It’s early, I didn’t sleep well and I’m cranky

After seeing “Remember Me,” we head off to the Taste of Saigon, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Park City. Then back to the condo. We’d started watching a video of “Deadline” before heading off to the Egyptian, and we not only finish that but we then watch Barak Goodman ’s fascinating documentary titled “The Fight.” It’s a traditionally made, well-done film history of, actually, the two fights between legendary heavyweight champion Joe Louis and German one-time champ, then contender Max Schmeling . The two were more than just opponents in the ring. As the film shows, they were characterized as symbols of their opposing cultures: a black man from the United States, and a white man from the growing powerful and supposedly racially superior Germany. Although it’s tempting to wonder how, say, someone such as Errol Morris might have handled the story, Barak truly has made his everything a good documentary needs to be to win awards and earn a popular release (if only on television as it was produced by WGBH, Boston’s Public Television station). I’d make a joke here but it’s early, I’m typing on the floor of the condo, trying not to wake my wife, and, frankly, feeling a bit sober about being reminded once again of America’s tangled and often angry history of racial intolerance and nationalistic posturing. If only we were as good as we think we are.