The very culture of professional wrestling has become a point of fixation for a niche but loyal group of fans. The proof is in the proliferation of newsletters and websites like this one, each serving as a small window into this mysterious fraternity-like culture that even a decade ago appeared far less accessible. Documentarians, too, have sought to cobble together an accurate but respectful look into wrestling’s inner workings, its history, its overall appeal. In his new documentary, “Supermen: A Story of British Wrestlers,” director-producer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou moves the lens beyond wrestling as a broad show-space, focusing on the players themselves. The film is a story of British wrestlers, not wrestling. What a difference three letters can make.
Inspired by the 2008 Darren Aronofsky film “The Wrestler,” and its brutally realistic portrayal of the wrestling machine’s impact on its individual parts, Elhaou reached out to his local wrestling community in the hopes of telling real stories about real wrestlers. His final cast of interviewees works as a fine juxtaposition of two distinct generations, highlighting younger British standouts like Rockstar Spud, Marty Scurll, Jimmy Havoc, and Joel Redman (currently signed to WWE as Oliver Grey), while also profiling veterans like Dave Taylor, Robbie Brookside, Doug Williams, and Dave Finlay.
Much of the interview process was transparent, making it easy for an attentive viewer to piece together the line of questioning despite the edits made to fit the narrative. This is hardly a negative, however, since the line of questioning was sound, seemingly asking things that most documentarians will not. One such territory was the demanding wrestling business and the tension it imposes on human relationships, often leading to complete emotional collapse. Scurll, in particular, spoke about a past relationship coinciding with his initial foray into wrestling and how he found himself stuck in a “wrestling bubble,” eventually leading to that relationship’s implosion. Scurll stressed a need for personal priorities and deciding where wrestling should fall relative to emotional sanctity. In a strong counter-balance of perspectives, Williams and wife Claire testify to the pitfalls of the journeyman lifestyle, with Claire guessing that her husband has probably spent far more time away from her in their 25-year marriage. Still, Claire’s perspective offers a positive conclusion to the relationships section of the documentary, with husband and wife exemplifying that though times can be tenuous, some emotional bonds are made to last.
Aside from wrestling’s emotionally taxing nature, the film also delves into the physicality and the toll years of abuse can take on a body. It is here in particular that the generational rift established at the documentary’s onset is truly at its most useful. Some of the younger workers describe past injuries like mild concussions, while the veterans rattle off injuries that make a viewer wonder how they are not just walking, but able to articulate at all. It is one thing to hear veterans admonish younger wrestlers’ styles because of a constantly increasing chance for error, but it is eye-opening to have these two generations of physical toil juxtaposed, making a veteran’s cautionary words much easier to understand.
Although the film addresses the individual over wrestling as a whole, viewers get a taste of wrestling culture when exposed to the widening and sometimes frustrating rift between workers of today and their predecessors. In a particularly candid interview, Rockstar Spud articulates the plight of he and his contemporaries, where they are left to learn without the aid of a veteran to correct them. The lack of veteran tutelage, Spud asserts, is a blow to the British wrestling system in particular, since other places are teeming with mentors for young wrestlers. Valuable insights, like those of Robbie Brookside, are hard to come by on the British scene, opening a discussion of why these veterans insist on being so detached from this new crop. What results is a circular argument between the two generations of British wrestlers, with the new guard without mentors to teach them fundamentals, while veterans chastise the new guard’s lack of said fundamentals.
It is hard to call “Supermen” a documentary inclusive of all viewers. The film is very much aimed at fans cognizant of the pro wrestling subculture and would like to explore it on a more specialized level.
“Supermen: A Story of British Wrestlers” is set for an April 5 release and will be available for free at SuperMenFilm.Co.UK, with physical copies already available for pre-order.
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