Monday, February 4, 2008

Zidane by Douglas Gordon


Vexed by the sound engineering and shots in this film, art, art film?, the music editing is phenomenal. Composed by Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, it was the most dynamic sound experience I've ever had from a sound system. Imagine if sound were 3 dimensional. It's even better as sounds are vibrations which penetrate our bodies, so it was completely visceral not only for the ears but for the body ear. The visual component of the film was just as complex showing the intimacy of the soccer players using closeups juxtaposed with long shots of stadium goers from a pigeon's perspective the range of camera works was impressive and immersive. Cameo's by Beckham, this is the Spanish team that seduced him away from Manchester United, and of course following Zidane, fans will be happy. As someone who had no idea who the soccer player was and more interested in the work by the artist, I'd say it was more a work that expanded my vocabulary for the possibilities for film, soundtracks and risk taking in documentary filmmaking. Harmony Korine gets sported. Beware the real futbol fans going to see this, young, loud, and by the family droves it was cool to kind of see fans come out for this but they do heckle, burp and distract from the peanut gallery. I guess it just made the experience more real. Thanks again to Joel at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He's never disappointed as an informed and current curator in San Francisco.