The Boxer

While it was his debut film as a director – My Left Foot – that put Jim Sheridan’s name firmly on the map, it was the 1993 hit In The Name Of The Father that cemented his reputation as a leader in the craft. A Dublin native with a knack for both visceral drama and honest emotion, Sheridan’s retelling of the true story of the Guildford Four managed to simultaneously be both a damning criticism of a dark chapter in history and an often heart-rending personal story, one which tackled some difficult incidents and issues with utter passion but without ever resorting to pathos or overblown silliness. That film – which arrives on DVD soon – was in many ways a turning point for Sheridan, who had spent much of his life in the arts but was relatively fresh as a director – it was his third film, yet it came loaded with the kind of confidence and assured sense of realistic storytelling that many directors take decades to perfect, if at all. Four years later, Sheridan teamed again with actor Daniel Day-Lewis to tell a story of the conflict in Northern Ireland – but in the process of making The Boxer the story changed drastically. It became, effectively, a love story.

Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis) has just gotten out of prison after fourteen years of hard time for his part in an IRA bombing in Belfast. The years of isolation and silence have changed Danny drastically, and his attitude to the violence he was once a part of has changed as well. He returns home to find a very different place to the one he left, and discovers that Maggie (Emily Watson), the woman he was in love with before being imprisoned, has married his former best friend – who himself is spending time in prison, leaving Maggie to look after son Liam on her own. Danny’s feelings for Maggie have not changed, though, and soon they are spending time together, trying to get to know each other again – much to the disdain of Maggie’s father Joe, who also happens to be one of the key figures in the IRA that Danny has turned his back on. Maggie’s father could be the least of Danny’s worries, though, as a radical IRA member – a man that Danny spent time in jail for - makes his intense dislike of his former colleague very, very clear. Trained in his youth as a boxer, Danny returns to the sport with renewed passion – a sport as closely involved with fighting as the Irish Troubles are, but with a set of defined rules and behaviours that are absent from the chaotic “real world� that put Danny in prison in the first place.

While working with similar subject matter as In The Name Of The Father – and with the same lead actor, supporting actor, editor and some of the key music composers – Jim Sheridan has crafted a very different film with The Boxer (though there are some strong similarities occasionally – for example, the first bombing scene is almost a mirror image of a similarly early moment from In The Name Of The Father). While it’s certainly not a sequel of any kind to the previous film – nor is it intended to be – The Boxer works well as a companion piece, chronicling as it does the other side of these tragic circumstances. It’s a film about hope, about redemption, and above all about the need for the ordinary people caught up in these extraordinary circumstances to go on with their lives as best they can, staying where they are for one very good reason – it’s their home.

Day-Lewis is excellent as always as Danny, but the really eye-opening performance here is from Watson, who was cast by Sheridan after he saw her in Lars von Trier’s Breaking The Waves. She delivers a totally believable, emotionally rich performance in The Boxer, helped greatly by Sheridan’s insightful and sympathetic direction and a terrific supporting cast.

If you’re expecting more of the intensity and raw emotion of In The Name Of The Father you might be slightly disappointed – though there are elements of that to be found here. Inspired by real-life boxer Barry McGuigan (who acted as the boxing consultant and trainer for the movie) and loaded with the unique humanity and insight that Sheridan is so gifted at, The Boxer is a much more personal film than its predecessor, and one which is, ultimately, even more uplifting.

Billed on the packaging as being presented at a 1.66:1 aspect ratio – but actually presented at its correct theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 (16:9 enhanced), this transfer of The Boxer is absolutely stunning, marred only by some minor damage to the camera negative that’s visible during some of the helicopter shots (particularly during the opening credits), and some major moire patterning on the decidedly video-unfriendly shirt that Daniel Day-Lewis wears through much of the second half of the film. Chris Menges’ cinematography is quite remarkable throughout, genuinely capturing a feel for time and place and loaded with atmosphere, and making impressively gorgeous use of both light and colour. Particularly well rendered on DVD is Menges’ extensive use of blue tone throughout the film. Some of the in-the-ring point-of-view shots during the boxing matches display a lack of contrast and less-than-optimum black levels (which may well have been intentional – it certainly lends an almost documentary feel to these sequences) but aside from that, this is one of the most film-like and subtle transfers you’re likely to have seen for some time.

Video compression (done by WAMO) presents no major problems, and the layer change, while very noticeable, is reasonably well placed and was navigated quickly on our review player.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack provided on this disc is of pristine quality, though it’s worth keeping in mind that The Boxer is very much a dialogue-based movie for much of its running time. This wonderfully-mixed soundtrack keeps characters’ voices prominent in the mix at all times – especially important to those who have trouble understanding the Irish accents used here – and uses the surround channels extremely well (and extremely subtly) for atmospheric effects.

When needed, though, the full 5.1 soundstage is called into action with a vengeance – particularly during the boxing scenes and for some of the more violent moments, as well as for the frequent appearance of the helicopters that fly overhead.

The music score is by Gavin Friday (formerly of legendary band The Virgin Prunes) and Maurice Seezer, the same team that, with U2's Bono, wrote the impassioned songs for In The Name Of The Father. This time around they’ve opted for a more orchestral approach to the arrangements of their music, though there are electronic moments to be found as well, most notably during the opening and closing credits. Sound quality on the music throughout is first-rate.

A subtle but involving soundtrack (mixed, incidentally, in New York), this one is also extremely well-mixed, with few occurrences of noticeable tape hiss or other distractions.

Universal’s DVD of The Boxer is billed as a “Collector’s Edition�, and certainly lives up to its name with a terrific, though not overly extensive, set of extra features, many of which are well worth the time.

Documentary: Fighting For Peace: Inside The Boxer: A 23-minute mini-documentary prepared by the Universal Home Video team in the US in 1998, this takes the form of the usual EPK-style press-promo featurette that most are all too familiar with, but manages to remain interesting and worthwhile by including plenty of insightful interview footage with the cast and director, as well as boxer Barry McGuigan. Particularly fascinating is the idea of putting Day-Lewis and Sheridan in a room together and having them interview each other – the result is well worth it. Interestingly, one interview quote from Emily Watson suggests that this was put together before the ending of the film was changed.

Alternate Ending: Only a minute long and with acceptable, though unremarkable picture quality, this alternate closing scene changes the outcome for the characters, and arguably changes the message of the film in the process. While fascinating to be able to see, the released ending is the better one. A commentary on this scene would have been appreciated, but sadly is not provided.

Deleted Scenes: A collection of scenes either removed from the film altogether or substantially trimmed in the release version, the 16 minutes of footage here is all presented letterboxed but not 16:9 enhanced, and has obviously been taken from a rough-cut print with all the associated problems – lack of colour balance, scratches, visible edits and so on. But being able to see all of this material is terrific (especially one key deletion referred to in the disc’s commentary tracks) and for those who really click with the film, this will all be fascinating.

Audio Commentary – Jim Sheridan: A quietly-spoken and unpretentious man, Sheridan speaks about his film with affection and genuine insight into the subject matter and story as well as the production process itself. The antithesis of the usual Hollywood commentary, this one’s relaxed, casual and loaded with information that genuinely enhances appreciation of the film.

Audio Commentary – Arthur Lappin: Producer Lappin provides more detail about both the production process and the intentions of the film, which works well as a companion to Sheridan’s own commentary. Lappin does tend to be silent for extended periods of time, which is a shame, but when he speaks he has much that’s worthwhile to say.

Theatrical Trailer: A two-minute, full-frame US trailer for the film, this suffers from the usual problems inherent in modern American trailers and doesn’t really seem to grasp the point of the movie at all. It’s good to have it here, but more for its curiosity value than anything else.

Production Notes: 14 pages in a fairly large font, containing what’s basically the press-kit blurb for the film. Interesting, but the featurette provides more information with less hype.

Cast And Filmmakers: Short bios and “film highlights� for cast members Lewis, Watson, Brian Cox, Ken Stott, Kenneth Cranham and Gerard McSorley, as well as Jim Sheridan. A nice touch is the use of identifying photos for each cast member on the selection screens themselves.

Another emotionally involving and thoroughly compelling film from Jim Sheridan, The Boxer boasts some terrific performances from its talented cast and sure-handed writing and direction from Sheridan, along with superb cinematography that does much to help make the story believable and resonant. Universal’s DVD is excellent in terms of quality - bar a couple of minor visual flaws that won’t bother the majority of viewers – and generous in terms of extra material.