Down, But Not Out!

Down But Not Out! For the first time in the boxing ring.

Four amateur Polish boxers arrive in another city with the sole mission of winning an amateur boxing match. The observational camera of director Miguel Gaudencio follows them, along with their male colleagues, from their stay in a nearby hotel, just one day before the bell rings.

The next day, the hours are marked by an underlying suspense bearable only by the occasional jokes and shorts smiles that lighten the load. The men take the ring first. But, seen from the outside, their punches can only increase the anxiety.

To grasp this tension is precisely what the black and white contrast of the images achieves, a treatment that reduces everything to a psychological state where the sense of place does not matter at all. The attention is centrifugal; everything revolves around that ring where the action takes place.

The warming up, the breathing, the punches and accurate steps, this documentary captures everything. Ephemeral moments, without any greatness or splendor, that mark the future of our protagonists.