“KLITSCHKO” My rating: B
117 minutes | No MPAA rating
My criteria for a sports movie is pretty simple. If you don’t really care about the sport in question, can the movie still hold up?
In the case of “Klitschko,” Sebastian Dehnhardt’s documentary about Ukrainian boxing brothers Vitali and Wladamir Klitschko, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Born of a Soviet military officer, reared in abysmal base housing (at one point they resided in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster), the two look-alike brothers managed to develop an impressive work ethic while still finding time to get into trouble. (One great story involves Vitali finding an armed antitank mine and hiding it beneath his father’s bed.)
Inspired by the kung fu movies that until the late ‘80s were banned in the U.S.S.R., the pair got their start in kickboxing, then moved into boxing. The older Vitali was soon a world heavyweight champion. Little brother Wladimir took top honors at the Olympics and entered the professional arena as well.
To date the brother have a combined pro record of 99 wins and five defeats. At one point Vitali was WBC world heavyweight champ while Wladimir held the WBA title.
But the brothers, who have an uncanny way of complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, say they would never fight each other.
They challenge our usual image of boxers. They’re political, intellectual and (outside the ring, anyway) extremely gentle souls.
Denhardt employs the usual talking heads — parents, trainers, wives, journalists, the brothers’ opponents (Lennox Lewis, Chris Byrd, etc.)
But what’s really thrilling here is some of the most amazing fight footage ever. It’s been edited (often employing instant replays and slo-mo versions) with such skill and dramatic sensibility that “Klitschko” sometimes feels like an extremely well-made fictional fight film rather than a doc that relies heavily on archival footage.
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 
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