Zidane: un portrait du XXIème siècle

This experimental documentary has received widespread praise, but it does not have much to offer to those looking for an informative portrait of the French soccer player Zinédine Zidane. Led by the excellent cameraman Darius Khondji (Se7en, Delicatessen), seventeen cameras were used to record the hardly memorable match between Real Madrid and Villarealon 23 April 2005.
All seventeen cameras were pointing at Zizou, turning the star player into an objet d’art. In view of the background of the makers – Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno are video artists and not sports reporters – this is no surprise: they are pursuing a portrait tradition from classical painting. There is no analysis of play, there are no interviews. The music by Mogwai occasionally makes way for stadium noise. Intertitles sporadically reveal what is going on in Zidane’s head, revealing his subjective view of what is happening on the field.
The film is both rhythmic and dreamy, both concrete and abstract, and casually reveals the links between the soccer match and the feature film. The play with camera angles sometimes vies with the skill of the soccer icon himself, who disappears suddenly from the field with a red card, just as in his legendary last match. (GT)

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