Cinema Wednesdays - Melisa Oriol
Asif Kapadia, best known for his documentaries devoted to world personalities such as Senna (2010) and Amy (2015), was unfortunately no match for the famous Diego Maradona this time around.
Expectations are high, given that this is not the director's first attempt. Documentaries are an opportunity to deepen our knowledge, all the more so if they recount the lives of international and intergenerational figures. What will we learn about the life of a celebrity that the media haven't already told us?
After the ninetieth minute, it was hard to believe still
Well, in the case of Diego Maradona... nothing. The child of Argentina's favelas, elevated to Godlike status by the Italian population, remains the elusive figure of a man tortured by secrets. From his drug problems and his relationship with the Camorra to his disowning of his son, there's nothing new under the sun!
The anticipation is all the greater when we discover that Maradona himself comments on part of the documentary. But no revelation is ever made; no knowing comment or anecdote, until the very end of the documentary. What a disappointment! This man on a pedestal will remain elusive.
Me, Myself and I
The alternating commentary with Diego Maradona poses a few problems. A documentary should be as objective as possible. Once again, it fails! How can you keep a critical eye on someone when they're telling their own story? The director's point of view and stance on the footballer deserve a little more nuance.
Asif Kapadia admires his subject, and it shows. Every weakness or bad decision Maradona makes is shown in a way that victimizes him, not blames him. To further accentuate this effect, dramatic music punctuates the majority of sequences showing Maradona as vulnerable. Even with all this theatricality, the film fails to move viewers.
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The documentary consists almost entirely of archive photographs and videos. It would have been nice to see Maradona as he is today, rather than a succession of archives, some of which are duplicated. All of which leaves the viewer on the sidelines. Between image manipulation and dramatization, there's no doubt about it, Diego Maradona is a documentary that should not pass the qualification test.
Write to the author: melisa.oriol@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © DCM Films
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