Two moving stories that go beyond football

‘Diego Maradona’ and ‘The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel’ are two films with a common thread: the protagonists. Maradona and Tony Powell have complex personalities, heavily shaped by their respective environments, and both face personal dramas that go far beyond football.

The public profiles of these two figures could not be more different. Whilst ‘Pelusa’ is a football star and a demigod in Naples and Argentina, Tony Powell, a former Norwich City player, lives in complete anonymity in a LGBTQ neighbourhood in West Hollywood. However, the personal ordeal suffered by both men as a result of their lives and their own mistakes is quite similar.
 

Asif Kapadia’s ‘Diego Maradona’

Asif Kapadia draws on 500 hours of previously unseen footage to tell the story of one of the greatest players in football history. And he faces a challenge: to work with all that material in such a way that the final result follows a structure. It is not simply a matter of stringing the pieces together, but of weaving them into a coherent narrative.

Asif Kapia’s work is masterful. It is no coincidence that the film is called ‘Diego Maradona’, rather than simply ‘Maradona’ or ‘Diego Armando Maradona’. The key to the narrative lies in distinguishing between Diego, the human being, and Maradona, the demigod.

Maradona’s fabulous sporting and personal achievements pitted against the darkness of drugs and self-destruction into which Diego eventually sank is a deeply moving contrast.

How can someone who reached such heights as a footballer end up in such an abyss? And it is in this contrast that the human and societal concerns reflected in the films usually screened by Thinking Football come to the fore.

What is the true power of football? Are we aware of its influence? Is it always a constructive force, or can it also be destructive? Does football make people and societies better, or does it make them worse?
 

Nicholas Freeman’s and Ramiel Petros’ Tony Powell

Nicholas Freeman and Ramiel Petros, directors of ‘The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel’, start from a position that is the opposite of Kapadia’s: the true story isn’t known when the filming begins.

In fact, as Ramiel Petros – who was present at the screening – remarked, at the start of the project they didn’t even know that Tony Powell had been a professional footballer. In this respect, the directors achieve a very effective result: the exploration of past events shape the narrative on the go.

The viewer witnesses, alongside the directors, the character’s transformation in real time. He goes from being the retired manager of a West Hollywood motel to a former Norwich City footballer who has made a clean break with his past.

He goes from being an alcoholic who cannot even remember the names of his own daughters to a good man striving to redeem himself and also to forgive himself.

And this deeply human transformation, set against a backdrop of widespread homophobia, is told with infinite sensitivity, with every shot and every sequence carefully crafted.

At times, the camera pulls back to remind the viewer that they are witnessing a genuine and intimate drama, whilst at other times it zooms in, laying bare the protagonist’s contradictions and vulnerability in all its raw honesty.

In short, two moving portraits that go beyond the surface – just how Thinking Football likes it, and just as the Athletic Club Foundation likes it – because football is everything even when not everything is football.
 

Thursday 12: “Tony Cascarino: ‘Extra Time’ (18:00) and ‘Kutte’ + ‘360 Pieces’ (20:00)

The third day of Thinking Football begins on Thursday at 18:00 with ‘Tony Cascarino: Extra Time’, a documentary directed by Sean Casey that traces the extraordinary career of former Irish international Tony Cascarino, from his early days as a barber’s apprentice to becoming one of his country’s greatest footballers.

Tony Cascarino and Sean Casey will be at the Sala BBK and will take part in the post-screening discussion.

Afterwards, at 20:00, there will be a special session featuring the short film “Kutte” and the feature film “360 Pieces”. The former takes a humorous look at football fan culture through a unique road trip, whilst the latter offers an original reflection on memory, the passage of time and human connections, based on an old football photograph.

Tickets are free, but must be reserved online HERE