After the so-called golden age of Portuguese comedy in the 40's, and the stagnation in the 50's, the 60's brought a new cinema (Cinema Novo)to Portugal, namely by Paulo Rocha, Manoel de Oliveira and Fernando Lopes.
Fernando Lopes' Belarmino is not really a documentary about boxing, but a documentary about the life of a boxer, Belarmino Fragoso, at the end of his short career. It is a very live, frank, surprising portrait of the life of a common man in Lisbon during the 50's and 60's.
It was very much influenced by the Italian Neo-realism, but it's cinematically much more stylish than most of those features. There are some wonderful shots of Belarmino training, strolling through the streets of Lisbon or at home with his family.
The main flaws, for me, are in the interviews, which, maybe because of the editing, become repetitive at times.
Compare to Kubrick's "Day of the Fight".
