Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
Kassim Ouma
Jermain Taylor
Harold Letterman
Dan Rafael
Roman Karmazin
Sechew Powell
Verno Phillips
Directed By:
Kief Davidson
I knew who Kassim Ouma was long before this documentary, but it's very understandable if you don't know who the hell he is. In both cases, you're in for a tremendous movie. See, ten years ago when I was follow boxing very closely, this Uganda boxer Kassim Ouma was tearing his opponents apart on Friday Night Fights. I remember being very impressed when I saw him beat the shit out of the very durable Alex Bunema and stop him in the fourth round. The kid fought like a steamroller. You have him one inch on the ring and you could be sure you'd never see that inch again before the end of the fight. What made me even more impressed about Kassim Ouma was the story behind the boxer. He was abducted by the rebel army of his country at six years old and forced to fight for them. That means he killed people before he kissed a girl, before he had sex, before he took his first beer. Yet Ouma found the strength to desert from the army and set up shop in the United States, doing what he does best. Boxing.
It blows my mind the courage refugees have. Ouma deserted Uganda during the World Military Boxing Championships in the United States. He didn't know one word of English, but even back then he was looking to settle away from Uganda to build a future for himself and his then eight months old son Umar. He walked out and disappeared on his team, found a shady motel where to sleep and started looking for a boxing gym. When he did, his talent spoke for him and despite the language barrier, despite that he had nothing, the strange fellows of the boxing world saw easy money in him and started making him fight professionally. Kassim didn't disappointed them, but what they didn't know was that they would soon get to know one of the most attaching human being they ever had the chance to come across. Kassim Ouma is another argument that people coming back from the darkest places are often those who are the happiest to be alive.
Although, a documentary being what it is, Kief Davidson's team infiltrated themselves in a very private and difficult period of his life. His attempt to made amends with Uganda and come back to visit his family. There are many beautiful scenes that revolves around this problem. One of my favorite is when he finally gets his son Umar residency and he goes to pick him up at the airport. This little nine years old who doesn't know one word of English traveled alone across the world with his little luggage, like a grown up and at the other end was waiting for him a bunch of happy, smiling people,leading him to a better life. For little Umar, reality just blew Disney movies out of the water with this happy ending. Another gripping scene was when Kassim goes back to his home village and is brought to his father's grave. Earlier in the documentary, Kassim says it would be important for him to do that, because his father has been killed by the army, following his desertion. His contagious smile disappears during this scene.
I know boxing wasn't the main subject of this documentary, but they chose to show his path is a very weird way. This period wasn't the brightest in Ouma's career and he did many unfortunate choices (like fighting Jermain Taylor one weight class over) and Kief Davidson sped up the victories and showed a weird emphasis on his defeats. I found that to be weird. Out of synch with what KASSIM THE DREAM is trying to say. I know it's supposed to represent exactly where he was in his career at that time, but I wouldn't have minded a slight distortion of reality to give more weight to the argument here. Nevertheless, KASSIM THE DREAM is a beautiful movie. It's exploring the question of the child soldiers from a survivor's perspective and it exposes the tainted beauty of someone like Kassim Ouma. This is one the boxing's most difficult stories, explained and put on screen.
SCORE: 81%