"The Backyard"
"The Backyard" - A Film Review by 'Garth Franklin' (Positive, Minor Spoilers)
Modern-Day Wrestling. That most American of sports has consistently remained one of the highest rated genres of television for many years now. Long gone are the days of Hulk Hogan, now the likes of The Rock and Vince McMahon are the new household names which kids aspire to be. Tens to hundreds of thousands of young men want to become professional wrestlers but only a small handful ever will. The rest will be scarred and injured for life.
Paul Hough's impressively well thought-out documentary looks at the lives of several young wannabe but very committed wrestlers. Its quite shocking at times - whereas professional wrestling these days remains unconvincing, this amateur stuff is almost frightening at the sheer level of violence here. Contestants hit each other with barbed wire covered battons, throw others against flaming boards, hit each other with sharp utensils, and generally keep going till the blood flows. Then comes the creepy almost brainwashed chanting to group machismo. One really has to wonder about some of these people's mindsets, you admire their determination but the hell they put themselves through is shocking.
The first set we're introduced to are two young brothers and their rather oddly supporting mother. The two boys pretty much put each other and the young one's girlfriend through hell, but they seem happy with their lot. This segment effectivey shows what they do, but the question of why remains somewhat sketchy - they want to get into the wrestling world, but it takes more than simply practicising the moves. After that we follow an eccentric blond character named the Lizard. His motives are more straightforward determination to make a name for himself and he moves in the more 'professional' circles of backyard wrestling. As the film progresses and we follow the matches made for 'public broadcast', things become surprisingly more like professional wresting in style. There's also introductions of voices of disentfrom passers-by and concerned relations that adds an extra dimension to these scenes.
Then we meet a young man named Scab, pure redneck rebel
with a cause style 18-year-old involved in high-impact wresting - the most violent
kind of backyard wrestling antics. Things then become somewhat different for
Scar, a young man born with some physical problems that resulted in multiple
operations as a kid. Now in his late teens he wrestles, but its helping him
learn business skills and giving him motivation to continue. The parents are
naturally concerned but also supportive. Of all the segments this is the most
balanced one and will make you think again about the judgements you may have
made in earlier
segments. Things continue on in Las Vegas for the 'tough enough' selection process
which 'The Lizard' tries out for, whilst there's a brief side trip to Norfolk
to see the English version which proves basically as bloody if not more so than
their US counterparts. Rob Van Dam, one of the wrestling world's big names,
also makes small appearances and comments with his opinions on backyard wrestling
and how to get into the business in general.
As docos go its quite a solid effort. I wish there'd been a little more explanation of the reasons why these guys do what they do beside a dream to "get out of the gutter". In any case the production is slickly edited, shot, and pulled together. The ending is rather poignant and well planned to give closure to the various threads. A superb effort from Mr. Hough and definitely worth catching if it plays near you.
www.darkhorizons.com
www.thebackyardfilm.com