Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

Don’t miss your chance to see one of the most highly acclaimed films of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival 'ZIDANE: A 21st CENTURY PORTRAIT' at Rialto Cinema Wednesday 9 May. This sensational cinematic portrait of the world-famous French footballer Zinédine Zidane was filmed during a Real Madrid vs. Villareal match, though the focus is not the ball – 17 synchronised cameras are directed solely on Zidane.

'ZIDANE: A 21st CENTURY PORTRAIT' offers a different approach to the sports film, creating a real time portrait and a far reaching, in-depth film, focusing on one of the greatest soccer players of the century. In an enveloping, epic, singular cinematic experience it presents a reflective, meditative, hypnotic work; an extraordinary portrait of an activity and an individual.

Zidane is stoic, impassive, sweating rivers, trudging, moving into position, laying off the ball, moving from one position to another. He is shown in motion and in stillness, close-up and at a distance, in front of a vast crowd and surrounded by players, in the strangest and most public form of isolation. Subtitles provide reflections from Zidane's perspective: and the soundtrack varies considerably in volume and impact, encompassing crowd noise, ambient sound from the pitch, spurts of commentary, the rasp of breathing, and reflective music from the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. In this film, the viewers are plunged into all facets of the universe, the psychology and the body of an athlete in action- an incomparable and breathtaking experience.

Half-time footage shows a selection of world events from that day, but it's an unsettling distraction from the image of Zidane. There's a sudden, dramatic conclusion to the match for him, and it's as much of a puzzle as anything else that we see: despite the continual focus and the relentless observation he remains, to the last, a mystery. 'ZIDANE: A 21st CENTURY PORTRAIT' is a footballer and football as you’ve never seen it before.

“The most purely enjoyable event at the Cannes Film Festival.By the end, Zidane has achieved the charisma and mystery of the hero from some lost Shakespeare play".
- Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN

"A remarkable new film…a unique portrait of the French footballing icon…picturing the subject with all the detail, poise and human compassion of a Velasquez or a Degas…a work that pierces the soul of the human condition…"
- Jason Solomons, THE OBSERVER

"The most striking film of the whole 13 days…mesmeric, enveloping, a multifaceted portrait that goes way beyond mere football…Immediate yet somehow haunting, it's one of the year's essential cinema experiences".
- Trevor Johnston, TIME OUT

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