"Tom Meets Zizou: Kein Sommermärchen" is a German film that is also mostly in the German language and this one was released back in 2011, so it had its 5th anniversary last year. The writer and director is sports commentator Aljoscha Pause and this is in my opinion the better of his (so far) 2 filmmaking efforts. At comfortably over 2 hours it is on the same level of duration as his film focusing on football/soccer coaches that I was not too big on to be honest. But while that one is not too specific, but focuses on an entire profession to some extent, this one here is the exact opposite as it is just about one man: player Thomas Broich. Early on I thought they reenacted certain situations of his life and career for interviews, but now I know this is not the case as this one was indeed filmed over many years, so almost a bit of a Boyhood approach as every time something significant was happening, we hear a statement from Broich about what is going on exactly. Frequently, it wasn't anything positive, but another explanation and elaboration on why he is not getting along with his coach (anymore). And that makes it far more interesting than if they had done all the interviews with him back in 2010 or 2011. The closeness in time adds a lot.
I also think that Broich was a good choice for this film as we had no idea where his career may be heading. There was definitely also an option for him to have a career like Schweinsteiger for example. But that he didn't does not take anything away from the film, on the contrary actually, it adds depth in terms of negative developments that make you think. And on another note, I also think that Broich was a good choice because he is intelligent (unlike Schweinsteiger) and really has something to say. This is not packed with pointless phrases, but actually with a young man telling the interesting story of his life and career. And Pause also managed the right mixture of interviews with Broich and interviews with everybody else. It's not too much or too little for either and the editing (a crucial component here) with some scenes from football games looked competent too. The result is that despite the massive runtime, this is a documentary that never drags and pretty much succeeds from start to finish. It's close to a must-see for everybody who loves football here in Germany. And the fact that these over 120 minutes also connect on an emotional level is proved by the fact that you genuinely care for his team winning the championship at the very end. No better happy ends than those brought to us by reality. A rocky road that eventually turns into a success story Down Under. Who'd have guessed. Don't miss out on this one, I give it a thumbs-up. And I give me a thumbs-down for not remembering (the greatness of) Zizou.
I also think that Broich was a good choice for this film as we had no idea where his career may be heading. There was definitely also an option for him to have a career like Schweinsteiger for example. But that he didn't does not take anything away from the film, on the contrary actually, it adds depth in terms of negative developments that make you think. And on another note, I also think that Broich was a good choice because he is intelligent (unlike Schweinsteiger) and really has something to say. This is not packed with pointless phrases, but actually with a young man telling the interesting story of his life and career. And Pause also managed the right mixture of interviews with Broich and interviews with everybody else. It's not too much or too little for either and the editing (a crucial component here) with some scenes from football games looked competent too. The result is that despite the massive runtime, this is a documentary that never drags and pretty much succeeds from start to finish. It's close to a must-see for everybody who loves football here in Germany. And the fact that these over 120 minutes also connect on an emotional level is proved by the fact that you genuinely care for his team winning the championship at the very end. No better happy ends than those brought to us by reality. A rocky road that eventually turns into a success story Down Under. Who'd have guessed. Don't miss out on this one, I give it a thumbs-up. And I give me a thumbs-down for not remembering (the greatness of) Zizou.
