JOE AND MAX
US, 2002, 109 minutes, Colour.
Leonard Roberts, Til Schweiger, Peta Wilson, Richard Roundtree, David Paymer.
Directed by Steve James.
Joe and Max is the story of the contest between Joe Louis and Max Schmelling.
Joe Louis was the American champion, the hero of the African Americans in the 1930s. Max Schmelling was a German boxer, patronised by the Nazis, looked on by Hitler as a conqueror of the inferior race.
The film sketches in the background of each man, his character, career, the build-up to the initial confrontation. At first Schmelling beats Joe Louis and is received in Nazi Germany with great honour. However, in the return bout, he is beaten by Louis.
American race issues emerge. The situation of the 1930s and the Nazis is also strongly emphasised.
Til Schweiger, popular German star, is effective as Schmelling. Peta Wilson is Anny Ondra, the German film star who is his wife. Veteran Richard Roundtree plays the trainer. David Paymer plays Schmelling’s agent, a Jewish agent who is interested in the sport and not in social and racial issues.
The film traces the experiences during the war where Louis campaigned for bonds and then was taxed by the American government. Schmelling and his wife survived the war, hostility from the occupying Americans afterwards, but was then put on the board of Coca- Cola. The film shows some scenes of the two men meeting in later life and their respect for each other.
Direction is by Steve James who made the Oscar-nominated documentary Hoop Dreams as well as the telemovie on the runner, Prefontaine.
1.A boxing story? An African American story? A German story? Nazis, the 30s, white America?
2.The strong emphasis on history, the characters and stories in the context of their history? Sport, rivalry, friendship?
3.The re-creation of the 30s, Nazi Germany, the SS, the appearance of Hitler? Authorities and celebrities in Nazi Germany? Films and film stars? Sport and the social consequences?
4.The contrast with the United States, the Depression, race issues, African Americans in sport? The promoters? The fights, the trainers? Political implications? African American support of Joe Louis? The celebration of his victories? The war experience, post-war?
5.The character of Joe, his background and family, his character, seemingly upright, his training, strength? The promoter and his moral guide? The bouts, the build-up to the fight against Schmelling? The clashes and the interviews? The fight, the defeat? His wife, his other women, her embarrassment? His repentance? His wife and the humiliations in the restaurants, her declaration of love for her husband but leaving him? Training, the meeting, the final win and its effect?
6.Max Schmelling and his age, his love of boxing, German personality? Joe Jacobs and the promotion? The Jewish promoter? Max’s wife, her film career? Their bonds? Going to the United States, the interviews, confidence, comparisons with Joe? His winning, returning a hero? Hitler’s welcome? The further training, the return, his significant defeat?
7.Schmelling’s neighbour, making the suits, the Jews, the shops, the closures, Kristalnacht, his seeking refuge, Schmelling welcoming him, his wife and her performance, the tensions, the intrusion of the SS, the pretence, the effect?
8.Schmelling and the fight, the defeat, Hitler turning off the radio, Goebbels and his comments about inferior races? The propaganda books and the introductions written for Schmelling? His being framed, reputation, American dislike of him?
9.The survival of the war, post-war poverty, their house, the destruction by the Americans, their hostility? The approach by Coca-Cola?, his acceptance? The GI treatment of the rebuilding of the house?
10.His visit to Joe, the bonds between the two, talking, sharing, transcending the past?
11.Joe Louis on his own, the war effort, the bouts, raising bond money, being presented with a tax bill, the harsh treatment?
12.The sad aspects of Joe Louis’ life, the final honours after his death? Schmelling and his long life?
13.A 20th century story?
