Just what I expected

Great Film overall

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I can see why people had the criticisms of this film.Reading the title, I think most people expected a clips compilation of his best goals, assists etc. not a moving piece of cinema.I think this was a brave and ultimately rewarding effort to examine the greatest footballer of our generation in a different way and to enable you to make up your own mind rather than a narrator explaining it for you.Darius Khondji's cinematography was mind blowing and any of the shots of the film could have made an amazing photo in it's own right. The sound design was phenomenal and if you have fifty pro logic speakers in your sitting room then you will feel the full force of the Bernabeu and Zidane in a way that watching a football match on television never could.The only thing I can finish with is to say this film must be watched. Mere words can't express the emotions that this film creates.Zidane: A 21st Century Legend.

This is the most affecting, profound piece of documentary film I have seen in years. That said, it is a challenging work that doesn't fully reveal it's power until well into the viewing. As much a meditation as a film, the net effect is similar to that of watching "Winged Migration". Watching the simple, relatively unaffected actions of Zidane over the course of a match begins to work on you. I pondered politics, commercialism, world conflict, fame, economics, the media and more over the course of my first viewing. There is no easy way to encapsulate the overall feeling, the ebbs and tides experienced while watching the film, but afterward you will view the world in as if with new eyes.It is also a masterpiece technically. I couldn't help but admire the precise and exquisite sound design and music, how they blended to the action and psychological state being portrayed to the moment. The cameras seamlessly take the viewer from sprawling, epic points of view to the most intimate. The use of subtitle without voice over narration used to portray Zidane's thoughts is nothing short of revolutionary.This film may disappoint a soccer fan simply seeking a piece of sports entertainment, but for a lover and student of film it is groundbreaking, important work that must be seen.

I saw a screening at the AFI Dallas film festival, and as you can probably guess, this is an experimental movie that people will have highly subjective feelings about.I don't hate soccer, and I enjoy abstract art, but this just didn't work for me. I agree with the earlier comment which said that Zidane's actions on the field had no context and no gravity or importance because we had no idea how they fit in to the rest of the game. Where was he on the field when he dribbled past defenders? Was he making a rush towards the goal, or just relieving pressure from the opposing team? When he sent a pass down the field, who was he passing to? Worst of all, when he is given a red card and thrown out of the game, why did he feel the need to go after the opposing player? It seems like to really appreciate the movie, you have to have a strong working knowledge of Zidane that I don't have and this movie doesn't give you. Without that, it's watch Zidane run, watch Zidane stand around, watch Zidane spit, watch Zidane not say much of anything that we can hear (by the way, how can you spring for 20 cameras and not put a microphone on him too?)And at times, the cinematography is actually too tight on Zidane. In the second half, he makes a fantastic play, rushing up the left side and making a gorgeous cross for a tap-in goal at the right post. But we barely see the result of his great work.To me, this movie is a lot like the short films Andy Warhol made where he would point the camera at a person and let it run for a few minutes while they stared into the lens and did nothing. Some people will find deeper meaning and some will really enjoy it, but many others will find it self-indulgent, dull, and pointless. I wonder how it would work if it were done with another sport where a player has more individual impact. Imagine this movie being tried with basketball, where the cameras focus on Kobe Bryant or Steve Nash or Kevin Garnett for a whole game.At least I made it to the end - one lady a few seats down from me left the theater entirely, went across the street to Borders, bought some books, and then came back.

Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle offers an unusual and surprisingly thoughtful experience, providing a sense of the frustration and isolation of a legendarily talented footballer, but little more.The film begins with a silent first 15 minutes observing Zidane's skill and movement. It feels rather like you're watching the Skysports player-cam and as such, is a little disappointing. Coupled with the initial jumping back to the perspective of a viewer watching at home, then returning back to the high quality camera POV's, it leaves you somewhat restless, as the director tries to create a hyperbole of space and reality. However, you soon become aware of the human ambiance; Zidane's heavy breathing, feet dragging on the grass like a stag before battle, the visceral crunches of hefty challenges; all creating a very tangible texture.In a moment after the referee wrongly gives away a penalty, which the opposition score, Zidane approaches and speaks the words "You should be ashamed". Zidane's tone and presence makes this emphatic condemnation almost papal.There are times in this film when one finds them self checking the time remaining on the DVD player. Whilst being able to appreciate Zidane's awesome touch and effortless ability, the footage is repetitive and too enclosed to really gather a true sense of Zidane's perspective. Those audiences who make it past the 15 minute mark are rewarded when Mogwai's splendid soundtrack kicks in and is complimented by Zidane's subtitled monologue. Here, you really appreciate the fact that they didn't choose an English footballer as their subject. The delicate manner in which french translates, provides a poetic and cinematic syntax. We English are very wasteful with our words and I'm sure if we were hearing David Beckham's thoughts, we would be more spurious at the lack of numerous mentions of "Obviously", "You know" and "fantastic". At half time the film installs context to the game displaying both violently moving images together with trivial incidents apparently going on elsewhere in the world whilst the game takes place. The intriguing suggestion is that the match, tied with fate, is pointless and memorable like all things. In truth, after this point, the film has completed it's goal and as such, drags to the finish. The camera work seems dizzying and whilst the intention is to make the viewer feel Zidane's experience, it ultimately fails. Whilst we empathise with his irritation and patience, we are not rewarded like he is, with the thrill of being on the pitch. There is an absence of space and vision, which, would truly mimic his sensation.Zidane's exit is practically welcome when he is sent off ten minutes before the match finishes, but he leaves with a poetic sense of irony. After a game of fisticuffs, his hot head landing him in trouble like it did at World Cup 2006, we are left with an emotive sense of futility, his sending off - a metaphor for mortality, leaving the pitch to a hero's applause. I think the film could have benefited from more subtitled speech from Zidane and with the extension of the soundtrack lasting from start to finish. But what hampers this film is it's lack of creating the true experience of space and vision in a football game, in truth, the attempt to re-create Zidane's frustration at not receiving the ball on time and having his passes clumsily lost, is overwhelmed by our frustration at the sense of claustrophobia and detachment.