|
'When We Were Kings': Revisiting a legend
April 25, 1997
Web posted at: 11:14 p.m. EDT (0314 GMT)From Reviewer Paul Tatara
(CNN) -- "When We Were Kings," Leon Gast's Academy Award-winning documentary about Muhammad Ali and his now-legendary "Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman in 1974, revisits a time when one of the most inspirational figures of the 20th century shook up the world ... again.
(1.6MB/47 sec. QuickTime movie)
By the time this allegorical bout took place in a steaming coliseum in Kinshasa, Zaire, Ali was already considered something of a has-been. At the very least it was obvious that he was no longer the lightning-quick fighter who astounded everyone by incapacitating a suddenly obsolete Sonny Liston in February of 1964.
This highly entertaining film sheds some light on Ali as a mere mortal who was utterly aware of his charisma and utilized it to repeatedly reinvent his myth. Ali not only acted in a play that was largely of his own devising (with second act re-write help from the United States Draft Board), he even narrated it with a seemingly bottomless supply of passion and a great deal of playful good humor. It's hard not to love a man who was so talented and still understood the inherent joke he was playing on an American public that was not yet ready to fully embrace him.
"When We Were Kings" touches on many aspects of the Ali legend, with preparations for the Rumble itself serving as the main focal point.I was only 11 years old at the time, but I can remember my brother listening to the radio for updates on the night of the fight. We were as flabbergasted as everyone else was when Ali managed to not only win, but to actually knock out the seemingly invincible George Foreman. At the time, Foreman was the anti-Ali -- a wall of humorless granite to Ali's sharp-tongued comedian, a brutal street brawler to Ali's poetic stinging butterfly.
The film makes it abundantly clear that no one (especially the ever-conclusive Howard Cosell) felt Ali had the slightest chance of coming out of this thing with all his teeth intact. (There is a terrifying shot of Foreman pounding on a heavy bag and actually putting dents in the thing.) Ali was no idiot, and knew exactly what he was up against. It's obvious that he started playing psychological games with Foreman even before the ink was dry on Don King's contracts. At an early press conference, Ali states, "I'm so mean I make medicine sick."
This comes off as a joke, but Ali knew that if you repeat something often enough (especially to the press) it can become a reality. A great deal of the film shows him riffing on the same concept, to hilarious and ultimately prophetic results.
The main commentators are Norman Mailer and George Plimpton, two very talented writers who covered the fight from beginning to end in Zaire. Though both of them offer up some occasionally amusing insights (Mailer says King's hair looked like "he was falling through an empty elevator shaft"), I don't particularly think that these two men should be the key figures in retracing a heroic African-American's journey back to the land of his ancestors. If Mailer had a couple more square inches of hot air in him, he could be tethered at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The thing to watch out for is when he says, "It was as if..." This is usually followed by Mailer actually trying to mimic Ali's motor-mouth routine, or pretending to know what was going on in the fighter's own head. What you find out instead is that Norman Mailer sure does like to hear himself talk.
The political backdrop of the fight is just as interesting as Ali's self-willed rebirth. At one point in the movie, Mailer describes President Mobutu of Zaire as a despotic monster, citing an incident in which he reputedly saw fit to randomly execute 100 local criminals as a way to keep the crime rate down while the world's press was focused on his country. He actually had pens full of political prisoners under the stands of the very stadium where the fight was held. The main reason the bout took place here at all was because Mobutu was willing to put up the $10 million purse King was looking for. Mobutu considered it good advertising.
Ali, though, understood the symbolic nature of this event. He was returning to the land of his forefathers, a conquering hero, and he reveled in the instantaneous celebrations that would erupt whenever he stepped onto the streets of Kinshasa. There was already a heavy pro-Ali bias amongst the people of Zaire, but, when Foreman was cut while sparring and had to postpone the fight for six weeks, Ali's personal lure took over to an almost mystical degree. The best moments in the film come when Ali celebrates with the adoring crowds who follow him and chant "Ali, bomaye," (meaning "Ali, kill him") wherever he goes. This is a man who had been tested, and would continue to be tested, but could glory in his freedom with every step he took.
At a time when real heroes are in short supply, it's inspiring to realize that a man like Muhammad Ali is still with us. He still is a king, and always will be.
Related site:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser windowExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
Sound off on our message boards
Tell us what you think!
You said it...
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.