. When the Supreme Court finally rules 8-0 that
Ali was wrongfully given an induction notice, he is eager
to regain the heavyweight title. Don King (played by Mykelti
Williamson) then arranges a match in Kinshasa, Zaïre,
where President-for-Life Mobutu (played by Malick Bowens)
puts up $20 million, with George Forman (played by Charles
Shufford). The film ends as Ali knocks out Forman and regains
his world heavyweight title in 1974 at the age of thirty-two,
though of course he fought many other fights, earlier as well
as later. Titles at the end indicate that he now lives in
Michigan with his third wife. Gratuitously interlaced throughout
Ali are scenes of the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin
Luther King, Jr. The film shows the ugly politics within both
boxing and the Nation of Islam, that is, how Ali was used
by others. The most eloquent speech is Ali’s explanation
for refusing to agree to be drafted -- that he saw no reason
for a black man to fight for the white man to kill poor people
in Asia when the white man in America has never stood up for
the black man. The speech clearly provides the explanation
for the government’s desire to draft him or jail him,
but the unanimous Supreme Court ruling is based on the clumsy
bypassing of due process. Many who have followed Ali’s
career in the media will be surprised to see such a coherent
presentation of a man of conviction and integrity, and Ali’s
tagline cautions prospective filmviewers accordingly: "Forget
what you think you know." It should therefore be no surprise
that the Political Film Society has nominated Ali
as best film exposé for 2001. MH
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