Voyeurs and film lovers will be mystified by this quasi-documentary art installation that has its moments but rarely gives you an insight into the man Zinedine Zidane.
We see the performer at work on his stage, undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of the modern era but I felt stifled by this film. We see only Zidane in a game involving another 21 players, it's like hearing the punch line of a joke without the build-up; there is no context. As a football lover I needed no introduction to 'Zizou' but others may feel disappointed with the lack of insight into the man. With 17 cameras following him we are given a indulgent cinematic tour-de-force of what it might feel like to be involved in a top level football match but I found myself experiencing moments of boredom, conscious of the film and not lost in its attempts to take the viewer into Zidane's world.
One moment of contradictory genius was the half-time respite where we are shown news footage of varied events around the world on the same day as the football match. It gave ambivalence to the film, in one sense it highlighted the futile nature of football in comparison with the plight of people in Iraq for example but also gave Zidane a place among the events of our world history, and for once allowed the viewer to breathe given space away from the match. It's worth seeing but don't expect to find out who Zinedine Zidane really is, perhaps that was never the intention.
We see the performer at work on his stage, undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of the modern era but I felt stifled by this film. We see only Zidane in a game involving another 21 players, it's like hearing the punch line of a joke without the build-up; there is no context. As a football lover I needed no introduction to 'Zizou' but others may feel disappointed with the lack of insight into the man. With 17 cameras following him we are given a indulgent cinematic tour-de-force of what it might feel like to be involved in a top level football match but I found myself experiencing moments of boredom, conscious of the film and not lost in its attempts to take the viewer into Zidane's world.
One moment of contradictory genius was the half-time respite where we are shown news footage of varied events around the world on the same day as the football match. It gave ambivalence to the film, in one sense it highlighted the futile nature of football in comparison with the plight of people in Iraq for example but also gave Zidane a place among the events of our world history, and for once allowed the viewer to breathe given space away from the match. It's worth seeing but don't expect to find out who Zinedine Zidane really is, perhaps that was never the intention.