World premiering his documentary on Mexico's most revered athlete at the Tribeca Film Festival, Mexican actor/director Diego Luna summed up boxing's appeal perfectly: "Boxing is I think the first sport ever. From the beginning there were two guys fighting, and one guy watching." By way of explaining Mexico's unparalleled adoration of the six-time world title winner, he offered, "It's the only thing we're good at." Julio César Chávez wasn't just good at boxing, with his record of 108 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws, and 87 knockouts, he is one of the best ever, and Luna's wanted to give him his recognition, and tell his story -- "...the story has to be spread," he wrote on this site.
Filmed with the boxer's blessing and cooperation, Chávez could not have done much better. Not because the film is excessively sycophantic or flatters too wildly -- it isn't and it doesn't. Turns out Chávez 's unmatched career doesn't need it, and the national context for his rise and Chávez's flaws are too important, so Luna dove in and explored important backdrops to Chávez's legacy like Mexico's sharp and lengthy economic downturn (which incidentally followed Chávez's first loss in 1994 and had particular significance to Diego Luna as a child) and presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio's assassination and the near-turmoil that followed.
In on-screen interiviews, Luna makes extensive use of Chávez himself, touring his hometown and the gyms where he learned his trade. Other interview highlights include Chávez's 21-year-old son, boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. (hopeful heir to his father's rein, and in attendance at the world premiere), Don King (Chávez's promoter for a great deal of his career but with whom he had a tumultuous relationship), promoter Bob Arum, and briefly, a non-imprisoned Mike Tyson (marveling at Chávez's talent in the ring),
Chávez gave Luna extremely close access for his final fight -- a 2005 bout at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona -- and it is this climactic episode that closes out Luna's film. The surprise (for most) outcome of the fight is secondary to the footage of Chávez before and after. Amazingly intimate, it is perhaps the closest a filmmaker has ever gotten to a world-class athlete on the truly last gasp of their career.
A colorful and varied original score, much of it inspired by the music of Chávez's hometown, Sinaloa, aptly binds Luna's carefully crafted film together. Even for those indifferent or oblivious to Julio Cesar Chávez's career, or boxing altogether, will find Diego Luna's latest work and directorial debut wonderfully enthralling.
For more HuffPost coverage of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, go here.