"Forever Pure" tells the story of ultra-nationalist fans of Israeli soccer club Beitar Jerusalem over the course of one season as they struggle both with their own club and players and arabic teams.
The documentary sheds light on an important issue and quite brilliantly shows the pathos surrounding the club and how certain people can make profit of it. However, the film almost feels a bit improvised at times, trying to ban a whole season onto tape. At the same time this try to stay in the presence somehow prevents a wider picture and creates kind of a hybrid. Personally, I think I would have prefered to let go of this particular season and try to present the general role of Beitar fans over the course of time as well as some oppositional voices. Nonetheless, this is a depressing and impressive documentary and one that raises questions for the Israeli society and international viewers.
All in all it is good that this movie exists because it displays that there are serious problems in Israeli soccer, as there are elsewhere, that need to be adressed and that soccer is always more than just sports.
The documentary sheds light on an important issue and quite brilliantly shows the pathos surrounding the club and how certain people can make profit of it. However, the film almost feels a bit improvised at times, trying to ban a whole season onto tape. At the same time this try to stay in the presence somehow prevents a wider picture and creates kind of a hybrid. Personally, I think I would have prefered to let go of this particular season and try to present the general role of Beitar fans over the course of time as well as some oppositional voices. Nonetheless, this is a depressing and impressive documentary and one that raises questions for the Israeli society and international viewers.
All in all it is good that this movie exists because it displays that there are serious problems in Israeli soccer, as there are elsewhere, that need to be adressed and that soccer is always more than just sports.