Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle

I can understand why some people would find this film rubbish, but it really is a fantastic piece of cinema if you just give it a chance.

If what you were expecting was just a montage of Zidane's finest moment this is not what you are looking for. This show's Zidane warts and all - the genius, the aggression, the skill - everything that made him the finest player of our generation.

The title of the film is so apt - it really is a portrait of football's finest "artist" in recent times. It is a little self indulgent, but the cinematography is fantastic and the soundtrack (music and sound) is incredible.

If you have any appreciation for football, Zidane, or even just artistic cinema I'd thoroughly recommend this movie.

Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle offers an unusual and surprisingly thoughtful experience, providing a sense of the frustration and isolation of a legendarily talented footballer, but little more.

The film begins with a silent first 15 minutes observing Zidane's skill and movement. It feels rather like you're watching the Skysports player-cam and as such, is a little disappointing. Coupled with the initial jumping back to the perspective of a viewer watching at home, then returning back to the high quality camera POV's, it leaves you somewhat restless, as the director tries to create a hyperbole of space and reality. However, you soon become aware of the human ambiance; Zidane's heavy breathing, feet dragging on the grass like a stag before battle, the visceral crunches of hefty challenges; all creating a very tangible texture.

In a moment after the referee wrongly gives away a penalty, which the opposition score, Zidane approaches and speaks the words "You should be ashamed". Zidane's tone and presence makes this emphatic condemnation almost papal.

There are times in this film when one finds them self checking the time remaining on the DVD player. Whilst being able to appreciate Zidane's awesome touch and effortless ability, the footage is repetitive and too enclosed to really gather a true sense of Zidane's perspective. Those audiences who make it past the 15 minute mark are rewarded when Mogwai's splendid soundtrack kicks in and is complimented by Zidane's subtitled monologue. Here, you really appreciate the fact that they didn't choose an English footballer as their subject. The delicate manner in which french translates, provides a poetic and cinematic syntax. We English are very wasteful with our words and I'm sure if we were hearing David Beckham's thoughts, we would be more spurious at the lack of numerous mentions of "Obviously", "You know" and "fantastic".

At half time the film installs context to the game displaying both violently moving images together with trivial incidents apparently going on elsewhere in the world whilst the game takes place. The intriguing suggestion is that the match, tied with fate, is pointless and memorable like all things.

In truth, after this point, the film has completed it's goal and as such, drags to the finish. The camera work seems dizzying and whilst the intention is to make the viewer feel Zidane's experience, it ultimately fails. Whilst we empathise with his irritation and patience, we are not rewarded like he is, with the thrill of being on the pitch. There is an absence of space and vision, which, would truly mimic his sensation.

Zidane's exit is practically welcome when he is sent off ten minutes before the match finishes, but he leaves with a poetic sense of irony. After a game of fisticuffs, his hot head landing him in trouble like it did at World Cup 2006, we are left with an emotive sense of futility, his sending off - a metaphor for mortality, leaving the pitch to a hero's applause.

I think the film could have benefited from more subtitled speech from Zidane and with the extension of the soundtrack lasting from start to finish. But what hampers this film is it's lack of creating the true experience of space and vision in a football game, in truth, the attempt to re-create Zidane's frustration at not receiving the ball on time and having his passes clumsily lost, is overwhelmed by our frustration at the sense of claustrophobia and detachment.

Just like every football fan, I have to say that Zinédine Zidane really was one of the best players of this and the last century. I would often watch a France game, purely because of Zidane and I wanted to see him do his magic. Even if the game wasn't very good and the team wasn't playing very well, Zidane would always show something special and amazing. His skill and touch was always amazing. Whenever he had the ball if was something special and you just knew something great could happen at any given moment. He doesn't look and move like a very technical player but he really was one of the most technical midfielder of the last few decades. He had a great and impressive but also very successful career, especially with his national team. Every world cup or European cup he participated in, he was one of the best players of the tournament and he won both the World- and European Cup with his country France. He played an important role in his country victories and eventual win of the tournaments, with his two goals in the 1998 finale against Brazil of course as his most memorable achievement. No way that a dumb head-but against Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute of the 2006 World Cup final against Italy, which also was his last game out of his career, should overshadow this great sportsman's career.

But as much as I adore Zidane as a player he really isn't a charismatic person or player to watch. His face doesn't ever show any emotions, which sorts of makes you wonder why the film-makers he was such a good subject for this cinematic movie-making approach. After about 30 minutes you've already had it with watching this movie. Most of the time he doesn't even run, he just walks and stands because obviously he isn't on the ball all of the time. After a while the approach of the movie becomes a real bore to watch.

It doesn't show anything of Zidane as a person and it also most certainly doesn't show anything of Zidane's qualities as a football player. Therefor what's the point of this 'documentary'? This movie only serves an artistic purpose. Although this also doesn't completely work out due to the subject Zidane. So it's a sort of vicious circle. The approach of the documentary doesn't really work out due to Zidane and Zidane isn't presented in his best or most insightful way due to the approach of the documentary. It doesn't do much credit to the exceptional great player Zidane was. On top of the, the approach from this documentary isn't even original. It was used before by German filmmaker Hellmuth Costard, for his documentary "Fußball wie noch nie", following Manchester United player George Best in real time, during a complete football match.

What was highly annoying to me was that most of the sounds were obviously put at a later stage underneath the movie. Some, if not all, sounds were obviously fabricated and recorded in a studio, even Zidane's own breathing and on pitch talking. Unless you believe he was really wearing a microphone during the match...The chanting the running on the grass, the kicking of the ball, all off these sounds sound so completely fabricated. It's like listening to a radio play at times.

Some of the trivial facts presented in this movie are really ridicules and don't serve a point at all, also not in the least because they have absolutely nothing to do with the subject of the movie.

If you want to see the qualities of a player you don't point several camera's just on his face. He should see a wider picture to get a clear view and understanding of his positioning, his passing, his control, his overview, knowing exactly the positions of your teammates and opponents, knowing when to give the right ball. After all, football is still a team sport, no matter how great as an individual you are. The game they follow him also isn't much special. It's just an average Primera Division game of Zidane's Real Madrid against Villareal, in which Zidane even gets send off with a red card before the end of the match. Also sorts of makes you wonder if the makers regret picking this one game to follow him.

Has some artistic value but overall really doesn't do enough credit to Zizou.

4/10

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This film is little more than an overblown remake of Costard's 1971 curio "Football As Never Before", with Zidane taking the place of George Best. It has a few arresting moments and is interesting on a technical and technological level, but it lacks the charm of the earlier film and the filmmakers are arrogant to presume that this kind of cinema can do justice to a great footballer. It will add nothing to the understanding of those who don't watch football regularly and will bitterly disappoint those who do. The presentation of football (and all sport) requires space, context and perspective, this glorified art installation has none of these essential ingredients.

90 minutes of Zidane playing football, the camera on him mostly, hardly any dialogue, and the football is sort of peripheral. It was hypnotic and absorbing, like a modern dance (quite a good sound track) Zidane watching, Zidane bursting with suppressed energy and anger, Zidane running, Zidane arguing with the ref, Zidane smacking other players, Zidane being fouled.

The sound track changed constantly, the raw of the crowd, Zidane scuffing the grass with his boot, Zidane yelling, the thud of 22 pairs of football boots. He hardly talks, smiles rarely, seems to not care about the game, then suddenly does care passionately, maybe a little bit too much, as that got him into trouble at the world cup.