Maradona – Mike Tyson – Michael Jackson

Saw Maradona yesterday.

It is as much a film about Kusturica as it is about Maradona. Or rather it is about the director’s admiration for the footballer, and about his inability to make the film he wants to do about him.

As a documentary, this could be better. There are so many stories, so much of his long career that we did not get to hear about. On the other hand we get sides of him that a normal, more historically and factually complete documentary could not deliver. And there are some great scenes. Emphasis is put on the political and symbolic Maradona. Kusturica shows Diego Armando as a charismatic sport genius and champion of the underdog, as a human being with all his strengths and flaws. In the interviews we find him relaxed, open, honest. That is why he can be redeemed, after all his fuck-ups. He does not lie. He tells the truth. That is one thing that adds to his iconic status.

Just like with the case of Mike Tyson, for example. Another larger-than-life, sport genius underdog unafraid of speaking his mind. The J Man Times is sadly missing from the Internets, but the comparison he made between Mike Tyson and Michael Jackson is still worth reading. Especially these days, with the passing of the very talented and supremely disturbed Jackson. Here is a good starting place for tributes and such for MJ, or you could remember him together with the fine folks over at the NETJERK LOUNGE.

“When Jackson was hosting his infamous slumber parties and looking for some easy action, he would ply his pre-teen partners with a mixture of wine and Coca-Cola, which he would tell them was ‘Jesus Juice’ … let’s all raise a glass of Jesus Juice to the departed ‘King of Plop’.”

“I’m a bit dismayed over Jackson’s passing. The guy spent his life singin’, dancin’, rimming monkeys and children, dwelling in a carnival and peeling his own skin off. That’s entertainment! Am I wrong to find that kind of candy colored train wreck amusing? I would have enjoyed seeing what kind of full blown, batshit, Howard Hughes style lunacy he’d exhibit if he lived to be 90.”