Here is Kusturica's newest endeavor,"Maradona By Kusturica". A film not about the phenom on the pitch but about the "revolutionary" or "sex pistol of fitba" as Kusturica calls him. Kusturica attempts but fails horribly at making a political, sociological, cultural and sporting document on Maradona. Instead the film turns into an hour and a half of Maradona's and Kusturica's non-coherent political views. Full of anti-NATO, anti Imperialist, stick it to the west ramblings that have no depth.
The film in short is not an homage to Fitba or one of its greatest products and this is apparent in the first shot of the film. It's not one of Maradona's silky ball skills, but of Kusturica himself playing the guitar. Kusturica has his own band which uses this film to sell itself. Not only that, Kusturica's inflated appreciation of his own cinematic work is all over this film. He saturates the documentary with clips from his own movies and the sounds of his band to tell the story of Maradona. It just simply doesn't work and both don't sync, making the outcome be a clash of egos throughout the documentary. There is no insight on the Maradona everyone cares for. It doesn't analyze or seek the meaning of Maradona to Argentina, Boca, Napoli, Fitba, or the world. There is no mention of Maradona's connection to the Mafia, his turbulent time in Barcelona, or his love/hate relationship with FIFA and the AFA. His doping is not discussed in depth and all you hear is Maradona complaining about being the only one caught using banned substances. There is no analytical study of "The Church of Maradona" instead Kuturica uses them as a cheap joke/segway to his film segments.
Those of us looking for a biography of Maradona's life and fitba career should seek out his autobiography "Yo Soy El Diego" which is used as a bible by the Church of Maradona. Those of us looking for a documentary should seek something from Errol Morris, Resnais, or even Herzog. That was my appreciation of the film, here it is so you can enjoy it.
(Documentary-90 min /In English and Spanish- NO subtitles)
file size 697.17 MB
MARADONA BY KUSTURICA
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