Libero (1973) User Reviews

I am not sure about the filmmaker's intention

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 26 August 2016]

"Libero" is a West German film from 1973, so it is over 40 years old already. The director and one of the writers is "Wigbert Wicker" and it is one of his more known works. This may have to do with the protagonist here: German soccer player Franz Beckenbauer, widely considered the best Germany has ever come up with in terms of football. This film is from shortly before Germany won the Football World Cup, led by Beckenbauer and he was a huge star back then. Over 15 years later, he also won the World Cup as coach of the squad. So this film had basically only one intention: namely to show audiences how big of a star he was and how he defined football during that era. The German word "Lichtgestalt" comes to mind. But this film almost never shines. The big problem here that in his efforts to make Beckenbauer look as good as possible it clearly lacks focus and directions. Random scenes of Beckenbauer on court in documentary style that only the most hardcore football fans will be able to appreciated are followed with a somewhat deep story about a teammate of Beckenbauer that suffers from a serious injury and asks life-defining questions as a consequence about popularity, friendship and the football player's path into oblivion after the career ends. Of course, Beckenbauer is his only true friend (outside the family) during this difficult time. Other than that, the press tries to make Beckenbauer look bad, but he is too big, too majestic for them really. You could see on many occasions that there are lots of people in here that aren't actors, most of all Beckenbauer himself and the likes of Löwitsch and Leipnitz cannot make it work on their own. But that is just one problem. The much bigger problem is the weak script and it is baffling to see three people work on it and the outcome is that bad. It gets lost between documentary and fiction while being extremely shoddy and amateurish in both areas. Four stars out of ten is still quite generous I must say. It's really only worth checking out if you love Beckenbauer or have a major interest in football history. By the way, the title refers to a position, the one Beckenbauer played, who is not restricted to any area of the pitch like a forward or defender, but is allowed (and intended) to move freely wherever he wants. Back to the film, I am glad it barely made it to the 80-minutes mark. Not a good watch. Not recommended.