Winner of the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, director Arthur Thomas-Pavlowsky’s engagingly immersive The Struggle is the End (La Lutte est une fin) takes a refreshing and astutely provocative look behind-the-scenes of the pugilist Collectif Boxe Massilia near Marseille, France.
Made up of teenagers who are fresh from school and adults heading to the club after work, the collective is open and welcoming to aspiring working class boxers, offering fair-price lessons during open-house welcome sessions. Young male and female boxers talk, learn and spar as they start to show confidence and commitment. Boxing can often appear bruising and solitary, but this group are bonded by the experience and their collective desire to take ownership of their working-class pursuit.
The collective’s passion for supporting young would-be boxers saw them reach out to French union CGT 13’s committee of unemployed workers and workers with unstable jobs. The union used a work subsidy to invite their members to come and box. As filmmaker Thomas-Pavlowsky says: “Their boxing training is not simply a legitimate outlet, it’s an act of resistance. It helps individuals gain confidence in them, establish themselves and fight against the oppression they experience. The people in the group don’t just learn boxing, they talk about it and use it as a means of fighting.”
The film blends footage of the collective’s un-showy venue with scenes of teenage fighters learning the basics, alongside talking-head interviews with more established boxers Maho Bah and Marvin Pater who talk passionately about their feelings for the sport and what it has brought to their lives.
The film begins and ends on a summer’s night in Marseille as a selection of pugilists – including Maho and Marvin – enter the ring to fight. What sets these scenes apart from a more traditional depiction of boxing matches is the proximity of the cheering and smiling crowd standing right next to the ropes, relishing the experience and playing a nigh-on physical role within the various bouts. The egalitarian nature of Collectif Boxe Massilia, and all that it stands for, is there for all to see, and while there is an expected visceral aspect to the boxing itself there is also an underlying sense of support and compassion for these young working class fighters.
Over the closing credits as the sun starts to set, a fresh cohort of would-be boxers take to the streets outside the collective’s building to start learning the disciplines involved. It seems a perfect way to wrap an engaging film.
France, 2022, 28mins
Dir: Arthur Thomas-Pavlowsky
Production: Groupe de Reserche & D’Essais Cinematographiques
Producer: Anne Luthaud
Cinematography: Agathe Neviere, Antonin Erat
Editor: Clara Ciccone-Blanco
Music: Rodrigo Murillo, Simon Lescure
With: Maho Bah, Marvin Pater
