A Thousand Blows, review: Steve Knight's touch for a sweaty and verbose show
Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty and Stephen Graham star in a series that takes us to the clandestine rings of Victorian London. Excellent technique, excellent characters, but perhaps a little too verbose. On Disney+ from February 21st.
We know, whether at the cinema or on TV, that a script endorsed by Steve Knight always deserves a certain amount of attention. One of the few authors - or rather showrunners - capable of being immediately recognizable. And we could talk about how Knight's poetics, from Peaky Blinders to Taboo to All the Light We Cannot See, is incredibly influential in the contemporary panorama.
In short, each new work by the British screenwriter (and director) is the same and yet different from the previous ones. This also applies to his latest work, A Thousand Blows, inspired by the true stories of those who, in 1880 London, fought to survive in the clandestine fighting rings (and not only). Of course, the series, available on Disney+ from February 21, broadens its field of vision and narrative, focusing on the characters and human dynamics, to establish a certain dialogue with the present.
A Thousand Blows: welcome to Victorian London
It must be said that A Thousand Blows lights up little by little, episode after episode (there are six in total). However, before us, a scenario of absolute fascination opens up: Tom Burton's production design is remarkable, right from the first shots, which opens onto the East End of Victorian London (needless to say, very different from what it will become over the decades).
A wild and violent epochal landscape, in which Hezekiah Moscow and Alec Munroe (Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall) wander, two friends who have just landed from Jamaica. For those who have skin of a different color, life is quite difficult. They are considered circus animals, freaks.
However, Hezekiah uses his muscles and intelligence to achieve success as a boxer. He catches the eye of Mary Carr (Erin Doherty, in a very different role from Princess Anne in The Crown), the leader of the Forty Elephants, a long-running gang composed exclusively of women (who really existed).
Somehow, Mary will exploit Hezekiah's victories to impose herself among the criminal syndicates. However, Hezekiah's rise threatens the status quo of champion Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham), a ruthless boxer who has no intention of letting the Jamaican win.
The link between sport and narrative:
Behind the excellent technical aspect of A Thousand Blows (and we also mention the soundtrack by Federico Jusid), there is an epic confrontation between the old and the new world. A documentable adherence, among other things, endorsed by Professor David Olusoga, a historian and popularizer. It is no coincidence, after all, that the show is set between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, at the end of the Industrial Revolution.
The certainties that had been solid until then were gradually supplanted by new inflections and new ideals: a dialogue with the present that ties in with the theme of immigration and the cultural revolution. It is not just physicality that determines power, but also wit, foresight, and cunning. Elements that are essential for survival that Steve Knight talks about, and well blended in the screenplay then written by Ameir Brown, Insook Chappell, Harlan Davies and Yasmin Joseph.
Also because A Thousand Blows, in its verbosity (sometimes too rigid, it must be said), is a series structured in such a way as to follow the meaning of the words. More than the hooks, more than the sweat, more than the action.
The imposition of Hezekiah, which threatens Sugar's brute force, passes first through the word itself, and only then is it emphasized by the muscles. In short, Hezekiah and partly Sugar are the perfect synonyms for the underdog (always effective in any type of story). A prospect that becomes essential, giving prominence, color, light and vibration.
Moreover, generating that fundamental interest that pushes us to continue watching, leading us to immerse ourselves in a world that is as real as it is imaginary, leveled according to a contrast that focuses on brutality, in stark contrast to the Victorian era, much more austere. Then it is clear and quite obvious: A Thousand Blows demonstrates, once again, how the link between sport and narrative is, without a doubt, perfect.
Conclusions:
Steve Knight's touch is always recognizable, confirmed in the Hulu/Disney+ series A Thousand Blows. The characters, the architecture, the scenic construction, and the era narrated the work. On the other hand, if the ring and the sport are always effective in the narration, the script is perhaps too verbose, lighting up little by little.