Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle (2006)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Directors:

Douglas Gordon
Philippe Parreno

Release Date:

24 May 2006 (France)

Genre:

Documentary | Sport

Plot:

Halfway between a sports documentary and an conceptual art installation, "Zidane" consists in a full-length soccer game (Real Madrid vs. Villareal, April 23, 2005) entirely filmed from the perspective of soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane. |

Plot Keywords:

Soccer | Real Madrid | Soccer Match | Soccer Ball | Soccer Crowd

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Beckham	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Zinédine Zidane	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:90 min

Country:

France | Iceland

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Anna Lena Films

Great Technical Achievement

I was not entirely sure what I was about to see when going to see Zidane, for a cinema release it had to be by far the strangest pitch (no pun intended) I'd come across. Zidane is a portrait of the infamous pro footballer Zinedine Zidane and using 17 cameras follows the great player throughout a 90 minute football match. As I am not a football fan in the slightest I decided to take my ex-footballer father along to get two perspectives on the film.

The film opens with recognisable grainy poorly sounding TV footage of the match kicking off, and after a while we are presented with lush high quality visuals and sounds of the very same match. What astounded me about this film is the clarity of sound and vision throughout the film and how technically impressive it was, from the slight breathing of Zidane to the odd over awing shots of the grand stadium. This is not just an in depth look at how a great player plays but also a fantastic experiment in recording and manipulating sound and vision. Thanks to this the film puts you right there on the pitch, and with the addition of subtitles that were taken from an interview with Zidane you start to understand what the player might be thinking.

The film is also laden with different messages take for instance at half time we are shown what was happening around the world on the same day, it's a great wake up call as it makes you realise how insignificant one man and his football match is, but because of press coverage and celebrity status that match is more memorable and more important to the public than lives lost in a natural disaster.

I adored the film for its technical brilliance and the messages it seemed to send, my father loved watching a great player play up close and personal. So whether you like football or not this film is sure to interest you.