Cannes ‘08: ‘Maradona by Kusturica’ a tale of soccer fans’ obsession

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Cannes 2008 is turning into a bad-boys convention. First was the collaboration between Mike Tyson and James Toback and, now, ‘Maradona by Kusturica,’ a fan’s-notes film about the great Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona by the two-time Palme d’Or-winning Serbian director Emir Kusturica.

Soccer is the link between these two men, a fact they emphasized by kicking a ball around for the international press on Tuesday. The most memorable parts of Kusturica’s film include vintage clips of some of Maradona’s astonishing goals, which leads the director to call him ‘the Sex Pistol of international football.’

Maradona also turns out to be politically active in a extreme way. He doesn’t hesitate when calling President Bush ‘that piece of human garbage,’ and he not only has an image of Che tattooed on his arm, but he also has one of Fidel on his calf.

Aside from amazing soccer goals, the most interesting aspect of this film is its glimpse into the intensity of the admiration Maradona inspires.

We see huge crowds on the streets of Naples, a city he played for, go mad with pleasure when he appears. And we hear about the Church of Maradona, a religious organization dedicated to worshipping the man. We also get a look inside what the press notes describe as ‘the legendary Cocodrilo, a lap-dancing bordello sponsored by the Maradonian Church.’

You heard it first here.

-- Kenneth Turan