January 2005-Film Review: Pumping Iron(advanced copy)

not yet published

Pumping Fe(26, 55.485) (iron)

Arnold has corporal perfection is down to a science.

If you go to a gym, eat tasteless workout bars, or bought that piece of junk Jackie Chan was selling on television, it is because of the 1977 docudrama, Pumping Iron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Think not?
While mostly being remembered as the flic that launched the career of everyone’s favorite Austrian, Pumping Iron is unfairly overlooked as the Saturday Night Fever of the fitness world, (oddly released in the same year) acting as a major cultural catalyst. Before Pumping Iron, body builders were thought of as insecure, egomaniacal “muscle men” who threatened wimpy guys on the beach. In those days, if you weren’t trying to make varsity football, lifting weights was an extreme length to go to for health and fitness. But by showcasing the personalities as well as the admirable dedication of the featured players, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore pushed the underground culture into the spotlight and America into the gym.
Like most documentaries, it’s not the high production values that are praiseworthy here but the construction of drama, creation of “heroes” and “villains” and the honest portrayal of the subculture that makes audiences connect with the film; that of course, and Arnold.
Watching him psyche out the competition through over the top displays of confidence is pure confectionary entertainment. He has such an incredible assuredness and absolute magnetism about him that although the movie was constructed around his attempt at an unheard of sixth Mr. Olympia title, (the greatest honor bestowed upon body builders), there is little doubt about who would go on to bigger things.
Fascinating to me was the meticulous way in which the “builders” constructed their physiques. The exact nature with which they apply specific exercises to increase, define or lengthen their muscles is nearly scientific. Arnold likened the process to art, more specifically sculpture; but the difference of opinion hardly worth getting pummeled over.
Among those sculpting with Arnold at Gold’s gym in Venice Beach, my very favorite was the Italian born Franco Columbu. He is humbler and smaller than Arnold but every bit as competitive. I love the segment of him in his Sardinian home town eating dinner with his old-country parents. I also enjoy the scenes where he makes himself useful by picking up a stuck car or when he and Arnold take ballet lessons. In the film we are told Franco and Arnold have been good friends since their early European competitions. I later learned that Franco was Arnold’s best man in his marriage to Maria Shriver in 1986. I was also excited to find out that he now has his Ph.D. in Chiropractic medicine and works in West Los Angeles. I think I will go in for a visit and a realignment.
You don’t have to be a gym rat to like Pumping Iron, you just have to like Arnold, and who wouldn’t after that great car tax refund! The spirit of fun in the whole undertaking of this project makes it lighthearted and enjoyable. If you want to have a good laugh and honestly, if you want to get inspired, I have no better recommendation then this movie. And the 25th special edition DVD has all sorts of commentaries and extra footage that are really satisfying after you’ve watched the picture and have grown attached to the characters.