by Bruce E. Parry
I’m playing catch up with my movie blogs here. I saw this some time ago and got behind, so I’m just now trying to get caught up.
I really wanted to see this film because Muhammad Ali is one of my heroes. He really took a stand against going to Vietnam and was willing to pay the price for it. It could have ruined his life. He didn’t let it. By what he did, he became a leader of both the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. For me, as a veteran, I recognize that the anti-war movement saved thousands of lives. I am convinced that without that movement, there would have been no reason—no impetus—for any politician—particularly Richard Nixon—to end the war.
I was, of course, familiar with the story of Muhammad Ali as I lived through it and followed it with great interest at the time. The movie both filled in details I never knew and refreshed my memory of both the events and the time period. In doing so, it brought me back to the 1960s and early 1970s, a seminal period in my life.
Just saying that the movie transported me back to that period says a lot about the documentary. It was excellent in its portrayal and pace. It incorporated film and TV from the period and interspersed still shots. They all gave that real period feel because they were from it. There were also contemporary interviews of family members and associates that gave background and kept the movie rooted in our present understanding of Ali’s historic role. The balance was exceptional.
I was also surprised at how long the media (particularly) kept referring to Ali as Cassius Clay. I thought the transition, while controversial at the time, was relatively swift. Not so. Years after his conversion to Islam and adoption of his new name, the media continued to refer to him as Clay. Even the Supreme Court decision of 1971 made reference to him as Clay AKA Muhammad Ali.
The film also brought back the inherent discomfort America felt with the Black Muslims of the period. The growth of Islam in the world and particularly in the U.S. has at least made the religion known to a broad section of the population, even if it is not fully accepted. At that time, Islam in the U.S. was new and quite threatening to many. That comes across very emphatically in the film.
Ali’s commitment to Islam also comes across emphatically. At one point during a TV interview, he challenges the interviewer by demanding to know why the interviewer would think that he would recant the very truth that had led him to take the stand he did that led him to be on the show in the first place. Of course he wouldn’t. The strength of his views, the commitment to them, and his willingness to be in the media’s face was refreshing and inspiring.
Ali is a brave man to have stood up and been counted. He was a great fighter—the greatest—and he equalled the physical with the moral. He stands as the greatest sportsman of the 20th century for both his athletic prowess and his moral courage. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to see this film in the theaters. I strongly recommend people look for it on DVD if you missed that short theater run.
Copyright Bruce E. Parry
https://bruceeparry.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/the-trials-of-muhammad-ali-2013/
I’m playing catch up with my movie blogs here. I saw this some time ago and got behind, so I’m just now trying to get caught up.
I really wanted to see this film because Muhammad Ali is one of my heroes. He really took a stand against going to Vietnam and was willing to pay the price for it. It could have ruined his life. He didn’t let it. By what he did, he became a leader of both the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. For me, as a veteran, I recognize that the anti-war movement saved thousands of lives. I am convinced that without that movement, there would have been no reason—no impetus—for any politician—particularly Richard Nixon—to end the war.
I was, of course, familiar with the story of Muhammad Ali as I lived through it and followed it with great interest at the time. The movie both filled in details I never knew and refreshed my memory of both the events and the time period. In doing so, it brought me back to the 1960s and early 1970s, a seminal period in my life.
Just saying that the movie transported me back to that period says a lot about the documentary. It was excellent in its portrayal and pace. It incorporated film and TV from the period and interspersed still shots. They all gave that real period feel because they were from it. There were also contemporary interviews of family members and associates that gave background and kept the movie rooted in our present understanding of Ali’s historic role. The balance was exceptional.
I was also surprised at how long the media (particularly) kept referring to Ali as Cassius Clay. I thought the transition, while controversial at the time, was relatively swift. Not so. Years after his conversion to Islam and adoption of his new name, the media continued to refer to him as Clay. Even the Supreme Court decision of 1971 made reference to him as Clay AKA Muhammad Ali.
The film also brought back the inherent discomfort America felt with the Black Muslims of the period. The growth of Islam in the world and particularly in the U.S. has at least made the religion known to a broad section of the population, even if it is not fully accepted. At that time, Islam in the U.S. was new and quite threatening to many. That comes across very emphatically in the film.
Ali’s commitment to Islam also comes across emphatically. At one point during a TV interview, he challenges the interviewer by demanding to know why the interviewer would think that he would recant the very truth that had led him to take the stand he did that led him to be on the show in the first place. Of course he wouldn’t. The strength of his views, the commitment to them, and his willingness to be in the media’s face was refreshing and inspiring.
Ali is a brave man to have stood up and been counted. He was a great fighter—the greatest—and he equalled the physical with the moral. He stands as the greatest sportsman of the 20th century for both his athletic prowess and his moral courage. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to see this film in the theaters. I strongly recommend people look for it on DVD if you missed that short theater run.
Copyright Bruce E. Parry
https://bruceeparry.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/the-trials-of-muhammad-ali-2013/
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