Cradle of Champions (Bartle Bull, 2017): USA

Reviewed by Gustav Arndal. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

We don’t watch sport just for the spectacle. No matter how astonishing the feats on display it won’t hold our attention for long, and it won’t stay with us after we leave the venue or turn off the TV.

We watch sports for the stories. Any sport is only as engaging as the stories we tell about it. The poor, young up-and-comers trying to break in. The old undefeated legends. The teamwork. The rivalries. The triumphs. These are the things that make or break a sport, and they’re also what make or break a film.

And Cradle of Champions is a documentary sports film that has these things in spades.

Bartle Bull shows us the behind-the-scenes of the biggest amateur boxing tournament in the world, the New York Golden Gloves, which has produced more world champions than the Olympics. It follows three contestants as they work towards becoming champions and winning the life changing prize. And two of them are on a collision course to face each other in the finale.

If Cradle of Champions was a fiction film, it would be a good sports movie. But the documentary format allows it to delve into the idea of boxing itself rather than just focus on the three act story. When James Wilkins, a hungry up-and-comer with a bad temper and a big family, and Titus Williams, a church going boy trying to reclaim his title before going pro, step into the ring it feels like anything can happen and any win will be triumphant and heartbreaking at the same time. It truly captures the feeling of pressure and anticipation that goes along with a tournament final.

It’s hard to overstate how impressive it is that the filmmakers picked exactly the right people to follow, all of them reaching the final and all of them charismatic, likable and determined.

There’s less tension or drama with Nisa Rodriguez, a PE teacher and single mother with Olympic dreams going for her 6th consecutive win at the tournament. Her story is more inspirational than tense, as her love for her child and her students pushes her to give it her all. But her story is just as essential for this movie as it explores the very reason boxing is important.

Bartle Bull was a sports journalist before he decided to make this film, and his passion shows. Much of the film focuses on the state funded boxing gyms around New York and the coaches who were part of it before they were shut down. The gyms took rough kids off the streets and into a positive environment of discipline, civility and hard work. These principles guide all three of our main characters.

There’s an almost religious aspect to this film. For these people, boxing is their salvation, their passion, their life, and the ring is their church. They wear the Golden Glove medal like a cross around their neck. Everyone has a reason to fight – for family and pride, for glory, or to inspire others around them. And where all these motivations clash is where a sport becomes truly great.

And it’s where this documentary becomes great as well.