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Established 8th March, 2000
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Michelle Rodriquez
Go, Michelle!
Girlfight
Karyn Kusama's debut film Girlfight was ecstatic accepted during the film festival in Sundance in 2000, and the reason why is obvious. The film is mainly about boxing, it is free from the cliched and traditional meditations on masculin values. Naturally, the main reason is the female leading role acted by an unique actress. Michelle Rodriquez is a sensation as the problem child Diana , who finds her freedom as a boxer. It is very difficult to imagine how the film would have been without her overwhelming presence.
Girlfight is about the importance of winning. As the only girl in one of New York's latin neighbourhoods, Diana begins boxing. She is trained by the aging trainer Hector, who discovers her unique talent. One of the boys run down Diana's brother and his weak "gay boxing". She knocks down the boy to the desperation of the brother and to the surprise of the trainer. Of course, there is a reason why Diana is beating. She has grown up with the knowledge that her tyrannical father could have contributed to the death of her mother, and at the same time her fiends are scared by her aggressive behaviour. In one of the important scenes of the film Diana got her father down. Sensationally, a girl and a boy who find love in the boxing arena, are forced to fight each other. The uniqueness of the film is how Diana gets a new dignity because of her physical development as a boxer.
Many find boxing repulsive, but Girlfight is the best example why boxing is more than a fight between two persons. Especially, Kasuma's impressing scenes of the training Diana reveals how much intelligence and acrobatics a person need to have to be a good boxer. The sterile and and brutal aspects of boxing which we are focused in films as Raging Bull and Rocky is replaced by a more realistic introduction of the aspects of boxing. Instead of the presentation of boxing as a metaphysical battle of the American dream, Kasuma precise and exact style make us aware of the beauty of the thorough preparation of the boxers and spectators to be able to take part in the boxing.
Girlfight is not a political or feministic film on how women conquer the male bastions. Obviously, according to Kasuma's opinion it is not remarkable that women is boxing, because in the film the opposition against Diana's boxing is not defined with the exception of some words of abuse uttered by some unsuccesful ex-boxers and local idiots ("this equality crap has gone too far" etc.) The presentation of Diana's brother and father as traditional victims of the latin macho culture is somewhat weak, but it is okay as long as the spectator focuses on the rage of Diana. Her rage is tranformed into physical acrobatics in the boxing arena.
Michelle Rodriquez is a natural talent. She can be compared to Marlon Brando, not because they are both boxers, but because Michelle Rodriquez expresses a poetical indolence, a dozing aggression which is transformed into snarls and growls either she is happy or angry. In some moments of the film Kazuma exaggerate the snarls and growls of Rodriguez. The alerting rumours says that the growls and the snarls as the "trade mark" of Michelle Rodriquez will be used because of its supposed potensiality of sex-appeal. Let us hope Rodriquez brutal and unpolished talent will not be tamed by the efforts to transform her into a sex kitten. Certainly, it will destroy my heart.
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