Viewers’ eyes will be glued to the screen watching the rousing four “round” nonfiction biopic “Muhammad Ali,” a no-holds-barred account of the rise of Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., who became Ali after his conversion to Islam. In this four-part, nearly eight-hour documentary, co-directors Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon provide a blow-by-blow picture of the brash prizefighter’s battles in the ring. More importantly, they show his battle for Black nationalism by joining the Nation of Islam and resisting the draft during the Vietnam War.
Clay was born in 1942 in segregated Louisville, Kentucky. He punched his way to Olympic gold, the heavyweight boxing championship title, then bravely parlayed his showmanship and fame to fight for Black rights and peace. He died in 2016 of a respiratory ailment related to his Parkinson’s disease.
A four-time Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nominee, Ken Burns takes us beyond the ring and behind the scenes, skillfully interweaving archival footage and news clips with original interviews featuring experts, including academic Todd Boyd; Dave Zirin, historian, sportswriter and columnist; essayist and professor Gerald Early; novelist Walter Mosley; boxer Larry Holmes; basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and activists Reverend Jesse Jackson and Bernardine Dohrn.
“Muhammad Ali”s four episodes, which unspooled over four nights on PBS, are called “rounds.” Burns and his team take fans ringside for many of his legendary bouts, some of which were scenes of graphic violence.
Viewers are transported to Zaire for 1974’s “Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman, and to the Philippines for 1975’s “Thrilla in Manila” against Smokin’ Joe Frazier. But in my opinion, the most consequential fight for Ali’s career was his 1964 upset victory, at age 22, over Sonny Liston, who then held the WBA’s heavyweight belt. This technical knockout in Miami “shook the world,” as the victor asserted, and launched Ali on a trajectory to even bigger battles outside of the ring.
Shortly after securing the boxing title, Clay, as he was known the world over, announced he had joined the separatist organization the Nation of Islam. The Black Muslims’ spiritual leader, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, replaced the “slave name” of Cassius Clay with the exalted, newly minted moniker of “Muhammad Ali,” which meant “worthy of most praises” and “most high.” And that’s what he wanted sports writers, opponents, and fans to call him.
The series details Ali’s relationship with Malcolm X, which withered once the militant Malcolm split from the Nation of Islam to pursue a more secular, political course of activism. Burns seems to harbor deep skepticism about, and disdain for, the Nation of Islam and notes Ali’s everlasting regret over disavowing Malcolm X.
In any case, Ali was celebrated as an icon of the civil rights movement. Proudly proclaiming his self-appointed status as “The Greatest” reverberated at a time when Black Americans still struggled under Jim Crow in parts of the United States.
In 1966, well before Martin Luther King Jr., Ali publicly opposed the war in Vietnam. In April 1967, Ali courageously refused to be inducted into the US Army, declaring: “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me nigger. Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”
This resulted in Ali being stripped of his title, meaning he could no longer box; he also faced the possibility of serious prison time for resisting the draft. His trials and tribulations lasted in the courts for five years, culminating in a triumph before the US Supreme Court in 1971.
Ali’s odyssey inside and outside of the ring is rife with high stakes and tragedy. However, as told by Ken Burns, this strange-but-true drama also offers a lot of good fun, too. There are nostalgic clips of Ali clowning with his on-air foil Howard Cosell (the first sportscaster to respectfully use Ali’s chosen name) and talk-show host Dick Cavett.
“Muhammad Ali” fully captures and expresses the radiance, heroism, joie de vivre, and sheer lovability of its outspoken title character. Basking in Ali’s effervescent presence will likely cause viewers to feel inspired, cheer, laugh out loud, and reflect.
“Muhammad Ali” aired Sept. 19-22 on PBS but may be replayed on your local PBS station. Check local listings.
Ed Rampell is a film historian and critic based in Los Angeles. Rampell is the author of "Progressive Hollywood, A People's Film History of the United States" and he co-authored “The Hawaii Movie and Television Book,” now in its third edition. This first appeared at progressive.org.
From The Progressive Populist, October 15, 2021
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