Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci
«In tennis, the important thing is how you win.»
Björn Borg is the tennis superstar. Having won four Wimbledons in a row, he is now aiming for his fifth. The pressure on him is such that the naturally impassive tennis player begins to doubt himself, to the point of suffering physical anguish and questioning his entire career as a champion. Opposite him is the untimely but no less talented John McEnroe. The two gods of short, The two teams met in the final of the prestigious tournament on July 5, 1980.
Janus Metz Pedersen succeeds in making his film accessible to all tennis outsiders. It's true that enthusiasts will find the film more to their liking, but the story is almost a pretext for the sport. It's mainly about two men's quest for glory. And the light-hearted script, punctuated by powerful sentences, lets this shine through. Its construction, with its many analepses on the respective youths of Borg and McEnroe, further accentuates the story.
The shots, meanwhile, are punctuated by the sound of the ball hitting racket and ground. The full low angle on the short gives the staging an added dimension of confinement. It's as if each player's fate was sealed by the outcome. Finally, all these elements combine to give the screen a gripping, accurate portrayal of the decisive confrontation between two seemingly opposite men.
«Promise me you'll never show another fucking emotion again.»
Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © zickma.fr
French 
German 
English