When We Were Kings

I was five years of age when heavyweights Muhammad Ali and George Forman had their legendary match in Zaire.  I remember hearing about it a few years after the fact, when I saw the fighter in his twilight, up against Leon Spinks and Larry Holmes.  Times were far better for the man also known as Cassius Clay in 1974, when the "Rumble in the Jungle" was broadcast to one billion viewers worldwide.  But Ali was the underdog.  Forman, much unlike his more recent image, was an aloof, menacing presence who hit harder than anyone.  He did not ingratiate himself with the natives in Africa, while Ali had them chanting in the streets with approval.  

Director Leon Gast spent over twenty years piecing together 1996's WHEN WE WERE KINGS, and persistence certainly paid off.   The wealth of archival footage elucidates what a monumental event this fight was.  Of course it was far more than just a matchup.  It was a cultural juggernaut, tainted with controversy, mainly as it was funded by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who had to watch the fight on closed circuit TV elsewhere for fear of assassination. A man who led a totalitarian regime that routinely violated human rights.  But Seko "kept the streets safe" during the weeks the entourage settled in Kinshasa.  Several more weeks than expected, after Foreman suffered a cut over his eye while training and the match was delayed.

This is the sort of documentary I most appreciate.  Footage, not merely talking heads.  But writers George Plimpton and Norman Mailer are just that, reminiscing about the fight and the events leading up to it.  Their recollections are fascinating and insightful, and they were ringside, so criticism that "old white guys" are so predominate in this doc is just silly.   Spike Lee is also on hand to offer (semi insightful) commentary.   There are clips of the concert that preceded the fight, which included musical heavyweights James Brown, B.B. King, and The Spinners. The fight itself is sufficiently covered, with Ali's "rope-a-dope" method the key to his victory.

Gast quite successfully gives the complicated Ali a comprehensive showcase, which in turn gives a solid lesson in black history.  There are plenty of Ali's hilarious quips, but his words also speak to his race as if he is assuming paternalism.  He never minces words and remains as fearless as he was when he defied the draft a few years earlier.  October '74 was perhaps Muhammad Ali's professional peak.....