Pumping Iron - Film.

Pumping Iron (1977)

Director: Robert Fiore, George Butler
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno.
Netflix: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Pumping_Iron/60031683?trkid=50000009 (U.K)

In order to make myself feel even more inadequate at the start of 2014 I decided to watch a documentary about bodybuilders entering the Mr.Universe and Mr. Olympia. The film features muscly men winning awards for being more muscly than other muscly men.

As a documentary about bodybuilding, it's interesting but nothing special. More interestingly and what you should probably watch the film for is seeing the roots of Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as a Lou Ferrigno who has apparently looked the exact same age his entire life.

It shows Arnie in a pretty different light to what I've become accustomed too. He's cocky, arrogant but at the same time really does have a presence that goes beyond muscles bigger than a normal humans head. It's easy to see why he became much more than just a body builder.

 It's also got something of a narrative about a rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Ferringo. Most of the time however this feels entirely forced and not convincing in the slightest. It introduces a lot of other bodybuilders and then seemingly forgets about them. The forced narrative only distracts from what could have been a really interesting look into many different bodybuilders way of lives.

Despite being a little shallow and maybe only scratching the surface of the subject, it's still an interesting watch but it's less about the world of bodybuilding and more about the world of Arnold Schwarzenegger.