Lionel

R0 PAL DVD

Siren Visual

Web: http://www.sirenvisual.com.au

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

Lionel Rose is an aboriginal Australian from the little town of Drouin in Victoria. There would not have been much future for him there, but his talent was noted and he was teamed up with a local trainer who taught him to box. Lionel started to build up his reputation and made it to the point that he could challenge for the World Championship. In 1968 he beat Japanese boxer “Fighting Harada” on points in a fifteen-round battle in Tokyo and won the Bantamweight World Championship. He became a champion to Australians, and particularly to Aboriginal kids who saw him as a role model. Australia at the time was just beginning to come out of a long racist period, and Rose’s victories did a lot to advance the cause of his people and give them some self-pride. Football does much the same at present. White Australians were just as proud of him, though.

The peak of his performance passed quickly, however, and by the time he was 22 it was all over, As he grew older his weight increased, and moving up to Featherweight class put him up against a new group of more experienced boxers. After a couple of lost matches, Rose retired disillusioned. A brief singing career followed, but didn’t go past a couple of fairly successful songs. The legend of the boxing hero wasn’t enough to sustain him, and his life degenerated into alcohol, some petty crimes and personal problems. His wife divorced him.

Then something of a miracle happened. Charles Perkins, head of the Aboriginal Affairs Department and aboriginal himself, sought out Rose and employed him in a part-time capacity to open a string of new Youth Clubs that the Government was establishing. These were designed to give kids somewhere to go and something to do, and to teach them sports like boxing. The Government needed a strong public figure to promote these centers. Lionel Rose found that he had not been forgotten. He was still a hero to all these kids and their parents. He was still seen as a role model – he had dragged himself up from very humble beginnings and made something of himself, and Australians appreciated and respected that. It gave him a new try at life, one which he adopted eagerly.

His life now consists of such PR work, although he has slowed down since a mild stroke. His wife has rejoined him and his life is back on track. In this film he looks back on his history. He is honest about it and it is easy to sympathize with a young lad from a bush town whose success nearly ruined him.

The extras disk includes full footage of four major fights of Lionel and his major competitors. Although the film is aimed mainly at boxing fans, it is as well a good history of the problems of fame.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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