Die Hand Gottes - Emir Kusturica trifft Diego Maradona

You need to have a brain to understand this movie. It's not a classic documentary movie. Movie is great!!!

Emir Kusturica's Maradona is not a sports documentary. It is a political, sociological, cultural and also a sporting document of the greatest footballer who ever lived on this planet. It is, like Kusturica movies, exuberant and full of life. It is sad, funny, exciting and controversial.

Geroge Bush, whom Maradona refers to as "murderer" is definitely not one of his favorite people. He greatly admires Fidel Castro & Hugo Chavez, with both of whom he is shown with in friendly conversations. When asked about his famous goal against England in the 1986 World Cup (named Goal of The Century by FIFA), he explains that he was motivated by revenge for the Argentinian soldiers killed in the Falklands War by the British. He feels that his ban for doping in the world cup was politically motivated and he likens Havelange & Blatter (respective FIFA presidents) as The Arms Dealer and Bullet Seller respectively!

Maradona is philosophical about his cocaine addiction and full of regret that he could have offered so much more to the football world. The footage of his exploits on the playing field, from when he was a kid to his world cup triumph are truly dazzling; no matter how many times you may have seen them before. The movie is full of touching moments, especially those concerning his marriage and his family and friends.

Kusturica is clearly a big admirer of his subject and Maradona also seems to be completely at ease with him. Whether you like Maradona as a person or not , after seeing this movie you can not deny that he was a footballing genius and you are also very likely to be moved by his life story. Highly recommended.

I saw this film on my VOD and I must say I was throughly disappointed. The director got good access to Maradona but it seemed more like than "Let's follow Maradona Around" rather than a documentary. The film kept playing the same darn clips over and over again, especially Maradona's "Goal of the Century," and I fell asleep halfway through.

The director's English sucks yet he narrates it in yet another major weakness of the film. Nothing really is probed in-depth other than Maradona's ramblings over how he hates Bush and loves Castro and Chavez. I'm a fan of Maradona but definitely not a fan of this utterly boring piece of trash. Please save 90 minutes of your life by skipping on this turkey.

Maradona by Kusturica isn't a film about soccer. It is not really a film about sport. It is a film about hope, glory, divine talent and the shortcomings and greatness of human beings. It's about love, despair and eternal matters.

At one point Kusturica asks Maradona which movie star he would want to be, and Maradona immediately answers De Niro in "Raging Bull". "He wanted to knock down everything", Maradona says "I wanted to score goal".

Music plays an important role in this film, as in all of Kusturica's work. Both Argentinian tango and the punk rock of the Sex Pistols seem to contain some of the mysterious energy that whirls around Maradona.

Maradona's football is irresistible. It compels the audience. When this magical and spiritual force is expressed through the classic story of the underdog fighting his way to the top just to fall down again, we are moved, and cannot help it. It is our own story.

Our hero is a martian, a revolutionary, a cocaine addict and a guilt- ridden father and husband. He is not shamed by the fact that he cheated in a world cup match while being watched by hundreds of millions. His regret is that he got high at his daughter's birthday party.

This is not only the story of the greatest football player the world has ever seen, it is also the story of USA vs Latin America, of NATO vs Yugoslavia, of the prince of Wales vs the poor boy from the slums.

Kusturica manages to capture all this in his film, and in doing so he makes us consider grace.

Truly a great film.

One of the worst documentary I've seen in a long time, looks like 2 ego maniac collide and wanted some attention.

Kusturica needs to stay away from movies, and Maradona should just live his life without thinking about glory anymore, this guy wants to pretend to be in the 80's every time a camera is near but just face it, you're not a football player or a celebrity anymore. Just stay away PLEASE!!

Btw, I don't know someone want to portrait Maradona as a football god when he cheated in Mexico 86 by the so called "la mano de dios", I mean if I wanted to be a star in football then should I just cheat and be celebrated by everybody? C'mon!! There are a respected man named Edson Arantes do Nascimento "Pele" who always scored goals, behave, and show how a real player moves in the field, he is the real god in football.