Maradona - spoilers (no, really).

[Moonlight Shadow]

Worth every penny of my entrance fee, what a thoroughly well made movie, it conveyed so well the madness and claustrophobia surrounding Maradona.

Went with a friend who was no fan of him, she came out with a different opinion.

[Lang Spoon]

Same here. It has an appeal beyond football.

[beak]

Just got in from seeing this. Went in with zero expectations (having seen no trailers etc., and having a low expectation of footballer bios..) and absolutely loved it. Using (almost?) exclusively archive footage with disembodied voiceovers is a hard thing to do well, and I think it was done very well. As has been said, captured the lunacy and claustrophobia of the Napoli period very well. Very well sourceed and all.

Aside from the filmic aspects of it all, a couple of footballing surprises also. Even though I know damned well better, it still seems strange to see Ciro Ferrara winning titles in the mid 80s (when to me he was a turn of the century footballer) as much as it seems anachronistic to see Ancelotti playing at Italia 90 when part of my insists he must have been about 45 at the time. I'm not sure what further knowledge I've gained of Maradona as a human being having watched it. The distinction made between "Diego" and "Maradna" didn't seem a particularly marked one. That said, I'm not sure you'd be able to make such a compelling film out of the life and times of, to pick a name entirely at random, Lionel Messi..

I've two incredibly nitpicky qualms - I found the sound dubbing over some of the match footage very out of place with the visuals (or to put it another way, they felt the need to falsify and pump up the sound to a degree they - sensibly - didn't do with the images), and was a bit annoyed with how the on-screen graphics (scores and topscorer lists etc.) were in some places far more faithful to the period accuracy than in others. Proper pernickety that though. Really enjoyed it.

[jason voorhees]

Diego Maradona (2019)
Directed by - A dude that knows how to make dope ass documentaries about famous people with in-camera car shots and lots of home video or cutting-floor tv footage
****

It's kind of funny how some movies you couldn't have imagined not seeing in a theatre first (Die Hard, 3rd row, next to the subwoofer which made every explosion shake the floor like an earthquake,) someone's house (Predator in Brian Fernick's living room, with an Oscar fish eating other guppies during the movie,) or on that small airplane seat screen (Rams, an Icelandic film on the way back from Iceland.)

As someone who is absolutely obsessed with football from the 80s, Serie A on WNYC Channel 31 from the 80s, Miami Vice cocaine and mafia stories from the 80s, and World Cup on whatever that precursor to Univision and Telefutura in the 80s, and Gomorra from the late 2010s....this one couldn't miss. Seeing it on a plane ride to Buenos Aires kind of made it extra special.

I'm a sucker for the San Pablo Stadium, first of all. Seeing ground level filmed coverage of that beautiful Napoli blue and Diego's insane life in Napoli....I mean that's my algorithm. If facebook had nothing but Diego Napoli and Ciro di Marzio statues on my ads I'd be bankrupt in a week.

I've been living in a place where I've watched Argentina's Fox coverage the past few years. I've seen every 3rd division Mexican league game that Maradona coached last year, and last place Gimnasia's games the past year. Every interview, every press conference, still many times a week. What can I say? Who else would have Mexican 3rd division press conferences in prime time? Michael Jordan could get a primetime comeback game with the Wizards. 99% of people who loved him wouldn't know anything about his Charlotte Hornet ownership. Or whether or not Magic Johnson is still with the Lakers or not.

But Bored's outstanding review captures almost all of my feelings. Of course Maradona is better than anyone today because he had to deal with all of those bone-crunching tackles. I'm happy we've had Messi and C-Ron for almost 20 years now, because Maradona flamed out in 6. Taking Napoli to those 2 scudettos was always Maradona's strongest claim to whether or not he was better than Pele. So did the coke help or hinder him?

I really hated him in the 80s. I really hated the Hand of God, and really loved when he got kicked out of the World Cup.

Any great movie changes your mind, and wishes you would've known all that you just watched at the time.

I'm happy I lived to see a lot of his career, and I'm even happier to see this.

[jason voorhees]

"was a bit annoyed with how the on-screen graphics (scores and topscorer lists etc.) were in some places far more faithful to the period accuracy than in others."

My favorite bit was the RAI-graphics of the points total that jump-cut as Napoli took the lead in 1986/87 as the Giornatas and Resultatis went on.

[danielmak]

whatever that precursor to Univision and Telefutura in the 80s,

SIN. It was kind of bi-lingual in that Tony Torado would say a few sentences during the opening and at various points in English, but really it was 99% Spanish.

I don't have much to add that wasn't already expressed in this thread. I had the doc downloaded to my DVR for three weeks and finally got around to watching last night. It was stunning in its cinematic qualities--the opening felt very French Connection. I wish I had seen this in the theater. And I agree with what others have said in that I respect his footballing qualities but always thought of Diego as a bit of an egomaniac. Seeing this film helped me understand the pressures he faced.

My biggest pet peeve was just the jump from Napoli to much more recent times. We get nothing about the 94 WC suspension and nothing about his rapid health decline. I've posted in other threads that episodic TV storytelling seems much stronger these days that most films made for the cinema and I think this film was a prime example of what could have happened had the film ended with him being bounced from WC94 and then picked up from there with a part 2 or even a part 3.

His skills and flaws make him a far more fascinating footballer than Pele and Messi (the other two who make up the debate about the greatest of all time).

Netflix has a series about his time in Mexico. I watched the first episode a few weeks back but then got sucked into other shows and the Libertadores started again) but I will return to that series this week.

[jason voorhees]

Thanks, Dmak. SIN, that was it. I think it was channel 47 in the NYC area. Or 41. WNYC on Sunday mornings was definitely 31.

I remember that hilarious bouncing soccer ball as an "O" in "GOL."

The filmmaker said he was just focusing on Napoli, because that was the boiled-down version of how his whole career went. It just repeated itself a few times. It's why the first part of his career was in the car chase montage at the beginning and the end was his escape from Italy with a montage of the last few years. It's certainly hard to see Gimnasia in dead-last place every week.

[ursus arctos]

41 was Univision, 47 Telemundo

31 was WYNC, the municipal educational station, which broadcast RAI International's match of the week on Sunday mornings, 90 minuto in the afternoon and Domenica Sportiva in the evening.

In the early 80s before SIN, they broadcast Televisa's coverage of World Cups, European finals and the Mexican league with Mexican adverts and all. I seem to recall Jason sharing my memories of a crudely animated version of the Barcel snack squirrel scuttling across the bottom of the screen while the action continued.

[Ray de Galles]

Can we/Bored correct the film's name in the thread title, it's still bugging me.

[Bored Of Education]

Sorry, I can't.

[Lang Spoon]

Better Call Snake.

[danielmak]

I'm only two episodes into the Netflix series about Maradonna's managerial stint in Mexico at Sinola. I don't know where this is airing in the UK or if it is airing in the UK. Given a busy week with South American club football, I won't return to this series until next week. So far we see a lot of Maradonna and not much Diego (to stick with the dualism presented in the film) but two things strike me about Diego: (1) He is really much shorter than I expected. Tim Vickery is often teased about his overuse of low center of gravity as a rationale for smaller players' successes but Diego is tiny when he stands next to the Mexican players. (2) His body is just ravaged -- we see across the first two episodes his constant need for treatment of his knees. Obviously the partying and drugs didn't help but this problem seems to be a product of being a professional athlete and being a professional athlete at a time when treatment was much less sophisticated than it is now.

I think most sports fans might agree that the money made by (many) owners of sports teams and made by (many) professional athletes is insane: $30million USD per year is now the norm for superstar baseball players. But their careers are short and their bodies take a massive beating: hip replacement surgeries, barely able to walk, not able to have full circular motion of their arms (pulling examples from different sports). To bring this back to Maradonna, he's certainly paying the price for the beating he took on the field.

[Ray de Galles]

The film is on C4 on Saturday at 9pm, which is it's UK network premiere.

A must watch, or rewatch.

[Gangster Octopus]

Over two and a half hours. Hmmm...

[elguapo4]

Over two and a half hours. Hmmm...

Why, what else are you doing?

[danielmak]

Well, it's now past 9pm UK time, but I would add that the film flies. I think there are a couple parts that might have been cut but it's a very cinematic documentary (for folks who don't normally watch documentaries).

[Gangster Octopus]

I was trying to keep my wife awake. And listen to Round Britain Quiz at eleven...

[elguapo4]

Ok...brilliant stuff so far, reminds me of the time I fell in love with Italian football, and for all it's many faults, I still feel the same.

[Various Artist]

Been watching too tonight, it's riveting stuff. For all his faults, Maradona has always been a magnetic individual and fascinating to see up close.

[Benjm]

It was a great watch. I couldn't help but laugh when it got to the bit where the mafia disassociate themselves from him because the relationship is bad for their image. A minor niggle was the football historian guy referring to West Germany as 'the Germans'. Otherwise it was engrossing and very well done. The close focus on the Napoli years rather than some of the more surreal episodes in his later life really paid off.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Missed it, when's it being repeated?

[Ray de Galles]

It's on All 4.

[tracteurgarcon]

Watched it last night. For someone who was an England mad 17 year old at the time of Italia '90, I'd somehow missed the whole "Naples vs The Rest of Italy" narrative of the Argentina vs Italy semifinal in, of course, Naples.

What an amazing film though, so much to process. The fight between Maradona and Athletic Bilbao (is that right?)! Bonkers! Like Cantona at Selhurst Park turned up to eleven.

I know its a stupidly obvious thing to say, but I don't think I'd ever appreciated just what a special player he was. There was footage of him doing rabonas and what I'd always called "Zidane turns" long before they were even a thing in English football.

Watching the footage of him at Napoli its like he'd been beamed in from another planet or had travelled back in time from the future, he was just on another level to everyone else on the pitch.

To be honest, there was so much in it I'm going to have to watch it again sometime soon.

[Jah Womble]

Good and detailed doc, but scarcely a mention of the 1982 World Cup. Which I found a bit jarring, tbh.

[Tactical Genius]

It was a great watch. I couldn't help but laugh when it got to the bit where the mafia disassociate themselves from him because the relationship is bad for their image. A minor niggle was the football historian guy referring to West Germany as 'the Germans'. Otherwise it was engrossing and very well done. The close focus on the Napoli years rather than some of the more surreal episodes in his later life really paid off.

West Germany were always refered to as the Germans in the 1980's sporting events. Especially football and athletics. Much the same was the Soviet Union were always referred to as the Russians (Russian linesman in 1966).