Clement Virgo explores race, class through boxing in latest film

Toronto director Clement Virgo's sixth directorial effort, Poor Boy's Game, stars American actor Danny Glover as a man seeking revenge for his son's beating but instead finding redemption in helping his son's attacker.

Virgo's previous efforts include Rude (1995), Love Come Down (2000) and Lie With Me (2005).The film's gala screening is Tuesday night at the festival, with a second showing on Thursday.

Poor Boy's Game has been described as an exploration of class and racial struggles through the world of boxing.

"We talk about French, and English and aboriginal issues in this country, soI thought it would be time to explore race and class," Virgo said on CBC Radio's Here and Now program in Toronto.

"In Europe it seems to be a dominant subject and in the U.S. it's a big subject, but here we seem to take it for granted [and] if you look at all our cities these cities are becoming more multicultural and in 20, 30 years, we won't have any choice but to discuss these issues."

The film concerns a neighbourhood tough named Donnie (played by Rossif Sutherland, half-brother of Kiefer) who is sent to prison for viciously beating a black man and leaving him disabled.When he's released 10 years later, the father of the victim, played by Danny Glover, decides tomove on and coach Donnie in a boxing match.

In the meantime, Glover's character has to contend with his wife's and his own community's need for revenge.

Virgo, who was born in Jamaica and came to Canada in 1977, says he wants all Canadians to understand his movie.

"When you tackle race, you do it at your peril because people might stop listening. but I want to engage the audience, hopefully people will see and identify with these characters," points out the director.

"It represents who we are as Canadians."

The movie is co-written by writer/director Chaz Thorne, who set it in his hometown of Halifax.

Virgo says the film had to be set in Halifax, which is"more American than any other Canadian city" due to its history as a destination for blacks fleeing slavery in the U.S.Virgo says that makes it a perfect setting for a movie that touches on racial issues.

Poor Boy's Game premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.