Murderball

Murderball is a 2005 documentary that was nominated for an Academy Award, but I'm just catching up to it now. It does the best thing that a documentary can do--take me to a world I know nothing about, and make me care about people doing something I would have never thought was interesting.

The world is that of "wheelchair rugby," or "quad rugby," that was once called "murderball." As Mark Zupan, one of the key players on the U.S. team states, murderball was not exactly easy to market to corporate sponsors.

The game is played by quadraplegics with varying disabilities. Most of the players sustained spinal injuries. They roll in fortified wheelchairs and play a game that combines elements of basketball, American football, and hockey. But the object of the game seems to be, as one players puts it, "kill the guy with the ball."

The film, directed by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, covers the U.S. team from their defeat at the hands of the Canadian team. This is a bitter pill to swallow, as they had never lost a championship before, and the Canadian team was coached by one of their ex-players, Joe Soares, who went to coach the team to the north after being cut by the American team. Soares, a fascinating hard-ass type of guy, is asked by his ex-teammate, "How does it feel to betray your country?"

The film then chronicles both teams as they prepare for the Paralympics in Athens in 2004. I did not know, of if I did I forgot, that the Paralympics are part of the Olympics, taking place in the same venues after the Olympics are over--a kind of shadow Olympics.

Since I knew so little about this topic I ended up watching a game played in 2004 not having any idea how it turned out, which made for great suspense.

In addition to Zupan and Soares, a handful of other players are featured. They were followed for two years, and the filmmakers got incredible access, even following Soares into an operating room while having a heart attack. I did wonder how much was staged, especially considering Soares' anniversary dinner with his wife was done with a two-camera set-up. I was also suspicious of a parallel story about a young man who undergoes a spinal injury and then months later is introduced to the sport by Zupan on a recruiting trip. How in the world did the filmmakers know this young man would end up interested in wheelchair rugby?

That aside, the film is extremely well done. In the supplemental material, the players featured express their relief that the film is not one of those "pity me" films with stringed musical accompaniment. These guys are not in the business of self-pity, and the film does not oversentimentalize their disabilities. One of the players, Bob Lujardo, doesn't have hands or legs, but seems as able-bodied as I am. This no-nonsense approach lends dignity to the proceedings, and makes for a more emotional impact at the climax of the film (I won't tell who wins).