When We Were Kings

Sport and cinema have not always made the happiest of bedfellows. The problem is simple: movies can simply never hope to match the unplanned drama of the boxing ring or the athletics track. With this being the case, When We Were Kings ought to be doubly hamstrung since everyone knows the outcome of the fight on which it centres. But just as the 'Rumble In The Jungle' was no ordinary boxing bout, so When We Were Kings isn't your average documentary.

This isn't some straightforward retelling of events. Quite the opposite, Leon Gast's film covers all aspects of this remarkable occasion. Opinions are elicited from folk as eminent as Ali's biographer Thomas Hauser, author Norman Mailer and director Spike Lee, and footage is included of both the behind-the-scenes deals struck by a young Don King and Zaïrean president cum mass murderer Mobutu Sese Seko and the Woodstock-style concert that was scheduled to coincide with the bout (and upon which the picture was originally going to concentrate).

Such is its attention to detail, When We Were Kings would make for interesting viewing were it simply documenting a fight between two journeymen. However, since one of its subjects is Muhammad Ali, the film goes from being merely good to truly great. Watching Ali walk the walk and talk the talk, it really is hard to believe there has ever been another human being quite as impressive. Seeing him at work both in and out of the ring is to spend time in the company of greatness. Seeing When We Were Kings, meanwhile, is to spend time in the company of a great film.