Classic Movie

Egos and biceps

Pumping Iron (1977)

The plot: In 1975, for the first time ever on celluloid, two upcoming filmmakers decide to document the run-up to the amateur Mr Universe and the professional Mr Olympia competition, and to reveal to the world all the crazy soap operatics that are exchanged between the warring contestants – Pumping Iron’s the result.
Containing a range of oddball characters from the wispy-haired, mental wreck of a PE teacher, Mike Katz, to a pre-Terminating, pre-Governating Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film is a surpisingly addictive and unexpectedly amusing mix of narcissistic pomposity and piteous insecurity. Not only did it launch the Hollywood career of the Austrian Oak, it eventually helped redefine the image of Hollywood’s leading man.

So what happens? The film is made up of two halves, each documenting a psychological battle between two very different beefed-up adversaries. First we witness the insanely big yet stupidly tragic figure of Mike Katz go up against his carrot-topped nemesis, Ken Waller. In a startlingly effective piece of gamesmanship, during a notable competition Waller nicks Katz’s tiny muscletop, really managing to put the big man off his posing routine and ruining any chance he had of winning. Despite spending nearly all of his life in his gym, Katz is still one of life’s victims.
Next up Arnie takes on slightly deaf Brooklyn boy, Lou Ferrigno. A five-time Mr Olympia, Arnie is competing for his sixth consecutive title and is prepared to rise to legendary levls of self-masturbation and machismo to achieve it (and make Big Lou seem like a lolloping freak show in the process).

Why’s it a classic? It’s a really funny and ultimately quite pathetic insight into the dead creepy, self-centred, nonsensical world of body symmetry and definition. Constantly spouting vainglorious garbage, we also see Arnie at his most arrogant best.