Turner Prize-winning artist and filmmaker Douglas Gordon teams up with French artist Philippe Parreno to create a work glorious in its simplicity. Zidane – A 21st Century Portrait was made by training 17 cameras, under the supervision of acclaimed cinematographer Darius Khondji, 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 and accompanied by a majestic score from Scottish rock heroes Mogwai, this is not only the greatest football movie ever made, but also 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.
There will never be another football player like Zidane, someone who plays the game with such an ease and grace. Zidane played the game like it was just so easy for him, spinning away from pressure like it was nothing.
From Wired.com: As the soccer star most famous for head butting a competitor during the World Cup finals, Zinédine Zidane might seem an unlikely subject for the most Zen of Sundance films. But Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, shot with 17 cameras during the course of a 90-minute match, is the most meditative of documentaries — maybe too meditative for American audiences.
Zidane – A 21st Century Portrait Clip
One of the best segments of this Zidane movie. As one person said on YouTube: “Don’t know how you can take any scene of this movie as ‘best’. It is a single piece of art.
From Google Play here’s the description of Zidane – A 21st Century Portrait:
So soon after Zidane was famously dismissed from the 2006 World Cup final for violent conduct, this film is an incredible, stripped-back insight into one of the greatest football players of all time. 2006 Anna Lena Films/Naflastrengir/Love Streams Productions/Arte France Cinema.
