Yogi’s legendary personality shines through in new documentary
TAMPA, Fla. — When the common individual hears the identify Yogi Berra, likelihood is it produces a recollection of a famed phrase like, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” any variety of entertaining tv commercials, or maybe even a cartoon bear with an affinity for picnic baskets.
That is why “It Ain’t Over” exists.
An intimate and revealing 98-minute portrait directed by Sean Mullin and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, this emotional and fascinating documentary takes viewers past the caricatures and “Yogi-isms,” portray an entire image of a sports activities legend.
“It’s very important to me to keep grandpa’s legacy alive,” mentioned Lindsay Berra, his granddaughter. “Most important to me is to have people remember truly what a great baseball player he was, because I feel that a lot of his on-the-field accomplishments have been eclipsed by the Yogi-isms and the fact he was this short, kind of funny-looking guy later in life.”
The movie’s opening scene depicts a ceremony earlier than the 2015 All-Star Game wherein Henry Aaron, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays had been launched as baseball’s biggest dwelling gamers. Lindsay Berra recollects nudging her grandfather and asking, “Are you dead?” To which Berra, as solely he may, grunted: “Not yet.”
A labor of affection that took greater than 4 years to succeed in the display and debuted final 12 months on the Tribeca Film Festival, “It Ain’t Over” tells Berra’s story from humble beginnings in a working-class St. Louis neighborhood generally known as “The Hill.”
It was his place to begin for a journey that featured 10 World Series championships, three American League Most Valuable Player Awards and 18 All-Star appearances.
Berra served his nation on a rocket boat stationed off the coast of Normandy in 1944, caught the one excellent recreation in World Series historical past in ’56 and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in ’72. He was greater than a supply for amusing quotes like, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” or, “No one goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”
“Ultimately, my goal is for audiences to laugh a little, learn a little and maybe even tear up a bit — all while recognizing that Yogi was one of baseball’s all-time greatest players,” mentioned Mullin, “despite society’s unwillingness to view him as anything other than a caricature.”
The movie options interviews with a legion of baseball greats, together with Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, Tony Kubek, Ron Guidry and Nick Swisher. Also featured are Billy Crystal, Bob Costas and Vin Scully, plus images and eye-opening archival footage from on and off the diamond.
“I want people to have a new appreciation for how good he was on the field,” Lindsay Berra mentioned. “What I always say about grandpa is, as good as he was as a ballplayer, he was an even better human. Even though he was the very best at what he did, he never for a moment thought he was better than anyone else. That’s a refreshing thing in our heroes.”
“It Ain’t Over” is in theatres, starting on May 12 in New York and Los Angeles.
