Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher is an American biographical film by director Bennett Miller from 2014. It was shot from October 2012 to January 2013 around Pittsburgh with a budget of 24 million dollars, and it premiered in May 2014 at the Cannes festival. The film tells of the relationship between the wrestler Mark Schultz, an Olympic freestyle champion, and the millionaire John du Pont, who recruited him in 1987 to his private training centre Foxcatcher in Pennsylvania. Mark is played by Channing Tatum, his older brother Dave by Mark Ruffalo and du Pont by Steve Carell. Both brothers belonged to the world elite of freestyle wrestling. At the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984 they won gold, Mark in the category up to 82 kg, Dave up to 74 kg. Mark was a three-time consecutive NCAA champion from 1981 to 1983 and world champion in 1985 and 1987. Dave became world champion in 1983 in Kyiv, won another three silver and two bronze medals at world championships, and was a seven-time US freestyle champion. In the nineteen-nineties he coached the team at the Foxcatcher centre. In 1996 Mark Schultz also appeared in MMA, defeating Gary Goodridge at UFC 9. For the film Bennett Miller won the award for best director at the 2014 Cannes festival and received an Oscar nomination for directing. Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo were also nominated for Oscars.

Martial arts in this work

Fact and fiction

In 2014 Mark Schultz published, with David Thomas, the book Foxcatcher about his brother and his stay at du Pont's. He worked as a consultant on the film, but we did not find the extent of his work in the sources. By his account, most scenes come from his book, while the relationships and characters are entirely invented. Mark Schultz at first criticised the film for hinting at a homosexual subtext in his relationship with du Pont. A few weeks later he said he loves the film, apologised to the director Miller and called it a miracle. The film uses real footage from the UFC 8 tournament in 1996, from the match of Gary Goodridge against Paul Herrera. We did not find anything in the sources about the actors' wrestling preparation.

People and martial arts

• Mark Schultzthe real person the work is about· Freestyle Wrestling (real practitioner)
• Dave Schultzthe real person the work is about· Freestyle Wrestling (real practitioner)
• Bennett MillerDirector
• Channing TatumActor — as Mark Schultz· Freestyle Wrestling (portrays the art on screen)
• Mark RuffaloActor — as Dave Schultz· Freestyle Wrestling (portrays the art on screen)
• Mark SchultzTechnical advisor· Freestyle Wrestling (real practitioner)

Awards

• Won · Cannes Film Festival, Best Director (2014)
• Nominated · Academy Awards, Best Director (2015)