Knuckle (2011)

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Knuckle (2011)

The world of bare knuckle boxing amongst the travelling communities is a long standing tradition which is still taking place to this day. This is a curious but fascinating subject for an international documentary. Filmed over the course of twelve years by Ian Palmer, it follows the ongoing brutal family feud between several traveller families, notably the Joyce, Quinn McDonagh and the Nevin clans.

The origins of these feuds seem to vary and it doesn’t seem to take much to spark them off, even if a temporary reconciliation is brought into play. The focus of the documentary is on the fights themselves as much as it is the pugilists involved. The immediate thing which struck me was the rule system, no biting, no kicking, no holding and if a man falls to the ground he is to be allowed the opportunity to get back up. Always being of the (unenlightened) opinion that these fights were nothing but bloody free for alls, they appeared now to have as definite a structure as professional boxing or the UFC.

When a fight takes place it must be at a secret location. Contenders and antagonists summon each other by the use of self made videos in which they generally insult and goad each other into the ring (well roadside or laneway in most cases but for all intents and purposes you know what I mean). Some of these tapes are hilarious (’You‘re nothing but a baldy bollocks‘), some are genuinely touching, especially in one particular case when the Joyce family show pictures of two men who were allegedly murdered by a member of a rival family.

It is the Quinn McDonagh family who are extensively followed for the documentary, through pre-fight training sessions and post fight celebrations (or commiserations) it is most definitely the first documentary to objectively analyse the methodology and mindset behind the fights. I had seen several of the people involved in current affairs documentaries before (such as RTE’s Primetime: Life on the edge) but they took a far more sensationalist view of the subject.

Travelling culture is a very prominent part of Irish life, yet the documentary is not all located here. One particular fight takes place in England, concerning the ‘Oxford’ Joyces. ‘Knuckle’ is a definite must see for those who are unfamiliar with the complexities and intricacies of traveller life. It is not shot in the manner of an exploitative ‘stop and stare’ piece and retains a certain composure because of this.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606259/

[swf]http://www.youtube.com/v/flEgKSvlGWk?.swf[/swf]

Technical Specs
Video Codec: x264 CABAC
Video Bitrate: 1600 Kbps
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1
Video Resolution: 832x464 (16.9)
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192 Kbps CBR 48KHz
Audio Channels: 2
Run-Time: 92mins
Framerate: 25FPS
Number of Parts: 1
Part Size: 1.16 GB
Source: DVD
Encoded by: Harry65
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