MURDERBALL

US, 2005, 88 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro.

Yet another documentary that has drawn audiences out of home and away from their TV sets.

Murderball doesn’t sound immediately promising. However, it is a nickname for a wheelchair rugby that is an accepted sport for the para Olympics. The wheelchairs are described as Mad Max chairs but, although there are some spills, this is a sport that is more akin to wheelchair basketball.

The film-makers, one of whom wrote a magazine article on the subject, stayed with two teams, one American and one Canadian, for the best part of two and a half years, with an Olympic climax in Athens, 2004. We get to know the personalities involved, especially Joe, the intense coach who suffers a coronary during this period and, given his energy and drive and tension, should have suffered a few more. The players are a very mixed group, united in the fact that most of them are quadriplegic because of serious accidents.

So, not only is Murderball an opportunity to see the sport and follow the extreme competitiveness, it is more of a chance to spend time with the quadriplegics themselves and their families. We learn a lot about suffering, about dignity and the loss of dignity, of the awkwardness of able people confronting the quadriplegics. While these men have suffered, wheelchair rugby has given them a great new lease on life and on friendships. The film is also about gifts and achievements. There are a few sobering moments before the final credits. The players visit Washington and show the new war veterans, the maimed from the war in Iraq, how to play the game.

The sport and the people – and wondering who wins in Athens – are able to hold audience interest and attention.