Dana Adam Shapiro on Murderball

Murderball is a documentary about the physically disabled. Except you've never seen a documentary quite like this. The title is the name of the sport more politely classified as Quad Rugby, a game played by paraplegics in armoured wheelchairs. It's a violent, full-contact sport, and watching the film will totally change your perception of what it means to be disabled. Making Movies asked director Dana Adam Shapiro what it felt like being ringside.

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So what are the rules of the game?
I have no idea. I followed Team USA for two years and I still haven't got a clue. There's not much about the rules in the film because we didn't want to make a 'sports movie'. I did get that there are offside rules, you have to pass the ball after 10 seconds, like with basketball, and there's a sin bin, but beyond that I'm pretty hazy. Like all sports, it's very tactical, some are good at passing, others at blocking and so on.

What are the rules about contact?
Well, you can't punch the other guy out, but everything else seems to go on. They crash into each other real hard and try and knock each other over.

What's it like being hit?
Imagine being dropped out of a first floor window in a shopping cart. Your back, your insides, your guts, your arms, everything hurts. You have to remember these guys hardly have any feeling left below the chest. They sometimes come off the court with busted fingers, bleeding elbows, all kinds of cuts and grazes, and they don't even blink. They'd say, 'What's gonna happen? I already busted my neck...'

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