Battle Of The Sexes
Starring: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs
Director: James Erskine, Zara Hayes
Rating: 5/5
I have already said a million times that 2013 is a fantastic year for documentary movies - we really have been treated to some great films - and this week Battle of the Sexes is the latest documentary that we are loving.
The movie sees James Erskine and Zara Hayes in the director's chair as they bring to the big screen a tennis match that changed everything.
The Battle Of The Sexes tells the story of Billie Jean King’s historic match against Bobby Riggs in 1973
Riggs said "I want to prove that women are lousy, they stink, they don't belong on the same court as a man." - Billie Jean King, the then women's world number one set to out to prove him wrong.
This is not just a simple story about men vs women on the tennis court but it captures the social unrest that there was at the time.
The early seventies was a time where women were fighting for equality - both in every day life as well as on the tennis court.
Billie Jean King was the driving force behind equal pay for men and women in the game as well as the birth of the WTA.
From start to finish this is a fascinating story about how Billie Jean King and co fought for what they believed was right in their sport.
Their courage and tenacity to take on the powers that be really does make this film a very powerful watch.
But at the same time Battle of the Sexes is not an in your face issues film instead directors Erskine and Hayes have made this a gripping and entertaining hour and twenty three minutes.
The film climaxes with the match between King and Riggs; the women's world number one against fifty five year old former Wimbledon champion Riggs - did I mention that he was a chauvinist pig?
The footage of the match itself is fantastic as the country got behind this game like no other tennis match before it; it really is a wonderful way to end this film.
But this is not just a documentary about the battle for women's rights at the time but it is also a fascinating character study.
We all know of the success that Billie Jean King had on the court but perhaps most don't know of her fighting spirit off the court.
This movie depicts her as a fearsome fighter for what she believed in as looked beyond her own career and at the game as a whole.
Her fighting spirit, along with eight other top players, led to the start of the WTA - modern day female players would earn the money that they do today without these selfless women.
Battle of the Sexes is one of the most entertaining documentaries that I have had the privilege of watching this year. It is a real treat that is not to be missed.
Read our Zara Hayes interview as we caught up with her to chat about the film.
Battle of the Sexes is released 26th June.
Tagged in Billie Jean King