MURDERBALL: A DOCUMENTARY IN THREE ACTS
James R Martin, Author, Documentary Director, Professor
Murderball is a documentary, nonfiction film structured like an action/drama fiction film and scripted in three acts. It uses only actuality footage, no recreations or actors. From a filmmaking standpoint, MurderBall represents a contemporary style of nonfiction storytelling techniques. The Directing, Editing, Cinematography, and Audio are all award-worthy efforts.
All you hear in the opening moments of MurderBall are the ambient sounds of Mark Zupan getting into his wheelchair, lifting his body and legs into place, and the sound of a compressor. In some ways, the opening images of MurderBall are deceiving. You might imagine a very different scenario in how the documentary follows Mark’s life—perhaps a story focusing on his disability. But this is not a documentary about disability.
MurderBall immerses you in the journey of the USA Quadriplegic Rugby team as they pursue their path to the 2004 Olympics in Greece. You witness the U.S. team’s intense rivalry with the Canadian team and their coach, Joe Soares. The film maintains a relentless pace, drawing you along with these warriors on their quest for Olympic gold in Athens.
The rivalry between the two teams, the US players versus Joe Soares and the Canadians, clearly gives us a protagonist and antagonist. Joe Soares's aggressive and often insensitive behavior makes him the person to dislike; however, toward the middle of the film, he does gain some redeeming value when he attends his non-jock son’s concert. Another, more subtle antagonist in the movie is the personal physical limitations the athletes must overcome to play this contact sport. Murder Ball was nominated for an Oscar as Best Documentary Film and has an impressive list of awards, including one for editing. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436613/awards
In the opening scenes, you quickly get to know several players through their words, actions, and interviews with their friends and families. The sport of wheelchair rugby is highly competitive, as are the participants. The rivalry between the USA and Canada is intensified by the animosity of the U.S. team members toward Joe Soares, an ex-U.S. player who has “defected” to become the coach of the Canadian team. This angst is even more evident after the U.S. team, undefeated for eleven years, loses a game to the Canadian team coached by Soares in Vancouver. After the game, one of the U.S. players asks Soares, “How does it feel to be a traitor to your country?”
One of the unique aspects of this documentary is that you are drawn into the players' lives and given an understanding of their disabilities in a non-condescending fashion. Instead, there is empathy and respect for these athletes who have overcome adversity and ask for no sympathy. This documentary is about a sport and athletes who have overcome adversity to play it.
The editing of MurderBall is excellent. Action dialog and interviews help create the narrative. There is no third-party narrator. You hear from the people involved. The action, including the wheelchair rugby matches, is paced well based on available coverage. This is pure documentary storytelling.
“Murder Ball, directed by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, produced by Jeffrey Mandel and Shapiro, photographed by Alex Rubin, works like many great documentaries to transcend its subject and consider the human condition.” – Roger Ebert – July 22, 2005
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Review by Author
Comments on film from viewers:
John Enix
The film gave me a new perspective on the lives of disabled individuals. It threw out all the pity and sadness that usually accompany this lifestyle and completely turned the audience on its ear! It was an entertaining, fresh new look at this lifestyle, and it was not only interesting and exciting but also changed my perspective!
Samantha McCullough
I loved this documentary! While informative, it was also very entertaining. Throughout the movie, I engaged in the games and the players’ lives. I would recommend it to others!
Dan Show
I picked up a copy of this documentary on DVD about 5-6 years ago; watching it again opened my eyes to how attractive the director's POV was during production.
Jennifer LaRue-McBroom
The sheer athletic ability of these men shines far beyond their disabilities. This documentary elicits many different emotions from its viewers, from sympathy to anger to excitement and joy for the accomplishments of these athletes. I found myself thoroughly enjoying the entire story. The story flowed easily, the film was shot well, and the audio was spot-on.