This is not the Russian “cranberry”. A worthy film about a great boxer was shot in Kazakhstan
August 18, 2023
The film “Boxer” tells the story of an Olympic champion.
Akan Sataev has long been considered one of the best and most popular directors in Kazakhstan. Behind him are already such successful works as “Tomiris” and “Racketeer”, which, in fact, brought him fame. Sataev has a recognizable style, his films are usually quite large, and at the same time he successfully combines drama and action.
“Boxer” is another picture of the director, which will take its rightful place in his resume. Here Akan concentrated the entire film around the figure of the protagonist, but at the same time decorated it in the usual style, visually adding “dark colors.” It is also worth considering that, in principle, there are not so many good films about boxing, so the next replenishment of this collection is only a plus.
Where to see?
On August 10, the film appeared on the Kinopoisk online service. By subscription “Plus” you can view and evaluate the work of Akan Sapiyev.
Movie “Boxer”
Photo: kinopoisk.ru
Plot
The central figure of the picture is the Kazakh boxer Serik Sapiyev, the hope of the country and the captain of the national boxing team. This is a classic biopic that tells the success story of a wrestler who didn’t stop in the face of all kinds of hardships and headed for his old dream: Olympic gold.
It all starts not with a bright and colorful victory story, but with the fact that Sapiev loses at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is faced with a difficult choice: turn professional and get money for himself and his family, or move to another weight category. and start all over again to try again four years later to win the Olympic Games.
And such a film about boxing was filmed in Russia:
“Mr. Knockout”: the failure of Russian cinema? Negligent attitude towards cranberry history and clichés
The full picture is structured in the form of an interview. Sapiyev is asked questions about his career and is immersed in memories of how he went through this difficult path. In addition to direct fights and training, Serik’s home life, his relationship with his family, is revealed to us. Siblings, for example, take the loss of a fighter quite easily, and the mother usually prefers not to watch fights. Sapiyev’s relationship with the coach is a separate line: there are conflicts, there are many disagreements, but in the end they go the same way and remain close.
emotional ending
Everyone knows very well how the story should end, but the director manages to convey the emotional component, and this makes you worry about Sapiyev, who overcame himself, all the difficulties, found the motivation to come back and try again and he finally achieves his goal. There’s no fictional dramaturgy, but the final scenes all look the same in one shot.
Kazakh boxer Serik Sapiyev
Photo: kinopoisk.ru
Worth seeing?
Definitely, the image deserves to be seen at least as part of an acquaintance of this story, which was quite well transmitted. Of course, there are shortcomings and shortcomings, somewhere the actors lack credibility, some fight scenes are simply not very realistic, and training shots often drag on. However, this is something that does not affect the rating of the film much. “Boxer” is worth seeing and appreciating. Maybe the movie will help someone learn certain lessons.
Appreciated
The story behind the plot The quality of the shooting A good selection of actors.
I dont like him
The musical accompaniment of rap hits periodically turns the film into a clip. Long training scenes.
