Compton is a suburb of Los Angeles known for having one of the highest crime rates in the United States, although now it can also boast of having seen Venus and Serena Williams take their first steps: two tennis champions add between the two 30 individual Grand Slams, exactly the kind of goal forbidden for African-American girls who live in such a place. The movie Williams method now tells how the father of the tennis players prepared them for it.
Will Smith stars in a biopic that has already earned him a Golden Globe for best actor in a dramatic film and for which Oscar bells are also ringing. He is in charge of giving life to Richard Williams who, as portrayed in the film, would not have been the authoritarian, controlling and troublesome father that he has always believed.
Instead, it displays a protective and loving figure, which may not be so far from reality since both Venus and Serena advised the creators and agreed to participate as producers after seeing the film.
The fact is that, in the 80s, Richard Williams proposed that two of his daughters become tennis champions and, to do so, he had a plan he believed in so much he came to look like a lunatic. And that he knew nothing about tennis but it was essential that the most elite clubs and coaches agreed to train Venus and Serena, whom he sells as infallible athletes.
As an older sister, Venus Williams came to prominence earlier, although Richard’s master plan was always for Serena to end up as the best tennis player in history. However, the rivalry to create climax in the story is not between them but the villain is neither more nor less than Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, against which Venus will have to face when winning a millionaire contract with Nike as a sponsor.
However, the film tries to convey that the ultimate motivation for the father’s success was not the fact that the best tennis players could win thousands of dollars in each tournament. Or, at least, not only that but there was something more related to the field of the moralistic as “do something that fills their hearts”, according to the words of Will Smith himself in an interview.
If we stick to the script of Williams method, the most important thing for this father was always the well-being of his daughters and He never allowed them to forget their origins or that their father loved them. We will be able to see it and judge with our own eyes from January 21, when the biopic opens in Spanish theaters.
Photos | Williams method
