Interview with Arthur Cauty – director of wrestling documentary Hard Knocks

There is a famous quote in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters in which Max Von Sydow’s character Frederick ponders aloud:

“You see the whole culture. Nazis, deodorant salesmen, wrestlers, beauty contests, a talk show. Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?”

   To Frederick it is baffling anyone would waste their time watching men in spandex engage in an orgy of pre-planned fake violence. Yet to Roland Barthes, the famous academic and acclaimed thinker, wrestling transcends the primitive notion that it consists solely of pretend fights; to him wrestling was one of the grand spectacles – part ballet, part Greek morality play, theatre and athletics combined, storytelling through physicality. Andy Kaufman, renowned for his eccentric humour, alternatively saw wrestling as a sublime medium for performing arts – blending fact and fantasy to invoke very real emotion from audiences.

   To say professional wrestling is a subject that confounds and confuses would be an understatement. To the cynics it represents nothing more than a fake sport which should be looked down upon and to the fans it represented the ultimate mix of gladiatorial battle and pure spectacle. Yet, due to the subterfugue that went down for many years, wrestling is still a sport not many people, including fans, truly understand. This is something Arthur Cauty and his new short documentary feature Hard Knocks attempts to re-address. Having made its way around a number of UK festivals, including Norwich and Salford, Hard Knocks is a film that is picking up a buzz on both the wrestling and film circuits. Mr. Cauty generously gave his time to tell about the film which can be read below and more information can be found at the film’s myspace page.

With the success of The Wrestler and Barry Blaustein’s documentary Beyond The Mat there has been evidence that suggests films about wrestling can find wider audiences than just fans of the sport. Would someone with absolutely no knowledge of the product, who doesn’t understand the insider lingo, be able to appreciate Hard Knocks or is the film aimed solely at hardcore wrestling fans? Would the film appeal to a reelloop reader who might not know “a wristlock from a wrist watch”?

One of my main goals with Hard Knocks was to reach a wide audience. I wanted it to appeal not just to fans, but to the average Joe in the way The Wrestler did. I had to find a way to keep the interest of fans and people who know the wrestling business whilst also informing everyone else, yet keeping it easy to digest and understand, and I think I have done that. I tried to utilize an illustrative approach which I think helped that. We held some test screenings with different groups of people including fans and people who’ve never even watched a wrestling match and it’s been received really well by everyone. When I showed the film to Alex Shane (the British wrestler), he told me that not only would it be beneficial for wrestling trainees to watch, but that some current professional wrestlers may even learn something from it.

What was it about the world of wrestling that inspired you to make a documentary on the industry?

There are so many misconceptions about pro wrestling and I really wanted to go to some length to challenge those misconceptions and show people what it’s really all about. I’ve been a fan of wrestling since I was a kid and what most people probably don’t know is that I spent a few of my teenage years training to be a pro wrestler. I’ve experienced first hand the lack of understanding or respect people have for wrestling, despite the amount of dedication and skill it requires. Aside from The Wrestler and Beyond the Mat, if you look at the way wrestling is portrayed in the mainstream media, it’s no wonder people don’t respect it. The truth is that there are a lot of problems in wrestling – the drugs, the injuries, the death rate – which people need to take more seriously, but there’s also a positive side – an artistry and admirableness that I want people to see.

The film features a real mix of well known and upcoming wrestlers ranging from former WWE champions Mick Foley and CM Punk all the way through to the young Brits just breaking into the business at Futureshock Wrestling school. How did you go about selecting your interviewees?

Most peoples perceptions of wrestling is what they see on their TVs, but there’s a much wider picture. There’s the independents, there’s the training schools. So rather than just focus on the guys at the top of their game, I wanted to mix it up and include the young guys in training and the guys who wrestle in front of crowds of 300 for £10. So you’ll see up and coming stars like Chris Andrews and indy veterans The Ballard Brothers along with the likes of Al Snow, CM Punk, D’Lo Brown and Mick Foley.

There’s a very interesting quote pasted on the film’s Myspace page  from Canadian wrestling legend Bret Hart:

“People praised Robert De Niro for his dedication when he gained 150 pounds to become Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. How come the same compliment isn’t paid to pro wrestlers who bleed in the name of realism?”

Why do you think that wrestlers are not given the same amount of respect as fellow athletes or actors by the general public?

I think a lot of it is to do with how wrestling is portrayed in the media. Everyone’s been fed the usual line; “It’s fake”, yet wrestling is presented as a real, competitive sport. But really it’s neither of these things. Wrestling is somewhere in the middle. It’s a blend of combat, sport and theatre and I think alot of people have trouble accepting that or seeing the lines between fact and fiction. Similarly to when you watch a film, watching a wrestling match is all about suspending your disbelief, yet you don’t get crowds of people angrily walking out of cinemas complaining about how fake films are. It’s funny how people respect professional athletes and actors, yet, in wrestling, when someone combines athleticism with acting, people tend to be more inclined to point and laugh. No it’s not a real fight, but they’re real athletes. Hopefully Hard Knocks will help people see that.

Following the box office success and critical acclaim of Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler do you believe people’s perceptions of the sport have changed at all?

What The Wrestler managed to do so well was bring a level of humanity to this larger than life 80’s wrestling star Randy “The Ram” Robinson. It’s that humanity and his struggle with everyday life that people can relate to. He’s just an ordinary guy who’s lived a far from ordinary life as a pro wrestler. Before it came out there wasn’t a single film out there, other than a few documentaries such as Beyond the Mat, that depicted wrestling in a non-farcical way. Whereas there have been countless movies about boxers, this was the first about a wrestler, and the first drama to approach the sport seriously. It’s definitely brought wrestling more into the public eye, and for those how have seen it, I would hope it’s changed the way they see the sport. I myself, know people personally who have really learned something from it, but as you’ll see in Hard Knocks, there are still people out there who are going to shoot wrestling down and laugh in your face at the very mention of the word.

Professional wrestling is a unique amalgamation of theatre and athletic pseudo-sport that, whilst embraced by some, generally confuses a lot of the public. Does Hard Knocks attempt to re-address any misunderstandings?

Absolutely. Like I said, wrestling draws a line somewhere between fact and fiction and what I aimed to do was show people where that line lies. We’ve addressed everything from the physical hardships of performing and of life on the road, to pro wrestling training and how to structure a typical match. In my experience, wrestling is indeed incredibly misunderstood by the majority of people. It has a huge, loyal fan base, yet at the same time there are a lot of people who really do not get it. It’s very much a love/hate affair. Ideally, people will pick up this film wanting to know more about wrestling and it’ll prompt them to be more accepting and open minded . At the very least, I hope that they would come away with a little more respect for the men and women who risk their physical well-being for the sake of entertainment.

Hard Knocks has recently played a number of festivals and held screenings throughout Britain. What’s next for the documentary?

Yeah, we had a number of screenings here in the UK, and actually received an award nomination for “Best Documentary 2009″ at the Norwich Film Festival, and it premiered in the USA just last month in California. We should have some more screenings announced on the site in the new year as well as information on DVD releases. There’ll be over 80 minutes of unseen extras and special features included in the release, which we’ve been working on these past few weeks. We even had a chance to sit down and talk with Bob Holly and BG James on a tour of the UK in October, who both provided us with some great interviews for the DVD release. There’s a lot going on with the film right now and there should be some interesting announcements very soon. Everything will be posted on the Myspace page.

At the age of 23 this is your first film. What projects do you have on the horizon?

Well, I’ve had a lot of people showing interest in me doing another film on wrestling which could be interesting. There are a lot of possibilities there and it’s definitely something I’d consider somewhere down the line. I’m also starting work on a comedy, which is something I’m really passionate about, especially that of a dark, surreal or satirical nature. I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a fifty million pounds worth of explosions and car crashes to make a great film. If you strip it down to the fundamentals, what matters most is the story and how you tell it, how you translate your vision to the screen. That’s where the magic lies and that’s what I plan to do; tell good stories.

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