Diego Maradona

This is a great film, very much in the vein of Senna but with a very different story to tell. The film focuses on Maradona's time at Napoli and the highs and lows of that part of his career and life. It really gives great context to the man, what he achieved on the pitch and what he went through off it. Every football fan should watch this, to remind older ones of his genius and show younger fans what it was like to be a creative player when pitches were poor and tackling was X rated!

I first heard of Diego Maradona after Argentina won the 1978 World Cup. There was a lot of talk of some 17 year old youth in Argentina who was destined to become the best player in the world. Asif Kapadia's documentary charts the rise and fall of Maradona from the slums of Argentina to his uncertain couple of years in Barcelona. Injuries meant he failed to set the footballing world alight. However his move to Napoli to the south of Italy, to a team that did not rank among the Italian giants of football. Maradona became a talisman. His passion and skills took them to two league titles and a UEFA cup win. It is here the documentary portrays a man who could lift not only his team but an entire national side. For the Argentinian national side. Maradona was both hero and villain as they won the 1986 World Cup. His 'Hand of God' goal against England marked him out as a cheat. Although you have to wonder what was the referee and the two linesmen were looking at. His second goal was pure artistry, even England midfielder Peter Reid could do nothing but gently jog behind him and watch! After that Maradona was part of the sporting elite. He mixed with the wealthy as well as the infamous crime gangs of Napoli. Those criminals provided him with cocaine and protection. It might had been an open secret in Napoli of Maradona's partying lifestyle but he passed every drug test. After the 1990 World Cup held in Italy, when Argentina knocked Italy out. The Italians were less forgiving. Even the locals in Napoli turned on him. He failed a drugs test and Maradona knew his life was over in Italian football. Kapadia's documentary has plenty of archive footage with interviews from Maradona, his ex wife, his personal trainer. His ex wife seems to have little of substance to say about his extramarital affairs and his illegitimate son. There was a greater focus on his Napoli years. The turbulent time in Barcelona was skimped over. Also nothing of Maradona in the 1994 World Cup where he failed another drug test. The documentary ends with a bloated Maradona in 2005 giving a television interview, brought down by years of drugs and alcohol abuse. Kapadia wanted to show a man always fighting the system with whatever means. Fair or foul.