Film Review: "Body and Soul"

Body and Soul is a film directed by Robert Rossen. It is a story about Charlie Davis, a boxer who faces a moral dilemma in whether or not he will throw a match for a large sum of money at the pinnacle of his career. This film is regarded as one of the best boxing films ever made; reasons for this range from the acting performance by John Garfield to the heavily influenced cinematography. The most prominent reason that this film was esteemed as it was, however, would be the editing techniques that were implemented. The film was considered revolutionary for the genre of not only boxing films, but also many sport films involving action shots.

Body and Soul deals with the issues of family, corruption and ambition. Charlie Davis has every intention of rising to the top as a boxer, before long, the money and prestige become more important than even his mother and his fiancée, Peg. He allows Quinn (portrayed by William Conrad) to somewhat dictate his path to the top. Even Quinn, however, becomes overshadowed when Roberts takes his career into his hands. Davis just submits all of his authority over his life into the hands of his trainers and investors. It is not until the end of the film (which actually is played out in part at the beginning) that we realize what Charlie has decided to do.

Robert Rossen did a fantastic job working on this film in considering it's time period. I think that the most enjoyable moments as far as editing goes took place in the ring, but there was a good amount of very solid cinematography as well. The film's crew included Robert Parrish and Francis D. Lyon, both of whom contributed to the end result of the film's fight sequences. Brian Koller, a film critic, writes on filmsgraded.com that he thinks these two men "effectively capsulate his training and fights." While Koller viewed the film as merely average, he did mention the "credible boxing scenes" the film contained. I think the most beautiful thing about this film was how well balanced the fight scenes and other dramatic scenes were laid out throughout the film. It seems that the editor knew that once we had enough of the story, we were ready to see some fighting. This rhythm continued through the film in what I thought to be a very appropriate manner. I was entirely impressed by how I got what I wanted to see when I wanted to see it and not too late or too early.

The fight scenes in themselves were seemingly such a new achievement because of the style that was undertaken by the cinematographer and editor. There is a constant haze surrounding the ring, emulating not only smoke and heat, but also a dazed and confused sort of look. The camera angles while at times inconsistent, give a real sense of placing the viewers into the middle of the fight. The audience gets an almost pre-ESPN exposure to the world of boxing. There are no static shots that establish a boring and slow sport; instead there is constant movement that contributes to the action of the sequence. Another point that I was very impressed with would have to be the continuity of the fight sequences. Rossen and any other choreographer took time to make sure the different takes had continuity, not to mention the editor did a fantastic job utilizing timing and pace.

I guess one of the astonishing elements of the film that encompasses the skill of the editor would be the idea of the entire film as a flash-back. I don't know of any film apart from Citizen Kane made during that time did such a great job of essentially telling a story backwards, or at least somewhat out of order. One critic states how he sees the film as "social criticism disguised as noir anxiety (the whole film is cast as one long pre-fight flashback)" (Time Out). I like this classification of 'noir anxiety' because it is also present in Sunset Boulevard. We know very little of Joe in Sunset Blvd. but what we do know is that he dies, and then they tell us the story from the beginning. In Body and Soul, we learn that Charlie is considering throwing a game in 15 rounds, but we don't see his final decision until the end of the film. I think that portraying a concept such as this through editing must be approached with great care, and the editor of this film did a great job of it.

Overall, Body and Soul is a story that represents an overcoming of a dark past and coming out at the end with a glimmer of hope for the future. Roberts threatens Charlie at the end of the film and Charlie shoots back at him: "What are you going to do? Kill me? Everybody dies." And with that statement, Roberts' expression drops and he realizes his corrupt ideas are no match for a pure heart of a champion. Charlie's redemption at the end of the film is what makes me dubious of this film being classified as film noir, but as far as the rest of the film goes, I can agree with it. The editing of this film, mainly the rhythm of fights versus dramatic sequences (a good representation of rhythm and release), the editing of the fight sequences and the concept and successful completion of the film as a flashback are the factors that contribute to this film's strength. This is not only the reason it won an Oscar for best editing, but also why it has been so highly regarded as an influential piece of work. The clearly understandable and highly creative editing parallel the story of very definite moral issues which the audience can clearly perceive as right and wrong.

Works Cited

Koller, Brian. Body and Soul. 'filmsgraded.com.' 06/09/00.

http://www.geocities.com/filmsgraded/reviews/older/bdsoul.htm>

Body and Soul. 'timeout.com' 2006.