Sunday, March 30, 2014

Fighting the Good Fight

     The only goal a good documentary should have is to shine the light of truth on an otherwise hidden or unknown subject.  Whether it's to expose a government's ineptness to handle a terrorist attack or the terrifying effects of eating fast food everyday, documentaries need to surprise and move people and their emotions with an unadulterated dose of the truth.  The problem that faced the directors, Oscar winner Leon Gast (When We Were Kings) and Filipino american Ryan Moore, was that their only subject, Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, is one of the world's most recognized faces.  Pacquiao's day to day routine and life story have been well documented, too well documented , in fact, that showing a new side, a new truth is a herculean task.


     Predictably, the documentary tracks Pacquiao's rags to riches story, from a small fishing village in General Santos to the small city in Saranggani and then later the streets of Malabon.  It also predictably tracks Pacquiao's amazing (and still ongoing) boxing career, from his early Philippine and Asian wins to his startling rise to greatness on the world stage.  But to say that the documentary is a predictable reel with the hopes of bolstering Pacquiao's future political career would be just too lazy.  The documentary provides a hidden, unexpected gem that only real silence will allow.



      As with most features go, Pacquiao's life is characterized by chaos.  A huge entourage, largely known for infighting and disorganization, a throng of media that never seems to tire of asking questions and a schedule as diverse as it is taxing is on his plate daily.  While most features would gladly supply resource persons to elucidate just how difficult Manny's schedule is, the documentary succeeds in telling this in a different light.  By design or not, the unscripted raw footage of parts of Manny's daily life, unedited for sound, do a much better job.  As dramatic and emotional as narrator Liam Neeson goes, and as insightful and unabashed sports writers Quinito Henson, Gary Poole and Larry Merchant are, there was a lot more meaning in Pacquiao's sigh and silence as adviser Michael Koncz adds yet another document for him to sign.  There was more gravitas in the shot of Pacquiao sighing and drooping his head after his 3rd disappointing fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.  The fatigue and the exasperation was booming in the post fight interview after the fight with Antonio Margarito.  Laughter abounds in the sound engineer's look of irony and disbelief as Pacquiao gamely tries to sing "Sometimes When We Touch," with Dan Hill.  There was an astonishing amount of awe inspired by Pacquiao's impromptu speech to his downtrodden family and friends after the surprising loss to Timothy Bradley.

      The problem when most people feature Manny Pacquiao is that his life is so rich with philanthropic work, boxing achievements, showbiz dealings and personal controversies that no one has truly taken the time to find out how human the "National Fist," really is.  He would always answer that he can handle it, but "Manny" the documentary decides to let his life speak for him.  It succeeds in making the viewer feel the depths of Manny's physical, emotional and sometimes, spiritual fatigue.  This is a man who carries the weight of fighting one of world's most dangerous sports, of supporting a huge family and entourage who have always relied on him, of representing his hometown in a congress the entire nation distrusts, of making a people hit with poverty and natural disasters proud once more and of loving a wife and 4 kids who constantly have to curb the disappointment of sharing their husband and father to the rest of the world.  Manny Pacquiao fights on multiple fronts, each one as demanding as the next and he is bone tired. You can see it in the unscripted footage.  You can hear it in his sighs and impromptu interviews.  He is, after all, only human.

       It has already been said by many that "Manny" while being a well-intentioned and well-directed documentary, is largely unfocused, but that may be its greatest achievement.  Documentaries succeed when they shine the light of truth on its subject and thereby making the audience truly understand it.  It is perhaps a bit too well-intentioned.  It is perhaps a bit unfocused in trying to fit all aspects of Pacquiao's life in one documentary.  But the question is, "Who is its subject?"

      It is Manny Pacquiao.  Over exposed on many fronts, chaotic and bone tired, but still well-intentioned and fighting the good fight.  He continues to box for a nation desperate for a hero.

      Because after all, like he said, he is, "a fighter."

photos courtesy of IMDB

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