Maradona: le rêve béni

I have to say that I really enjoyed this tv show, especially the part when Diego is a footballer. I really liked that they have constantly added true images.

IMO if this were on Netflix then this show would be talked about a lot more on social media and have a higher rating.

When I first started watching this around 2-3 episodes in it reminded me of the first time I accidentally stumbled across Cobra Kai on YouTube Red and wondered why a quality show like this was on a very relatively low par streaming service. The people involved with this have pretty much covered Diego Maradona's entire life from 8 years old and it was absolutely fascinating. There are so many interesting facts about the series and if you're like me you'll be looking at Wikipedia and constantly pausing/resuming whilst watching (the Amazon x-ray thing is very handy) to read about the characters involved in his life and it was very colourful indeed.

I love the fact it mixes in real footage during certain scenes and is a brave but brilliant way to keep you interested. The end credits of each episode in particular are good with old photos and videos showing in real life what happened in that particular episode.

All in all if you're really a fan of Diego and I obviously don't know how much of it is true but it's really fascinating and taught me not just about Maradona but the politics and death the Argentines had to deal with in the 60/70s which was an eye opener.

I've seen the documentary from a couple of years ago and for me, the detail involved for me is far greater with the show and is well worth a watch.

BTW I'm a 43 year old fan from England and I still don't forgive him for Mexico 86 but I definitely have a new found respect for him after watching this show.

As Episode 1 of "Maradona: Blessed Dream" (2021 release; 10 episodes averaging about 60 min. Each) opens, we are in "Punta Del Este, Uruguay", and we are following an overweight Diego Maradona who is struggling to stay on his feet. As he finally collapses, his life flashes by before his eyes. After the opening titles, we are in "Buenos Aires, Argentina", and all a young Maradona (7-8 years old?) can think about is playing football. He hangs out with his friends at a local farmer's market, offering to help carry fresh vegetables... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: at the beginning of Episode 1, we are reminded that this series is "inspired by true events". Translation: much of what we see may or may not have happened, who knows. Yes, Maradona was one of the world's greatest footballers ever, that much we know. Yes, he had a hard life, much of it by his own choice. But that doesn't mean that what the producers of this mini-series are showing us, actually happened. This mini-series is out for sensationalism, pure and simple. Maradona is portrayed by a slew of different actors along the way. Much of this was a major turn-off for me, to be honest. If you really want to know what Maradona was like, I'd readily suggest you check out the 2019 documentary "Diego Maradona", directed by Oscar-winning Asif Kapadia (he won an Oscar for the Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy"). Now that is quality! "Maradona: Blessed Dream"? Not so much. (As a complete aside, but also not good, I found it was impossible to watch this on Amazon Prime in its original format, i.e. In Spanish and then adding English subtitles. Instead Amazon Prime is showing this in a horrible English-dubbed version that pushed me away from this even further. Amazon Prime would not allow me to change to the Spanish original version, adding English subtitles.)

"Maradona: Blesses Dream" premiered recently on Amazon Prime, and you can also catch it on Amazon Instant Video. All that said, I cannot recommend this mini-series in good conscience to anyone, and instead would urge you to check out Asif Kapadia's 2019 documentary instead. Viewer beware!

Subpar acting, horrible dialogs, and a clear ideological bias make up one of the most unwatchable series I have had to endure. This is neither a good representation of Maradona's life nor the turbulent period of Argentina's history at the time. Stay away from this unless you want to be dumber than when you started watching.

Sometimes we learn out of a hero that shows how important is to separate the man of his creation.

Maradona as Chaplin, Osho, Dali and a very long lists of outstanding talents, give us the opportunity to understand that idealization works as a broken compass.