The movie Murderball is a documentary based on the lives of several Quad Rugby players. It follows the journeys of not only a few select players, but also the American Quad Rugby team and it's mission to repeat a gold medal at the paraplegic Olympics. Murderball isn't the sad, pity story that you would expect from such a saddening topic, but rather a fast paced, touching, ass-kicking story with a twist in the end. The film focuses on living with and conquering disabilities. It almost makes you feel a bit lazy, knowing that you're sitting down, watching a movie while there are men and women with half of our physical ability that could wheel laps around us.
Henry Alex Rubin, who also directed Who is Henry Jaglom? isn't a household name, but in the documentary world has a bit of a title following him. He worked with MTV to film Murderball and release it in July of 2005, and since then has only done an episode of Schooled.
The movie is arguable focused around Mark Zupan, a paraplegic who plays quad rugby for the USA team. When he was 18, he passed out drunk in the back seat of a friends truck, and without knowing, when his friend crashed, Mark was thrown from the vehicle into a river where he held onto a tree for fourteen hours until someone finally noticed him. He since then has done everything he can to emotionally any physically overcome the loss of his legs, and in doing so, has made quite a name for himself in the process.
Other focuses of the movie talk about the sex lives of paraplegics, their daily struggles with mobility, accessibilities, talk of injuries, recoveries, and their lives in quad rugby.
Murderball is a heart touching, teeth grinding movie, two qualities that aren't often put together. Seeing the hard, outer shell of the players on the court gives way to thinking that they are near robots, simply pounding away at their sport, and not caring for much else, but what is unexpected is the heartfelt lives that they lead. Many of the players go to paraplegic recovery clinics to talk to, and "recruit" new players. With a new outlook on the lives of such injuries, it's nearly impossible to judge or think that they are incapable of anything that we can do.
Henry Alex Rubin, who also directed Who is Henry Jaglom? isn't a household name, but in the documentary world has a bit of a title following him. He worked with MTV to film Murderball and release it in July of 2005, and since then has only done an episode of Schooled.
The movie is arguable focused around Mark Zupan, a paraplegic who plays quad rugby for the USA team. When he was 18, he passed out drunk in the back seat of a friends truck, and without knowing, when his friend crashed, Mark was thrown from the vehicle into a river where he held onto a tree for fourteen hours until someone finally noticed him. He since then has done everything he can to emotionally any physically overcome the loss of his legs, and in doing so, has made quite a name for himself in the process.
Other focuses of the movie talk about the sex lives of paraplegics, their daily struggles with mobility, accessibilities, talk of injuries, recoveries, and their lives in quad rugby.
Murderball is a heart touching, teeth grinding movie, two qualities that aren't often put together. Seeing the hard, outer shell of the players on the court gives way to thinking that they are near robots, simply pounding away at their sport, and not caring for much else, but what is unexpected is the heartfelt lives that they lead. Many of the players go to paraplegic recovery clinics to talk to, and "recruit" new players. With a new outlook on the lives of such injuries, it's nearly impossible to judge or think that they are incapable of anything that we can do.