Apache: La vida de Carlos Tevez

Let me start by saying, I am Italian, I was born not far from the San Paolo Stadium in Napoli, where my greatest player of all time played...Diego Armando Maradona but I am the biggest Juventus Fan and I loved when Carlos Tévez joined us....I absolutely love him as a player.

So when I read an article about (Apache: La vida de Carlos Tevez). I could not wait to sit down and watch the grim rise of Carlos from Fuerte Apache, one of Buenos Aires's most dangerous, drug fueled neighborhoods. And Carlos through almost naive understanding of his surroundings, somehow managed to stay away from stray bullets, drugs and crime. He followed his passion to play football.

The performances are mesmerizing none more than from Balthazar Murillo, what a find, at times looking at both Carlo and Balthazar there are a lot similarities........

"Apache" is an extraordinary mini series that retells the early life of footballer Carlos Tevez. How he got his burns on his body, the miserable poor life he went through with his family, the frightening moments at night and the moments he shined on the field and became a legend at boca. The series mostly focuses on the life he went through as a child with his family, how they lived in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Argentina. This series shows an overview of the situation in Fuerte Apache and how the characters face the crime and violence in the streets. The story of Carlos Tevez is a really tragic one when you look at it in a certain point: he used to have a pretty normal daily basis, once the story advances things start to change in his life: his uncle gets shot, his family is in danger, his girlfriend leaves to a different city, he loses his best friend and faces his real mother who left him behind. Sure, he is accepted to Boca Juniors and then to the U-21 squad of Argentina's national football team. Be he grows up faster and becomes more mature, he faces many changes along the way. Now, of course the series needs to have a little more drama so they give the audience some action scenes, I'm pretty sure many of the characters shown are fictional and made only for dramatization. Either way their story is tragic as well: Danilo's arc was really emotional, from a young boy with a lot of potential in football to a boy who succumbs to drugs and revenge, such a tragic tale that is portrayed fabulously. All in all, Apache is a great series that shows how much life is unfair and complex. How people like Carlos Tevez needed to work hard to get out of their neighborhoods and leave a lot behind. I hope to see more series or movies such as this one who talk about football of course, but also tell a wonderful and heartbreaking story.

I want to start off by mentioning that I am argentinian, a huge Boca fan and I particularly like Carlos Tévez as a person and as a player. So, all of those things naturally inclined me to eagerly watch this series. I've always thought that his life should be turned into a movie, but that would be too short, so it would work out better as a TV series. I was a bit skeptical in regards to the narrative quality and the production values of this effort but as soon as I tuned in, I was pleasantly surprised, since I was watching a high quality product. From the production design, the locations, the script, the actors and the direction, it was all phenomenal. The main cast give a stellar performance, so incredibly believable in each of their parts.

Carlos Tévez had a very rough upbringing in the dangerous streets of Fuerte Apache, one of Buenos Aires' most notorious neighbourhoods due to high crime rates, including theft, murder and drug trafficking. And he somehow managed to dodge those heavy bullets and followed his passion to play football, and specially to play for Boca, the team of his affections. I really hope we get a second season, to show his rise to stardom, and everything in between.

Kudos to Balthazar Murillo (he plays Tévez), Vanesa González (she plays Carlos' aunt, Adriana), Alberto Ajaka (Segundo; Carlos' uncle), Sofía Gala (Fabiana; Carlos' birth mother) and Matías Recalt (Danilo, Carlos' best friend), they all did a magnificent job in their respective roles.

I am not a believer in making television series without an athlete's career ending, either by mysticism or by cabal, but the Apache story deserves to be told. It deserves to be told because it presents the reality of a million children in Latin America, a reality that almost never appears in the news and that the government hides for its own benefit. The story was presented in a cruel way, which pays for the seriousness of the Apache story. Some will say "another story of a soccer player", but for me it is not "the story of another soccer player". I am Puerto Rican, and like millions of Latin Americans, I know what our countries are going through. This television series show us that part of Buenos Aires and Argentina that they don't put on television and in newspapers, which is poverty, social conflicts, problems with drugs, violence, among others. Therefore, every time I see this story of Tevez, it gives me sadness and joy at the same time. Happiness because Carlitos could get out of that hell where he lived, but sadness because of every 100 Carlitos, only 10 can leave where they are and only 1 can become what Carlitos is. Therefore, every time a Neymar, a Vinicius, a Tevez, a Ronaldinho, a Di María, a Cuadrado or an Alexis Sánchez manage to leave their country and reach Europe, it is an achievement for our Latin American countries. All those sacrifices that were made along the way suddenly seem forgotten, but they will always be there. Reminding you where you come from and where you are going.

I am not very knowledgeable about soccer and had actually never heard of Carlos Tevez before I watched the series, but really enjoyed it. Portrays Telez' struggle to survive and succeed amidst the poverty, drugs and violence in the Fuerte Apache district of Buenos Aires. As someone familiar with Mexican Spanish, the language used in this series was full of colorful idioms and difficult to understand, but it fit the characters and setting. Great biographical story of family and community and soccer, although not that much soccer. One thing I didn't like: they kept repeating the same pan-shot of the Fuerte Apache about ten times each episode. Otherwise, yes this series has flaws but still highly recommend it.