Recently I watched Murderball, a documentary about the sport of wheelchair rugby. The documentary follows a few characters, mainly focusing on Mark Zupan, through the trials of getting onto the Olympic team as well as the hardships they face day to day being partially paralyzed. Most of the players were involved in some kind of car accident that broke their neck to cause partial paralysis in their lower body and sometimes partial upper body. A few others contracted deadly diseases or were born with Polio. The main thread through the documentary is the rivalry between the US and Canadian teams as they work to go head to head in the 2004 Paralympics. Team Canada was headed up by a famous USA wheelchair rugby player who was kicked off the USA team as he grew older. Because of that he was the main instigator for all of the drama between the two teams.
The documentary is both gritty and touching. The games that the men play are somewhat violent and very competitive, but the way that the filmmakers delve into the personal lives of the players draws you into the story even deeper. Mark Zupan is the main character (also an Austin local) who we get to see the more of his personal life. We even get to meet his best friend who put him in the wheelchair and the story behind that. The stories that these men had to tell were sad, but uplifting at the same time. They were put in such a horrible situation but found a way to regain their life back through wheelchair rugby. I thought it was a wonderful part of the movie that the filmmakers chose to follow a recently paralyzed man who had a tough time wanting to live until Zupan introduced him to wheelchair rugby. The coverage of the games themselves was fast paced and interesting, especially the way the filmmakers shoes to unfold the last competition between Canada and the USA teams as a sort of montage.
On a side note, I was listening to the 101X morning show on my way to classes this week and they Had Mark Zupan in the studio talking about his wheelchair rugby career. He said that he was now retiring from the USA team and moving on to more promotional aspects of wheelchair rugby and helping out others.
2 comments:
I haven't seen this yet, but I'm really excited to.
yes, Zupan lives in Austin. you may see him if you go to the Austin Film Festival! Murderball and other docs about disabled people have had an impact on the way people perceive the disabled in our society. this film is also great example of the narrative style competition documentary that has been so successful at the box office in recent years. And, it was shot on similar HDV cameras as we are using. HBO has a new debate video that follows the same formula.
Prof. Spiro
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