For Euro 2012

Euro 2012

Football fever is set to sweep the country for much the next month with the start of the European Championships, so just in case that isn't enough for you here are my favourite soccer and soccer related films you could try and get hold of.

5. Africa United (2010)

In conjunction with the South African World Cup in 2010, Africa United is a tough and forlorn commentary about the struggles of the continent young. We follow a disparate group of Rwandan children trying to make their way to the world cup 3000 miles away, from their youthful perspective we encounter the troubles which Africa’s future generations face such as HIV, child soldiers, child prostitution, poverty and general social decay. United's strength comes in its ability to resist its morose themes by finding a quality which will uplift the spirits of it audience, made possible by the earnest and charming characters who do not exhort viewer pity for their predicament, but instead a produce a collective positivity that will win you over.

4. Kicking & Screaming (2005)

The sight of over exuberant parents bellowing instructions from the bleachers at their children; participating in sporting events will be familiar to many. Kicking & Screaming starring the love him or loathe him entity that is Will Ferrell actually has something interesting to say on this subject. Ferrell plays the coach of  his sons lowly soccer team who has lived his life in the shadows of a father (and opposing coach Robert Duval) who’s thirst for achievement and  sporting excellence through his childhood have left him inwardly scared.  The pair take up a bet when their teams are scheduled to do battle on the field but this leads to an amusing process of enlightenment as they discover that mixing competitive and parental juices can come at a cost.  

3. Offside (2006)

Those who regularly attend football matches will know that the presence of female fans in the football stadium has become common place, however Iranian Film maker Jafar Panahi in this wonderfully little film goes someway to expose the plight of female soccer fanatics In Iran. Set in the capital Tehran which is to host a crucial World Cup qualifying International, we observe a handful of woman's individual attempts to break into the match under the veneer of quirky disguises and forced to engage in all forms of chicanery to avoid capture from the authorities for forbid  their attendance. Despite the comedic elements of the dialogue, the film as with much Iranian cinema tells a serious story of sexual inequality, social boundaries and the discontent each breed within eastern cultures.    

2. ID (1995)

Football hooliganism has long been thought of as a diseased organ within the body of Britain’s obsession with the beautiful game, with ties to organised crime and highly visible displays of violence warranting past government interventions. ID utilises a truly immersive narrative arc in bringing this to screen, we observe John an undercover Policeman assigned to infiltrate a notorious gang of football thugs. However John’s moral obligations and psyche dissolve on screen as his assignment turns to an addiction to the adulation and self-gratification of his newfound thuggish proclivities. The film could be said to be satirical in its approach, pointing out how substance abuse, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, misogyny and far right extremism are all complicit values in the make-up of Hooliganism. 

1. Escape To Victory  (1981)

Set in a Nazi POW camp a group of imprisoned Allied forces accept an invitation to partake in a football match against a team of Germans hosted in paris. Both sides harbour ulterior ambitions for the match, the prisoners plot an escape whilst the Germans strive for the fixture to be an exercise in propagandistic humiliation of the enemy. Over 30 years on and Escape to Victory is still soccer’s most treasured contribution to cinema, with a team chemistry born of big screen fire power (Stallone, Cain ,Von Sydow) who tackle the narrative and dialogue to great effect, whilst the use of genuine footballing legends (Pele, Moore, Ardiles) create the spectacle of the beautiful game which is stunningly captured for the final set piece.