Almost as soon as film was invented, it became apparent that boxing was a prime candidate for a spectacle to be showcased by the nascent artform – and to help develop it. Small wonder: as new technologies sought to capture high-stakes emotion, physical intensity, furious spectacle, rivalry and personal turbulence, boxingseemed uniquely capable of absorbing these narratives. That it straddled the class gap further expanded its appeal in this new entertainment – one which would itself foster fresh interest in the sport.
The first sports film was an 1894 short of a six-round match between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing. Only 23 seconds survive, yet its impact still smarts, 132 years on. Scores of directors have since been drawn to pugilistic stories: everything from prize fights to amateur spars to bare-knuckle brawls. In fact, no sport has been rendered cinematically to quite the same degree, whether through dramas, biopics or documentaries. The British Film Institute’s new season, The Cinematic Life of Boxing, studies this long, symbiotic fascination, and how film has successfully tapped into the sport’s psychological, sociological and political dimensions.
