Documentary about the celebrated footballer Diego Maradona. Featuring never-before-seen archive footage and home movies, the film focuses on Maradona's time with Napoli between 1984 and 1991, covering everything from triumph at 1986's World Cup to the scandals that rocked his career.
Football fans love a grudge. But even those still smarting from the “Hand of God” goal, which slapped England out of the 1986 World Cup, will find a reservoir of sympathy for Maradona after this stylised portrait by Senna director Asif Kapadia.
The film focuses on the player’s time at Napoli between 1984 and 1991, and his deterioration from wide-eyed, fresh-faced Diego to bloated, cocaine-fuelled Maradona. The pivotal point comes not, as expected, with Argentina’s 1986 World Cup victory, but with Napoli’s league title win – and the ensuing hounding he got from the crass Italian sports media.
His former mentor, Fernando, offers a profound assessment of this metamorphosis, saying “With Diego I would walk to the end of the world. With Maradona I wouldn’t take a step.”
Just one plea to sports-documentary makers: could we have some wider shots of the action? All those close-ups make it hard to see what’s going on.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Diego Maradona | Diego Maradona |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Asif Kapadia |
