Victor Young Perez (2013)

Victor Young Perez: Directed by Jacques Ouaniche. With Brahim Asloum, Steve Suissa, Isabella de Ligne-La Trémoïlle, Patrick Bouchitey. Victor “Young” Perez , tells the astonishing, harrowing and incredible moving story of a Tunisian Jewish boxer, who became the World Flyweight Champion in 1931 and 1932. Perez started training as a boxer at age 14 along with his older brother Benjamin “Kid” Perez Perez rose to great fame via the help and guidance of Leon Bellier and had a brief relationship with French-Italian actress Mireille Balin. The 5’1

“u0026quot;Victor u0026#39;Youngu0026#39; Perezu0026quot; (2013 release from France; 110 min.) brings the story of Victor Perez. As the movie opens, we are told it is u0026quot;Poland, November 1944u0026quot; and see an older guy running rounds while shadowboxing in the grounds of Auschwitz. Then the movie flashed back to u0026quot;Tunis 1929u0026quot;, and we get to know that same man as a young boxer wanna-be. It is Victor Perez, a Tunisian with Jewish roots. One day, he gets the chance to box for real, and itu0026#39;s not long before Perez rises through the ranks and attracts the attention of a sports agent in Paris. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, youu0026#39;ll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouple of comments: this movie is a traditional bio-pic of an extraordinary man, and I say this with the most respect for the movieu0026#39;s producers. They must be praised for bringing this story to the big screen, as it deserves to be seen and heard. It is therefore unfortunate that for me the movie feels like a u0026quot;bio-pic by the numbersu0026quot;, with little tension and a surprising lack of background information on the title character himself. Yes. we see him box but what was it like for him to grow us as a Tunisian with Jewish roots? That is never addressed! The scenes at Auschwitz are of course harrowing but it still doesnu0026#39;t make up for the movieu0026#39;s other shortcomings. But I am still giving it 7 stars as the story is so compelling and more people needs to be exposed to it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI recently saw this movie at the 2016 Jewish u0026amp; Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. Given its original release in 2013 in France, I have no idea why it has taken this long to reach US audiences, but better late than not at all, I suppose. The Cincinnati screening was attended very nicely. u0026quot;Victor u0026#39;Youngu0026#39; Perezu0026quot; is, warts and all, worth checking out.”