If the recent World Cup has piqued your interest in football (soccer), this documentary will show you a side of the sport that few have ever seen. I can say it was one of the best 5 or 6 documentaries I have ever viewed, and will remain in my memory for ever.
The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord, and Andres Escobar, member of Colombia's 1994 World Cup national squad. They are not blood relations, but both grow up in squalor and poverty; one takes the road to crime and racketeering, the other works hard at his beloved sport, develops his innate talents, and becomes a celebrated player. The squad comes to the WC with high hopes, but they lose their first match (to Romania) and then their second (to the US) due to an own-goal scored by the hapless Andres Escobar and are thereby eliminated from the competition.
--SPOILER FOLLOWS-- A few weeks after returning home, Andres is assassinated. Pablo also comes to a violent, bloody end and is also assassinated. These, along with their surnames, are the parallels between these two otherwise radically different people. --END SPOILER--
What was wonderful about this film is that it brought into very clear focus a period of history in a distant country about which I had heard occasional reports, but had never understood the real situation there. This documentary features lots of original video footage which is often very difficult to watch: senseless violence, bodies of victims, etc. It also shows the humanitarian side of the otherwise ruthless Pablo: how he funded soccer programs for poor communities (along with numerous other philanthropic gestures). Pablo and his fellow drug cartel leaders each take an avid interest in football, each cartel sponsors a club, and the underworld rivalries that play out in street assassinations now infect the playing fields.
The entire movie is narrated by people close to the two Escobars: Andres's sister, his fiancée, his coach, his teammates; Pablo's relatives, his top hit man. You couldn't get a more vivid first-hand description. The stories of some of Andres's fellow national squad members are fascinating in their own right, both before and after their 1994 WC exit.
It could have been trimmed by 10-15 minutes without losing its punch, but overall this is top-notch story telling of a real-life tragedy. It leaves one wondering how little one knows of what is happening behind the scenes when two teams take the field for a game of football. If you have memories of the "war on drugs" in Colombia, and have any interest at all in sport, you will not be disappointed by this movie.
The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord, and Andres Escobar, member of Colombia's 1994 World Cup national squad. They are not blood relations, but both grow up in squalor and poverty; one takes the road to crime and racketeering, the other works hard at his beloved sport, develops his innate talents, and becomes a celebrated player. The squad comes to the WC with high hopes, but they lose their first match (to Romania) and then their second (to the US) due to an own-goal scored by the hapless Andres Escobar and are thereby eliminated from the competition.
--SPOILER FOLLOWS-- A few weeks after returning home, Andres is assassinated. Pablo also comes to a violent, bloody end and is also assassinated. These, along with their surnames, are the parallels between these two otherwise radically different people. --END SPOILER--
What was wonderful about this film is that it brought into very clear focus a period of history in a distant country about which I had heard occasional reports, but had never understood the real situation there. This documentary features lots of original video footage which is often very difficult to watch: senseless violence, bodies of victims, etc. It also shows the humanitarian side of the otherwise ruthless Pablo: how he funded soccer programs for poor communities (along with numerous other philanthropic gestures). Pablo and his fellow drug cartel leaders each take an avid interest in football, each cartel sponsors a club, and the underworld rivalries that play out in street assassinations now infect the playing fields.
The entire movie is narrated by people close to the two Escobars: Andres's sister, his fiancée, his coach, his teammates; Pablo's relatives, his top hit man. You couldn't get a more vivid first-hand description. The stories of some of Andres's fellow national squad members are fascinating in their own right, both before and after their 1994 WC exit.
It could have been trimmed by 10-15 minutes without losing its punch, but overall this is top-notch story telling of a real-life tragedy. It leaves one wondering how little one knows of what is happening behind the scenes when two teams take the field for a game of football. If you have memories of the "war on drugs" in Colombia, and have any interest at all in sport, you will not be disappointed by this movie.