The Boxer (1997)

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Movie
German title The boxer
Original title The boxer
Country of production USA , Ireland
original language English
Publishing year 1997
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jim Sheridan
script Jim Sheridan,
Terry George
production Jim Sheridan,
Arthur Lappin
music Gavin Friday ,
Maurice Seezer
camera Chris Menges
cut Gerry Hambling
occupation

The 1997 Boxer is an Irish film directed by Jim Sheridan about a difficult love story against the backdrop of the Northern Ireland conflict .

action

Danny Flynn emerged from Belfast prison in 1992 after fourteen years in prison after blaming IRA activist Harry for a bomb attack at the age of 18 . Since then, he has distanced himself from the IRA. Nevertheless, he is drawn back to the Catholic-dominated part of Belfast, where the former boxer wants to open a non-denominational boxing school with his former trainer Ike. Danny meets Maggie, his ex-girlfriend, with whom he has broken off all contact since his imprisonment. Although she loves him, she eventually married another IRA member and became a mother. Her husband is now in custody himself. Danny and Maggie's feelings flare up again. Their relationship is not only opposed by the family ties, but also by the complicated circumstances surrounding the IRA, in which the women of imprisoned fighters enjoy a very special appreciation. There are also complications from disputes about the future direction of the organization. Maggie's father, who holds a leadership position, pleads for a cautious approach to the British occupation forces, Harry wants to continue the war. When Ike provokes him and he kills Ike because of it and Danny and Maggie want to confess to each other, the conflict with Harry is revealed. After Ike is buried, the car with Danny, Maggy and their son Ian is stopped by Harry and his people. Danny is beaten up and is supposed to be executed in a railway underpass. But surprisingly, it is not Danny who is shot, but Harry.

criticism

  • film-dienst 4/1998: A serious and sincere film that shows the suffering and misery of a country torn apart by civil war and has committed itself unreservedly to pacifism. Effectively staged and played convincingly.
  • epd Film 3/98: Even if some elements of the plot remain a little ostensible and vague, the mood in Northern Ireland, especially the disputes within the IRA, should be pretty much hit.
  • The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Remarks

Inspired the writers of the Irish world champion boxer was Barry McGuigan , who urged the parties to the fighting to leave him.

MacG was also the model for the scene in the boxing club in London. Unlike Danny in the film, MacGuigan did not stop fighting with his competitor Ali Mastapha, so he died.

MacGuigan prepared Daniel Day-Lewis for the boxing scenes in the film and then said that he would have had what it takes to be a world-class boxer if he had trained professionally at the age of 20.

In 1993, Sheridan, George, and Day-Lewis had made another IRA film, In the Name of the Father with Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite . He won the Golden Bear at the 1994 Berlinale , while The Boxer at the 1998 Berlinale came away empty-handed.

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