"Diego Maradona" (2019 release; 130 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of Maradona, one of the greatest soccer players of all time. As the movie opens, we are in a fast-moving car, flying down the narrow streets of Naples, Italy. It is the day that Maradona joins the (then) lowly-regarded football club, "July 5, 1984" we are reminded. In brief flashbacks, we see Maradona in previous tenures, including his disastrous 2 year stay at Barcelona, one of the world's premier clubs. "I asked for a Ferrari, and instead I got a Fiat", Maradona remarks. "Napoli was literally the only club interested in buying me", he sighs. But it is just the fresh start that he needs... At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia, who previously brought us "Senna" and, even better, "Amy" (about Amy Winehouse). As soon as I heard that Kapadia was attached to making a documentary about Diego Maradona, I was all in. And the documentary, made with cooperation from Maradona and his family, does bring a lot of great moments, including lots of family archive footage never before seen. Maradona is a fascinating figure. Just think of the (in)famous 1986 World Cup clash against England, where he scored with "the hand of God" and how he rationalized it (payback for the Falklands War of a few years before). "A little bit of cheating, and a lot of genius", remarks someone and that really sums it up. Watching the archive footage of the Italian Series A league games from the mid-80s is an eye-opener. Yes, we all know/knew that "catenaccio" football was a grinder, but to see the ugly and vicious tackling (if you can call it that, personal assaults might be more appropriate) just makes your head shake in disgust. Yet despite all that great stuff, I was really surprised that Kapadia skips entirely over several key moments: no mention whatsoever over Maradona's ejection from the 1994 World Cup (due to failing a drug test), or his controversial tenure as manager of the Argentine national team (starting in 2008). It just seems uncharacteristic for Kapadia to make such mistakes, and hence my qualified 3.5 star rating for this documentary.
"Diego Maradona" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival. "Diego Maradona", unlike "Senna" or "Amy" did not have a US theatrical run, another surprise. Perhaps this is because of the subject matter being too far removed from the US public at large, although one could easily say the same thing about F-1 driver Ayrton Senna. Anyway, the documentary started showing earlier this week on HBO, and I couldn't wait to see it. If you are a soccer fan of any kind, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia, who previously brought us "Senna" and, even better, "Amy" (about Amy Winehouse). As soon as I heard that Kapadia was attached to making a documentary about Diego Maradona, I was all in. And the documentary, made with cooperation from Maradona and his family, does bring a lot of great moments, including lots of family archive footage never before seen. Maradona is a fascinating figure. Just think of the (in)famous 1986 World Cup clash against England, where he scored with "the hand of God" and how he rationalized it (payback for the Falklands War of a few years before). "A little bit of cheating, and a lot of genius", remarks someone and that really sums it up. Watching the archive footage of the Italian Series A league games from the mid-80s is an eye-opener. Yes, we all know/knew that "catenaccio" football was a grinder, but to see the ugly and vicious tackling (if you can call it that, personal assaults might be more appropriate) just makes your head shake in disgust. Yet despite all that great stuff, I was really surprised that Kapadia skips entirely over several key moments: no mention whatsoever over Maradona's ejection from the 1994 World Cup (due to failing a drug test), or his controversial tenure as manager of the Argentine national team (starting in 2008). It just seems uncharacteristic for Kapadia to make such mistakes, and hence my qualified 3.5 star rating for this documentary.
"Diego Maradona" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival. "Diego Maradona", unlike "Senna" or "Amy" did not have a US theatrical run, another surprise. Perhaps this is because of the subject matter being too far removed from the US public at large, although one could easily say the same thing about F-1 driver Ayrton Senna. Anyway, the documentary started showing earlier this week on HBO, and I couldn't wait to see it. If you are a soccer fan of any kind, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.