Coluna Claquete – March, 7th 2016 – Movie of the week: “Concussion”
Newton Ramalho
colunaclaquete@gmail.com – www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com – @colunaclaquete
After the Oscar emotions, it’s time to check out the premieres of the weekend. Among the many titles to choose from, one that caught my attention was the drama based on true events, “Concussion”.
The film goes around an sport that is poorly known among us Brazilians, the football. Known in Brazil as American football is a sport practiced with the hands, and where there is a lot of physical contact between players.
When making the autopsy of a former football player, neuropathologist Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) found it odd the lack of visible causes for the severe case of depression and hallucinations that led to the death of the athlete. Diligent and hardworking, Omalu made a serious research, paying some tests by himself, and found out some severe trauma in the brain of the player.
Nigerian by birth, Omalu knew nothing of football, like most foreigners, and he was shocked to find out how the players were routinely subjected to severe shocks to the head and neck, and that would inevitably lead to future physical and psychological traumas.
By further research, he discovered that other well known athletes had also died tragically and presenting behavioral disorders.
When publishing the study in a scientific journal, Omalu suffered a strong reaction from the powerful NFL, National Football League, organization that led a business that moved billions of dollars by year, business that was threatened by this study.
Just to create a parallel, imagine if someone in Brazil claimed that our soccer caused deformities in the feet of thirty percent of its practitioners, for example! With the corruption that reigns in our sport, the complainant could even be dead!
The political pressure from NFL was so strong that the head of Omalu, Cyryl Wecht (Albert Brooks), received several charges of federal crimes, and even the Nigerian doctor was threatened with deportation if he had not a permanent job.
Omalu had just married the immigrant Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), that was in full pregnancy. Because of the pressure they suffered, Prema suffers lost her baby, and the couple was forced to give up the dream of their new house, having to move to some corner of California.
The unique and unlikely help came from Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin), a former doctor of the NFL, and who accompanied the life of several athletes who ended their lives tragically.
The turnaround came after the suicide of former athlete Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), which belonged to the NFL leaders committee. Before dying, he left a note acknowledging the truth of Omalu studies.
Will Smith is quite different from the usual, almost unrecognizable in his characterization of one man dedicated to the profession, maintaining the perfect boundary between the foreigner who had difficulty mastering the language, and the stereotype of the usual immigrant.
The film’s story would be interesting if it was just fiction, but it becomes more painful to see that, in the real world, financial and political interests are more important than the safety and well being of those involved.
“Concussion” is an interesting movie that shows how intolerance is often a weapon used by the powerful, always to protect own interests.