Despite being a football fan I found this movie terrible. At first I thought it might be interesting to watch just one football player during the whole match, but at the end I felt almost like having the longest ninety minutes behind me. My expectations haven't been met as i was awaiting more a documentary analysis of Zidane's skills then an unsuccessful attempt to create an artwork. Of course it is useful for every football fan, either active or passive, to have a chance to view moves, strategy or tackling of such a player from different point of view. But even in that way the contribution is not much bigger than one you could get by watching normal football match. Only two major differences could be found from sitting in front of TV - the technical quality of projection is fantastic and the same are the sound effects. At least using of high-tech NASA technology proved to be worth. I just couldn't help my self from stating, that this technology could have been used for much better purposes.I didn't mean to discourage anybody from watching this "movie", but I still recommend not to...:)

On the 23rd April 2005, 22 men came out onto a rectangle of grass in front of a crowd of tens of thousands. This walk in the park was the league match between Real Madrid and Vilareal, a game that would see three goals, several bookings and three red cards before those involved were allowed to leave the grass.Audience expectation is a terrible thing and I think it is one reason why so many viewers seemed to have similar issues with this film. Zidane etc was sold as a football film built around the concept of watching a master at work. The trailer said as much and I think a lot of people tuned in for that reason. However this is not really what the film is about because it was not really made as a portrait of the football of Zidane but rather of the art of Zidane. What this means is that the film is often quite "arty" in delivery and this actually gets in the way of the football and prevented me enjoying it consistently on this level.At times the footage is great because it doesn't really worry about the football to the degree where all shots are wide and tell you what is happening. It gives a range of shots and, despite their grainy nature, the shots of the television for replays is useful. However I did get the impression that Gordon and Parreno were overly conscious about not just making a clever Match of the Day special and thus they did push the art aspect of the film. This is seen in the decision to show replays by filming a TV screen rather than just filming the action in a normal way and playing it back. Likewise blurry footage, fast cuts, the choice of soothing but bland score, the way that the film gets from crowd noise to babbling commentators and the subtitled thoughts of Zidane.I found this off putting as it seemed forced and seemed to fly in the face of the fact that this was a film (not an installation), had been marketed as a football film and had been built around one of the finest footballers at the time. This is not to say that it is bad because, as an art piece of filming, these parts work well and, in their place, would be create. Just like the football stuff works well and it is only when it mixes with the art stuff that it falls down. So really it is two good projects but the reason it is only so-so is that it doesn't merge them well at all and indeed both aspects take away from one another rather than enhancing the experience.It is quite dull at times and the lack of clear audience will be an issue. Those coming for the art side will be bored shirtless by some of the "straight" moments where Zidane is just filming making runs off the ball etc, while football fans will be frustrated by some of the filming and the maker's lack of passion for the man's role within the game. Of course having said that, this works the other way as well with, for example, the football crowd enjoying watching Zidane moving, fighting, kicking, failing, winning etc and the art crowd enjoying that aspect. Just a shame that the project could not have delivered consistently in one way (even if that one way encompassed both these factors) rather than making them feel like distinct aims.

The guys who made this movie got it so wrong. They actually show Zidane as a tired static player and not the football god he is.Zidane is my idol for many years and what makes him a great player is: 1. his absolute vision of whats going on on the football field 2. His abilities to make the players around him better.Yes, he's got amazing control of the ball and elegant movements that wont put to shame even a ballet dancer. But thats not it. For example, to show the amazing abilities of the conductor Zubin Mehta, you wont film him waving his hands for an hour of a silence movie. You must record his orchestra and show the connection between the conductor's brilliance and its outcome on his "TEAM" of musicians. The same goes to Zidan.It is pretty obvious that the film makers here, do not understand football and what really made Zidane the amazing player he is. They showcase a too long, too static performance, mostly in close ups. Most of the time you don't know where Zidane is located on the pitch, or how does he reacts to the opponents formation or plays.Sorry. Nice try but the results are poor and boring.

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.