Customer Reviews
The greatest film about football ever made, NOT ! - By: William B. G. Pocock, 26 Feb 2008 
To say I was disappointed by this is an understatement. The idea sounded great & having heard the musicin a shop I was even more interestedin seeing it. But close ups of Zidane kicking his heels about sums it up. It lost all the pace & excitment that football is about & didn't even fillin the gapsin story of the game. They no doult were edited outin the name of 'art' along with some of Mogwai's music.
So one star for the original idea (I did liked the camera shot moving through the empty corridors & stairways, up & into the stadium arena) & one for the music, which was memorable, if a little sparce.
Zidane flops - By: K. Holland, 09 Feb 2008 
Undoubtedly one of the true greats of football a player who could turn a match, light up the stadium with a touch of magic or a trick. Why then make a film which follows the playerin close up when he is definitely past his best imminently retiring from football showing his bald pate, expressionless sunken eyes, sweaty face, grunting managing only a few tricksin his own half unable to run past defendersin a meaningful position playingin probably the slowest league drawing fouls, diving. I would rather watch this if the dvd was renamed Christiano Ronaldo a player who recently scored a hatrick & a fantatastic freekick & I am not even a Man U fan but he is a player who all fans like to watch someone whom you know you can't take your eyes off because you don't know what he will do next capable of scoring goals most strikers would only dream of.......Could only manage 16 mins then fast forward through the rest to the last few mins......
I think this shows what a nightmare being the manager must have been with so many untouchables Beckham, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, all great players but long past their prime thankfully most have been swept out; it ain't good to overstay your welcome at a party.
I only gave 1 star for the music by Mogwai at the beginning of the film.
4/10. Less interesting than watching 90 minutes of an inconsequential end of season La Liga match - By: Demob Happy, 05 Jan 2008 As a football supporter & a fan of daring & original cinema I was genuinely excited at the prospect of Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno's 21st Century Portrait of Zinedine Zidane. With 17 cameras trained on the great French midfielder, I was expecting a truly revealing insight into the mind of a professional sportsmen - at least that's what the filmmakers have sold this film as. Instead we only see what we already know footballers do: sweat & spit alot, harry opponents, foul, dribble & snipe at the ref. In terms of sporting insight we certainly understand less about Zidane's famed footballing intelligence than we would be watching the game on television. By focusing on the player only, we can't see how his contribution affects the game globally, what marks him out a master tactician.
The filmmakers seem to have gambled on Zidane's iconic, brooding look on carrying the film alone, buoyed by some moody incidental music by Scottish post rockers Mogwai. But the dirge-like score is less interesting than the sound of the crowds watching the game, that have seemingly been mixed with more thought than the images themselves. We are treated to a few of Zidane's words - albeitin subtitle only -in specific reference to the ways that the noise from the spectators permeates the player's consciousness. More insight like this might have raised this experiment above the mundane, but unfortunately such pearls of wisom arein a distinct minority. In all, this is exceptionally tedious. Less interesting,in fact, than watching the full 90 minutes of an inconsequential end of season La Liga match - which this was.
Is this a joke? - By: K. P. Ryan, 21 Oct 2007 I have never viewed such total nonsensein all my life. This can't be called a film? I class this as the most boring video ever.
High Art for Those Who Understand Art - By: Johnny Centreback, 04 Sep 2007 
Some of the bad reviews I've read are absolutely incomprehensible. I saw the filmin an art gallery on two side by side screens. Perhaps the DVD will not do it justice but I have purchased one anyway. This film is a must see, especially for anyone who has played the game at a high level. The film captures accurately the entire sensory & aesthetic meaning of the beautiful game. And as much as we attribute other levels of meaning to football, if you've ever played it, the game more than anything, is about aesthetics. Critics of the film lack insight into the game, into themselves, into life. This is the best football film ever made & will remain a classicin years to come.
