Girlfight Review

Girlfight
Diana lives in Brooklyn with her dad and brother. Seen as a troublemaker at school, she decides to channel her aggression into boxing and convinces her brother to trade his lessons with her. Soon Diana's advancing through the amateur ranks and falling for the gym's leading fighter, Adrian.

by Emma Cochrane |
Published on
Release Date:

13 Oct 2000

Running Time:

110 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Girlfight

Girlfight wouldn't exist if Karyn Kusama hadn't been a smoker. In an attempt to clean up her lifestyle, Kusama paid a trip to a boxing gym and was inspired to write Girlfight, the story of a would-be female boxing champ from the rough end of town. She delivered her $1 million movie at The Sundance Film Festival, picked up two awards, one for the film and one for herself, but more importantly, she convinced Columbia to pick up her film for international distribution.

Important, because this kind of well-written project is rarely so effectively realised. Much credit has to go to Rodriguez, Kusama's surly but charismatic lead. She's a strong character in more than the obvious sense, managing to be a fierce fighter, a young woman of ambition and attractive enough to convincingly land the gym stud.

There's a real sense of place as well. From Diana's school, to a highly populated housing block and surrounding streets, to the male-dominated gym where she trains, her world feels complete. She's not portrayed as a loner or freak, either. She has close friends and a sense of identity. In fact, it's the kind of dream female role - and role model - that is always said to be lacking in modern cinema.

But Kusama's real achievement is that, in centring the film around such a strong woman, she doesn't neuter her male characters. The three men in Diana's life are very different: her father is a coward, whose bullying has destroyed his children's lives; her brother is ambitious in his own way, but his means of escape is through art rather than flexing his muscles, and he's the peacemaker; while Diana's boyfriend knows his worth as a boxer, but strives to judge her as an equal, rather than a showpiece.

No idea is unique, and the trend for people discovering a sense of self through sport - be it boxing, dancing or basketball - is not new, but this is definitely one of the superior examples of that cluster.
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