Zidane. Image: saatchi-gallery.co.uk

VoCA says: Nay.

The Dictatorship of the Author

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, a film by the brilliant Scottish artist Douglas Gordon with French artist Phillipe Parreno, is billed as “the greatest football movie ever made.”

That may be, but as an art film…well, see below.

According to the film’s website: “The film was made by training 17 cameras…solely on footballer Zinédine Zidane over the course of a single match between Real Madrid and Villareal.

Zidane himself recounts, in voice-over, what he can and cannot remember from his matches. Magnificently edited…this is…one of the finest studies of man in the workplace, an ode to the loneliness of the athlete and the poise and resilience of the human body.”

Hmm.

Knowing the work of Douglas Gordon, whose 24 Hour Psycho slowed Hitchcock’s film to last twenty four hours, one might expect an intense psychological portrait – a glimpse into the human psyche.

Douglas Gordon, Self-portrait as Kurt Cobain, as Andy Warhol, as Myra Hindley, as Marilyn Monroe, 1996.
Image: wikipedia.org

Instead, viewers sat through 90 minutes of a man isolated on the soccer pitch, with no filmic narrative (admittedly to be expected of contemporary art film) and little narrative of the game itself. Thankfully, we were shown two goals, both of which Zidane assisted on and a glimpse of the 2-1 score of the game.

Furthermore, despite the cameras being supervised by “acclaimed cinematographer Darius Khondji”, the viewer was left on the outside of the experience, like anyone watching the game (the difference being they had a game to watch). As the camera’s focus moved from Zidane’s feet to a full body shot, occasionally zooming to his face, which he would wipe with a sweaty hand, we remained decidedly unmoved.

The seductive, slowed-down, revealing shots that we might expect from Gordon were missing, the shots that might collide with our expectations and result in a new perspective on the game. We were expecting some insight into Zidane’s underlying tension, his intensity. Instead, as viewers we were powerless against the tyranny of the camera.

There is a persuasive argument for this film as a portrait of the player as warrior – isolated within the structure of his football army. Though this was clearly illustrated in the film, we felt it was about 75 minutes too long.

Zidane. Image: unifrance.org

Luckily, Mogwai’s grand, moody soundtrack brought the film into its own, particularly when – about three-quarters in, after we had all but given up – a friendly interchange between Zidane and Brazilian player Ronaldo resulted in a broad smile from the French player – revealing for the first - and only - time, his humanity and extraordinary beauty.