I haven't seen this film, obviously, but all descriptions of it connect it to "Football As Never Before" an all-but forgotten experimental film by Hellmuth Costard from 1970. Costard's film followed George Best around the field in a game between Manchester United and Coventry in which Best, shall we say, paced himself but still scored an astounding solo goal.

Thanks to the Goethe Institute I saw "Football As Never Before" last Saturday as part of a Football Film Festival in Wellington. It's an astounding film, but only because we saw it 26 years on, allowing Best, the larger-than-life character he became, to inform our viewing of his performance. We glimpse a bigger character because of what we know about his life afterwards.

I look forward to watching the Zidane film in 2036.

The concept of focusing on an individual in the midst of group endeavour is hardly original. In 1970, an underground filmmaker by the name of Helmut Costard pointed eight 16mm cameras at George Best whilst playing for Manchester United against Coventry City. Footage was edited and framed so that other players and the crowd hardly featured. We watch the film today burdened by hindsight. Created when Best was entering into physical and spiritual decline, Fussball wie noch nie (“Football like never before”) is by no means a film for the fan. It highlights the enduring conflict in team sport between the individual and group imperatives and does the protagonist no favours. In a real sense it strips football bare and reveals it to be essentially devoid of the glamour and profundity its most fervent advocates claim for it. It is also a fascinating record of the strange and idiosyncratic game played by probably the greatest individualist football has yet seen. The Zidane film, on the other hand, so much "bigger" in scale and ambition, appears to me to be a pale imitation and much less honest.

"The Zidane film, on the other hand, so much "bigger" in scale and ambition, appears to me to be a pale imitation and much less honest."

Well, obviously, because you do not like football, any film that tries to capture it's beauty is not going to be honest.

when are it coming on dvd??????

John - "obviously because you do not like football..." - a outrageously presumptuous comment, given I work in football and film and still play the game avidly. Please watch both films and gain an understanding of the context - both sporting and cinematic - and the film techniqes used in both before making comments like that. You fail to understand that capturing the "beauty" of football is impossible with this type of film (supposedly verite, supposedly stripping the game bare). Costard was honest about his motivations and aims. The makers of the Zidane film lack the courage of their convictions.