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163. Knuckle
Like many great documentaries, Knuckle was born out of something else. It originally began as a wedding video. Ian Palmer found something so interesting about his guests, he ventured further and discovered the world of Irish travelling bare knuckle boxing. Most specifically he follows the feud between two clans of the same family, The McDonaghs and the Joyces. So after that wedding video, Palmer ended up documenting this feud and these fights for 12 years.
This extraordinary amount of time puts the whole thing in perspective about the needlessness and absurdity of violence. Many say the feud goes back for 50 years, and yet nobody gives a straight answer to its origins. People hold grudges and plan matches 9 years down the line. It become obvious that fighting has become an addiction and a way of life for these poor men. They have nothing else to do. When we see the acclaim they get from their families, its easy to see why they have been so taken in by aggression.
In the first fight James McDonagh says it will be his last, but its far from it. He seems genuine about his wanting to quit, but he always ends up in another fight. The director talks about how he continued filming just for the thrill, and had lost sight of his documentary.
Every fight is brutal in that realistic sense, and Palmer clearly paints a vivid picture of this strange world. Aggressive men, but loving husbands and fathers. Fights that are fought for lack of reason, but are controlled and fair with a sense of honor. Knuckle is the sort of film that lures you in with basic blood lust, but gives you a whole lot more.