Brutal Beauty, Chip Mabry’s fun new documentary about the Rose City Rollers, played at Northwest Film Center last night. I’m not normally a huge fan of sports documentaries but this one sounded interesting and it is about a local group, which was enough to get me there. I’m glad I went — film was well done and I learned things I didn’t know. Mabry did a Q&A after the show and one of the girls — Marollin’ Monroe — was there as well. Some of the others would have come but were at practice. Marollin’ is recovering from an injury and was a bonus for this showing.
I saw Whip It and liked it well enough but it had to deal with Hollywood style plot lines. Brutal Beauty isn’t lacking for drama but keeps its focus on the girls and the derby. It’s not just about the skating but about the effect of physical team sports on young women and the community it creates. We see them at home as well as skating — the film follows several of them through most of 2009. And remember this is a volunteer sport — they all have day jobs to support themselves.
For those like me who don’t quite understand the rules of roller derby, the film has a wonderful sequence where one of the coaches — who happens to work at Voodoo Doughnuts — uses a group of doughnuts to illustrate the various player positions. Another only in Portland touch.
Mabry is submitting the film to several festivals, planning to get it on Netflix and talking to some TV folks about getting it shown on TV. You can find out more about screenings and cast at brutalbeautymovie.com For people in Portland, it will be showing at Clinton Street Theater April 19-21.
If you’re interested in the Rose City Rollers and maybe even becoming a Roller Girl, check out rosecityrollers.com
