MOHAMMED ALI, LE LABYRINTHE

MUHAMMAD ALI, THE LABYRINTH

of FATMI Mounir

FRANCE, 2010, 00:10:39

Genre : Video art

Summary :

Muhammed Ali, The Labyrinth (2010) interleaves images of African-American boxer at different stages of his life with the flickering image of a labyrinth, unceasingly accompanied by a voice-over that narrates some of the episodes of Muhammad Ali’s life as a news broadcast. mounir fatmi uses the boxer’s story in order to communicate his perceptions and interpretations on Islam 's relationship with the United States. Muhammed Ali had a great notoriety in the United States, partly due to his bond with Islam and his subsequent conversion. The boxer turned his back on any public opinion, shattering stereotypes about racism and religion. Despite of coming from a segregated society, he declared that America was the best country in the world, although his relationship with the US government radically changed in 1966, when he refused to be drafted to serve his country in the Vietnam War. Muhammed Ali, Afro- American and US citizen, had to accept all sorts of criticisms and was threatened being sentenced with prison.

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