Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle

I was not entirely sure what I was about to see when going to see Zidane, for a cinema release it had to be by far the strangest pitch (no pun intended) I'd come across. Zidane is a portrait of the infamous pro footballer Zinedine Zidane and using 17 cameras follows the great player throughout a 90 minute football match. As I am not a football fan in the slightest I decided to take my ex-footballer father along to get two perspectives on the film.

The film opens with recognisable grainy poorly sounding TV footage of the match kicking off, and after a while we are presented with lush high quality visuals and sounds of the very same match. What astounded me about this film is the clarity of sound and vision throughout the film and how technically impressive it was, from the slight breathing of Zidane to the odd over awing shots of the grand stadium. This is not just an in depth look at how a great player plays but also a fantastic experiment in recording and manipulating sound and vision. Thanks to this the film puts you right there on the pitch, and with the addition of subtitles that were taken from an interview with Zidane you start to understand what the player might be thinking.

The film is also laden with different messages take for instance at half time we are shown what was happening around the world on the same day, it's a great wake up call as it makes you realise how insignificant one man and his football match is, but because of press coverage and celebrity status that match is more memorable and more important to the public than lives lost in a natural disaster.

I adored the film for its technical brilliance and the messages it seemed to send, my father loved watching a great player play up close and personal. So whether you like football or not this film is sure to interest you.

90 minutes of Zidane playing football, the camera on him mostly, hardly any dialogue, and the football is sort of peripheral. It was hypnotic and absorbing, like a modern dance (quite a good sound track) Zidane watching, Zidane bursting with suppressed energy and anger, Zidane running, Zidane arguing with the ref, Zidane smacking other players, Zidane being fouled.

The sound track changed constantly, the raw of the crowd, Zidane scuffing the grass with his boot, Zidane yelling, the thud of 22 pairs of football boots. He hardly talks, smiles rarely, seems to not care about the game, then suddenly does care passionately, maybe a little bit too much, as that got him into trouble at the world cup.

This film is little more than an overblown remake of Costard's 1971 curio "Football As Never Before", with Zidane taking the place of George Best. It has a few arresting moments and is interesting on a technical and technological level, but it lacks the charm of the earlier film and the filmmakers are arrogant to presume that this kind of cinema can do justice to a great footballer. It will add nothing to the understanding of those who don't watch football regularly and will bitterly disappoint those who do. The presentation of football (and all sport) requires space, context and perspective, this glorified art installation has none of these essential ingredients.

On the 23rd April 2005, 22 men came out onto a rectangle of grass in front of a crowd of tens of thousands. This walk in the park was the league match between Real Madrid and Vilareal, a game that would see three goals, several bookings and three red cards before those involved were allowed to leave the grass.

Audience expectation is a terrible thing and I think it is one reason why so many viewers seemed to have similar issues with this film. Zidane etc was sold as a football film built around the concept of watching a master at work. The trailer said as much and I think a lot of people tuned in for that reason. However this is not really what the film is about because it was not really made as a portrait of the football of Zidane but rather of the art of Zidane. What this means is that the film is often quite "arty" in delivery and this actually gets in the way of the football and prevented me enjoying it consistently on this level.

At times the footage is great because it doesn't really worry about the football to the degree where all shots are wide and tell you what is happening. It gives a range of shots and, despite their grainy nature, the shots of the television for replays is useful. However I did get the impression that Gordon and Parreno were overly conscious about not just making a clever Match of the Day special and thus they did push the art aspect of the film. This is seen in the decision to show replays by filming a TV screen rather than just filming the action in a normal way and playing it back. Likewise blurry footage, fast cuts, the choice of soothing but bland score, the way that the film gets from crowd noise to babbling commentators and the subtitled thoughts of Zidane.

I found this off putting as it seemed forced and seemed to fly in the face of the fact that this was a film (not an installation), had been marketed as a football film and had been built around one of the finest footballers at the time. This is not to say that it is bad because, as an art piece of filming, these parts work well and, in their place, would be create. Just like the football stuff works well and it is only when it mixes with the art stuff that it falls down. So really it is two good projects but the reason it is only so-so is that it doesn't merge them well at all and indeed both aspects take away from one another rather than enhancing the experience.

It is quite dull at times and the lack of clear audience will be an issue. Those coming for the art side will be bored shirtless by some of the "straight" moments where Zidane is just filming making runs off the ball etc, while football fans will be frustrated by some of the filming and the maker's lack of passion for the man's role within the game. Of course having said that, this works the other way as well with, for example, the football crowd enjoying watching Zidane moving, fighting, kicking, failing, winning etc and the art crowd enjoying that aspect. Just a shame that the project could not have delivered consistently in one way (even if that one way encompassed both these factors) rather than making them feel like distinct aims.

Let me start of by saying this isn't a film for people who don't appreciate football. If you don't like football, then this film isn't for you. Yes, it is also an art film with exceptional cinematography, but to fully understand the nature of the film, and the nature and grace of Zinedine Zidane you must at least have some interest in football.

To many, including myself, Zinedine Zidane is the nearest specimen to a perfect footballer ever seen. He has everything needed to play the beautiful game; grace, intelligence, imagination and technique. So a film about the greatest footballer of modern times couldn't go by my unnoticed. The film is far from conventional, and at times completely hypnotic, as Zidane says himself, his memories of matches are fragmented and this could easily apply to this film. It is like a mirage of images, like watching a dream. Although clips of the match on TV keep it within reality, the numerous shots of "Zizou" on the pitch are completely surreal.

To understand this film beyond its cinematography, you must, as I said appreciate football. The subtle touches of the ball; the interaction with his fellow teammates, Raul, Roberto Carlos; the very way he moves around the field could not be significant unless you understand the very nature of Zidane. The film captures the intimate moments of despair and victory and of Zidanes very thoughts. The world and mind of Zidane is brought to the viewer in an empathetic way not seen in most films. For the ninety minutes or so, we shadow Zidane, we are even Zidane.

But despite all this, the film is significantly flawed. I am probably not the first to say at times you feel completely bored, and are tired of Zidane just walking around. You feel this might have been a good idea if they hadn't of chose to show ALL 90 minutes. But they do, and at times it is completely tedious. You eventually ask yourself if you are watching the same clips on a loop, the shots are so repetitive. Granted the "second half" is a lot better, as it is eventful and Zidane comes to life for better and for worse. Though you can't help feel you just wasted 90 minutes of your life.

As a fanatic follower of football, this film just about keeps me interested, so God help anyone who wants to watch this AND is not interested in football.