This poetic documentary of the Puerto Rican boxer who became light-heavyweight champion of the world, is the first Japanese production to be filmed in the United States. At first the film has the feeling of an outsider's impression of a far-off land, then of an outsider becoming very much an insider.

Hiroshi Teshigahara has directed eight other films; his earlier, Woman in the Dunes has been shown at a previous Melbourne Festival. Tohru Takemitsu, who composed the music, has worked with Teshigahara before, most notably on Woman in the Dunes; his "Requiem for Strings" has recently been performed in America and Europe.