It begins in pre-Civil Rights era Miami and ends in Kinshasa, Zaire, on a wave of "black is beautiful" sentiment; over the course of 10 years (the same decade covered by Michael Mann's 2001 ALI) a brash young boxer named Cassius Clay becomes controversial former-world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, looking to reclaim his lost glory at the celebrated "Rumble in the Jungle." American expatriate photographer and filmmaker William Klein's film documents a turbulent time and an outsized personality, but the film's glories are in the details and its intimacy would be unimaginable in the rigidly spin-controlled atmosphere of 21st-century sports. Klein started shooting i...
Released:
1974
Rated:
NR
Length:
110 mins