The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is one of the biggest events of the year. In addition, it is the perfect place to celebrate the importance of football. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy a showcase of the best players and a great time to celebrate football in the cinema.
The World Cup in Qatar on this scale reminds us of the importance of football. An experience that goes beyond the courts and becomes a lifestyle in itself. An idea that the movie has reflected in dozens of different ways and through all sorts of characters. From honoring the fans to exploring the phenomenon of a sport that can generate extraordinary enthusiasm. Football in the movies proved to be just as attractive as its version on the football field.
We leave you five recommendations to enjoy the World Cup through cinema. From the stories of historical athletes to the dreams of athletes who only want to score the great game-winning goal. A whole journey through an unusual setting, which at the moment one way or another unites the whole world.
I want to be like Beckham
Jess (Parminder Nagra) wants to be a football player. She wants him more than anything, despite having a very traditional family and the fact that she has to deal with all sorts of prejudice. But on the field and with the ball between the legs, any sacrifice makes sense. Much more if he has an example and a goal to emulate his idol, player David Beckham. A metaphor that transcends the pursuit of the unattainable is a theme that the film tackles with ingenuity.
A landmark of football in cinema, this charming fable is about self-improvement, the will and, of course, the love of football – an enthusiastic look at the sport. But at the same time, this reflection on the value of talent and finding one’s own path, even through difficult terrain, is increasingly difficult to imagine.
The script is also a happy combination of family expectations and the journey to the destination as a very personal experience. All thanks to the perception of football as a meeting place for big, important and deep ideals. Like any self-respecting story of transit and growth, I want to be like Beckham it also analyzes the perception of identity. The one that transforms from a dream and the one that is built with effort. A whole ode to the ideal hope to enjoy in the midst of a great world royal sport event.
Great fun fact? Yes, the great idol of English football appears for a couple of minutes in front of the camera in a very brief and curious cameo for history.
looking for Eric
Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) is going through one of the worst moments of his life. His wife left him, and he has to deal with the upbringing of two adopted children. As if that wasn’t enough, he had the uneasy feeling that he was about to lose everything he thought was valuable in his life. So much so that he even begins to wonder if it is worth continuing in the midst of such a disaster.
But Eric has one moment of peace. One that goes beyond his experience and, in particular, is associated with something more thoughtful, deep and sincere. Behind all the troubles, pain and discomfort, football is the perfect place to soothe. For the character, the world stops as soon as the ball starts rolling and the field fills up with the big draws he’s obsessed with. It is then that pain, suffering and hopelessness are transformed into a new form of deep joy.
Ken Loach’s film manages to turn all the excitement of football into an isolated place in the midst of everyday chaos. Much more to build a metaphor for the power of sports as a means of healing emotional and spiritual wounds. The argument is a careful vision of collective phenomena as forms of connection with deeply meaningful private spaces. Gradually and always thanks to football, Eric manages to rediscover his place in the world and soothe his pain.
But beyond that, the understanding that sport can be as much a form of comfort as any other. For all its emotional charge and well-planned setting, the film is much more than a sentimental odyssey about the meaning of sports. In addition, it is a symbol of the power of hope. All, of course, through the symbol of the ball, which crosses the radiant and noisy field.
Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo has arguably become one of the most important figures in the history of football. Anthony Wonke’s documentary does more than just analyze the reason for this off-field and on-field significance. And also how the player changed the history of football with the power of his talent. Taking a close look at his career, the film analyzes his impact on such a competitive layer as high-level players.
The feature film also uses the figure of Ronaldo as a way to explore the inner circle of great football stars. Turned into idols of considerable fame, tThey are also symbols of the celebrity’s strange understanding.. Something that Wonka’s production scrutinizes and manages to show in a whole new way. It’s not just about Ronaldo as a member of some of the best teams in a privileged position in football. At the same time, the documentary is a dizzying journey through all sorts of ideas about sports as a reflection of the identity of fame and other interesting topics.
But in the end Ronaldo – a tribute to football as a phenomenon. One that, moreover, is built around a figure that currently has a mythical stature. Meanwhile, this is a version of the power of sport in the modern world, as well as its great importance for the future.
hooligans
What would football be like without fans? This is the question that Lexi Alexander’s film asks and that answers several different layers. When Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is kicked out of Harvard and must start his life over, London seems like the right place to do it. But once there, he discovers that the streets of the city hold a curious secret. His total and sometimes chaotic devotion to football.
The film shows from a clever and well-posed point of view how the love of the beautiful game is part of English culture. Moreover, he does so without making moral judgments or, at best, without showing his most difficult sides. Actually, everything in the film is a celebration of football as an experience as well as a way of life. Gradually, Matt begins to understand how intricately football is intertwined with life in England. A point of view that will allow you to not only understand the importance of sport from a new perspective, but also its meaning in British culture.
Between thrilling games in which fans are the epitome of a sports odyssey, the film shines with good intentions. At the same time, in its ability to show all that sport has to offer to the very culture of the country. A whole crazy journey through a deep idea and most of the time fascinating, about football as a collective phenomenon.
Guol! Movie
Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker) has a dream – to play football. This is the hope that has accompanied him since childhood and, it seems, has finally come true. For the Mexican chef from Los Angeles, this journey can be both triumph and disappointment.
But for Santiago, the risk is unavoidable, so he embarks on a long journey that will take him beyond just fulfilling his lifelong dream. Also to celebrate the lifestyle you’ve dreamed of since childhood. Target! Impossible dream is a well-constructed study of the value of hope. Also building a version of good and evil, like a journey into the deeper places of the human spirit. For the character, football is an opportunity to completely change his life. But also to find a more authentic version of all his aspirations. Probably the most touching moment in the film.
Football bonus track on screens
Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) only got into American football when he was hired to coach AFC Richmond in the English Premier League. But Ted accepted the challenge, hoping that sport, after all, was the same language. Which, of course, leads to all sorts of wacky and touching situations that have made the Apple TV+ series unprecedented.
The story of the sweetest, most generous and charismatic loser on television has reached an unprecedented level of quality since the first season. But it was his second game that showed that his success was more than a coincidence. One of the greatest comedies of the decade it is a mischievous, bold and emotional look at the great issues of our time. But also an inspiring version of the world of sport as a form of hope, a triumph of will and sensitivity.
Of course, Ted Lasso knows that the secret to his success lies in his ability to reinvent himself. He did this in every season, and also in a deep vision of the possibility of success in the midst of unforeseen situations. The series is, after all, a great tribute to the spirit of football as a way of understanding a type of collective solidarity that has deep value. Perhaps the secret to his success.
