Maradona by Emir Kusturica (2008)
A documentary celebrating the extraordinary history and resurrection of Diego Maradona: sporting hero, people’s champion, fallen idol and inspiration to millions.
Serbian Director Emir Kusturica, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes twice for When Father Was Away on Business and Underground, signs in this documentary an intimate portrait of « the God », also known for his addiction to drugs.
Wishing to show his true face, Emir Kusturica skims self-indulgence, with flattering biopic and showcase for his musical talent.
The first shot is showing Kusturica himself playing the guitar with his own band, the No Smoking Orchestra , and has a large appreciation of his own cinematic achievements , so his inability to resist paying homage to the man he fondly calls the "Sex Pistol of football" with clips from his own movies and the sounds of his own gipsy rock.
Nevertheless, Emir Kusturica doesn’t drown himself into smugness, his film, which follows Maradona as he rides the " Alba express" in 2005, with 40,000 other activists, a train which took anti-FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) protesters from across America to a summit, when Bush and his corporate partners paid a visit to the seaside resort of Mar Del Plata in Argentina bullying their southern neighbours. This allows the footballer to express his political views, and gives the pair a chance for a bit of anti-Nato bonding against the US presence in the Middle East and the bombing of Belgrade.
Not only political, Maradona, is also very moving, Diego Maradona explained at Cannes this year, for the premiere, why he agreed to the documentary: "People have written a lot of books about me, made a lot of films about me. I have been portrayed as somebody evil, somebody bad, somebody mediocre. Emir was able to penetrate to my heart, to talk about what I have been through in the good and the bad moments of my life."
Enjoying unprecedented access to the man himself, as well as to extensive archives, Emir Kusturica takes us on an intimate whirlwind tour of places and people closest to Diego Maradona. From family and childhood friends to fellow players and world leaders (Fidel Castro).
Tracing an incredible story, from the modest beginnings to world-domination, from tragic fall to glorious rebirth. Profoundly moving, joyous and life-affirming, featuring an original song from Manu Chao.
Nearly egocentric, Maradona is in fact, a unique documentation of a growing friendship between the director and his subject.
-Laure Brosson-
Published in www.deadfoxfanzine.com
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