Opening Act:
Welcome to Opening Act, a breakdown and analysis of the greatest opening scenes in film history. Today a look at the opening minutes of Michael Mann's 2001 biopic, Ali, starring Will Smith as the legendary Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay). Will Smith gives the performance of a lifetime, channeling The Greatest from his upset of Sonny Liston through his political activism and and Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman. The opening third of the movie is an absolute masterpiece and the opening scene is a big reason why. Mann sets up his entire movie with a nearly nine minute montage set to a cover of Sam Cooke's "Bring it On Home to Me"
Yes, I know the aspect ratio is terrible here. It was the only embeddable copy on Youtube.
Ali is more than a biographical look at Muhammad Ali. No, it takes the details of Ali's life and using the historical context of these events, Mann crafts a story that extends out to encompass the Civil Rights movement. Ali himself it a figurehead, a stand-in for the Black Man. That this film is about more than it's title character is evident from the very first words spoken. An unseen emcee is introducing a prominent figure to a legion of adoring fans but this man is not Muhammad Ali, it is Sam Cooke. The above video cuts this off and skips to Cooke warming up the crowd before starting "Bring it On Home to Me". The importance of Ali is conveyed by making him the first image coming out of the credits. Instead of cutting directly into the club, Mann puts us outside, in the dark, on a lonely street where Ali is jogging. He quickly garners the attention of two white police officers in a patrol car who's harassment can only just begin before they find themselves radioed away for presumably real police business.
And so begins the odyssey that is Ali. Even as a renowned boxer (though obviously not nearly as famous as he would later become) he is still a Black man living in 1960s America. In the crowd, the entirely Black audience is incredibly lively and energetic. Despite what they suffer through outside those walls, their spirits are not broken. This historical context is later used in the montage with a young Ali and his father boarding a bus, heading to the colored section in the back, and an elderly black man thrusting a newspaper headline at Ali about a Black man being lynched. The young Ali, still Cassius Clay, is thrust into a world where the White man is literally portrayed as a savior (the painting of a Jesus mural in a church). Mann cuts off this religious iconography to Cooke reaching out a fan in the front row who receives his touch with religious ecstasty, thus giving Black America an image of their own savior.
Ali is still a movie about a boxer though and Mann showcases that admirably as well in this montage. Ali's training is shown at various stages as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life up, his first match with Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. Images of a dominating Liston win via knockout and subsequent trash talking of Ali are intercut with speedbag training. A new motivator, Bundini (Jamie Foxx) arrives to lift Ali up to new heights. Further training montage moments are shown before a car ride to the weigh in and just as Sam Cooke finishes his song, a defiant, arrogant, brash Cassius Clay makes one of the loudest, most explosive entrances in movie history at the weigh in.
In one dazzling nine-minute montage, Michael Mann not only introduces to legendary Muhammad Ali but showcases his arc throughout the movie. Yes, he's positioned to become a championship boxer but also a symbol of the Civil Rights movement. Mann builds up the historical context around his protagonist and even lays the foundation for the religious aspects of Ali's life which will build to his conversion to Islam and following of Malcolm X. Muhammad Ali is one of the biggest icons of the 20th century and Michael Mann, at least for nine minutes, crafts a montage worthy of him.
Addendum: I implore you to watch the Ali-Liston weigh in clip if you've never seen it before (or haven't seen it in a while). It's such a showcase of pure energy and charisma from Smith and Mann.
And so begins the odyssey that is Ali. Even as a renowned boxer (though obviously not nearly as famous as he would later become) he is still a Black man living in 1960s America. In the crowd, the entirely Black audience is incredibly lively and energetic. Despite what they suffer through outside those walls, their spirits are not broken. This historical context is later used in the montage with a young Ali and his father boarding a bus, heading to the colored section in the back, and an elderly black man thrusting a newspaper headline at Ali about a Black man being lynched. The young Ali, still Cassius Clay, is thrust into a world where the White man is literally portrayed as a savior (the painting of a Jesus mural in a church). Mann cuts off this religious iconography to Cooke reaching out a fan in the front row who receives his touch with religious ecstasty, thus giving Black America an image of their own savior.
Ali is still a movie about a boxer though and Mann showcases that admirably as well in this montage. Ali's training is shown at various stages as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life up, his first match with Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. Images of a dominating Liston win via knockout and subsequent trash talking of Ali are intercut with speedbag training. A new motivator, Bundini (Jamie Foxx) arrives to lift Ali up to new heights. Further training montage moments are shown before a car ride to the weigh in and just as Sam Cooke finishes his song, a defiant, arrogant, brash Cassius Clay makes one of the loudest, most explosive entrances in movie history at the weigh in.
In one dazzling nine-minute montage, Michael Mann not only introduces to legendary Muhammad Ali but showcases his arc throughout the movie. Yes, he's positioned to become a championship boxer but also a symbol of the Civil Rights movement. Mann builds up the historical context around his protagonist and even lays the foundation for the religious aspects of Ali's life which will build to his conversion to Islam and following of Malcolm X. Muhammad Ali is one of the biggest icons of the 20th century and Michael Mann, at least for nine minutes, crafts a montage worthy of him.
Addendum: I implore you to watch the Ali-Liston weigh in clip if you've never seen it before (or haven't seen it in a while). It's such a showcase of pure energy and charisma from Smith and Mann.
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