Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado

This strong movie features Catalan people talking about how Johan Cruijff changed their lives. The movie shows in a humorous way the importance of Johan Cruijff for the Catalonian identity, after being supressed by the Franco regime. The people interviewed tell about their personal Johan Cruijff moment and this gives us some hilarious moments. One to remember is the journalist that tells us how Johan influenced the spanish language by translating sayings from his native language (Dutch) directly into Spanish. Off course there is some beautiful footage of Cruijff as a player and as a coach at FC Barcelona, but the Catalan people play the central role in this movie. This makes it perfectly suited for non-soccer fans.

This film is packed with moments of magic. Its makers went to Barcelona to interview admirers of /El Salvatore/: former Real (!) player Butragueño, the heart surgeon who operated on Cruijff after his heart attack in 1989, and a host of no-names, all of whom shed light on different aspects of the subject's life. Most of them have wonderful anecdotes to tell, and many take the opportunity to re-enact favourite actions of their hero. And, finally, we hear the Man himself speak in a long interview.

The beginning and the end of the film is made up of Cruijffs Barcelona farewell match in 1999, played by his former dream team against contemporary Barça players. While the film shows much of the events of the night: Cruijffs speech at the beginning, and the audience's standing ovation after the match - one absolutely crucial moment is left out: that Cruijff, to top it all off, grabs the mic and starts singing the Barcelona club anthem. The moment I am referring to here is only briefly mentioned by Cruijff himself: "I didn't want to ruin a great evening". That is just an understatement; it was typically Cruijff to do a thing like that, and it was very moving. Those who saw the match will never forget that moment, and why it was left out of this documentary is completely beyond me.

This film should not be treated as a mere football (or soccer in US terms)related documentary. There is much more than just a football star. The film is designed around Barcelona'a Catalan identity, and how Cruffy has uplifted the entire Catalan community's morale and self esteem during his years as a player and a coach. The film starts with Catalan related motives, and continues with Cruffy's football and personal qualities. I especially liked the fans' imitation of Cruffy's well-known figures and moves. I guess this is one of the best documentaries for a sports person. When I was young, I didn't like Cruyff, but after watching the film, my opinions has changed drastically. I truly recommend it to all documentary and Cruffy fans.

So-so documentary about the arrival of Johan Cruijff (or Cruyff, as he is probably better known internationally), then the world's best football player, to Barcelona Football Club in 1974, and how it changed the fortunes of the Catalan team, who won several championships in the following years, and beat eternal rival Real Madrid 5-0 in Madrid in a memorable game. There are interviews with fans, and with Cruyff himself, but there is not much more. Only for die hard football fans. Even with such limited appeal, it could have been more interesting. The title - en un momento dado - means in a given moment - and it was an expression apparently popularized by Cruyff in Spain.

Okay, cards on the table, Johan Cruyff is probably about the second best footballer I've ever seen, behind the late, great George Best. Ironically Cruyff came to world prominence around 1972, just when Best tragically imploded, also in 1972 and retired from top-flight football at age 26. Cruyff, unusually for great players, went on however to become, for a time, a very successful coach of his beloved Barcelona, the only other equivalents being perhaps Franz Beckenbauer at Bayern Munich and Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool. This offbeat documentary attempts to portray the love and devotion of Barcelona fans for Cruyff and in a rewarding extended interview which closes the film, the man himself discussing his life and work.

For me, the scenes where Cruyff himself is on the screen, whether in archive footage displaying his fantastic skills or the revealing interview where he talks of the effect on his psyche of the loss of both his natural father and succeeding stepfather before their times, are the best. The interviews with the "superfans" however, with each recreating a "magic moment" from the maestro's career are quirky but ultimately overlong and too sycophantic - one woman appears never to have gotten over her childhood crush for Cruyff and consequently never married...too far, as we say here! I also notice no-one was up to recreating the Cruyff-turn from the 1974 World Cup! The film does entertain however, is certainly watchable and football fans will enjoy it, but I could have done with more actual footage on the great man's sporting exploits and a little more digging into the more controversial aspects of his career, particularly his refusal to go the World Cup in 1978 (where he would surely have made the difference and won the cup with his team) and a more balanced summary of his reasons for leaving Barca in 1996.

All told then, a film of two halves, which if not quite taking me over the moon, certainly didn't leave me sick as a parrot (how's that for using up my dictionary of stock football clichés!).