As in earlier years, a talent spotter and head hunter working for a Belgian football club has travelled to black Africa. He is looking for at least one young promise who might become a new "black pearl". After some mishaps he succeeds in finding a suitable, well, a somewhat suitable candidate...
"The zebra's stripes" deals with a form of neo-colonialism : Europe's football clubs searching for young talent in Africa and/or doing a trade in young players from Africa. The least one can say is that the system is characterized by an imbalance in money and power. Unsurprisingly, the human fall-out is considerable. As a rough estimate, I'd say that for each African football player who makes it big in Europe, there are a hundred African football players earning a modest fee and a thousand African football players living on the margins of society, freezing their beautifully muscled ... off in cold and rainy countries which, from a cultural difference viewpoint, might just as well lie somewhere on the planet Jupiter.
Moreover, a lot of these activities are related to various forms of crime, such as bribery, match-fixing, illegal immigration, trade in human beings, etc etc etc. What makes this even worse, is the fact that many of the young football players are very very young indeed. This means they've got "Victim" written all over them.
"The zebra's stripes" shows considerable bravery in tackling the subject, warts and all. It also boasts interesting settings and fine performances, especially by Benoît Poelvoorde. Poelvoorde, who is a fine actor, impresses as a flawed (a very flawed) anti-hero who navigates a morally bankrupt environment while trying to hang on to some tattered shreds of decency.
The movie, however, could have been better. The story and screenplay could have used a final reworking : as it now stands, they lack rhythm, focus and closure.
By the way, do not expect the movie to leave you with a great big smile on your face... The outcome is tragic.
"The zebra's stripes" deals with a form of neo-colonialism : Europe's football clubs searching for young talent in Africa and/or doing a trade in young players from Africa. The least one can say is that the system is characterized by an imbalance in money and power. Unsurprisingly, the human fall-out is considerable. As a rough estimate, I'd say that for each African football player who makes it big in Europe, there are a hundred African football players earning a modest fee and a thousand African football players living on the margins of society, freezing their beautifully muscled ... off in cold and rainy countries which, from a cultural difference viewpoint, might just as well lie somewhere on the planet Jupiter.
Moreover, a lot of these activities are related to various forms of crime, such as bribery, match-fixing, illegal immigration, trade in human beings, etc etc etc. What makes this even worse, is the fact that many of the young football players are very very young indeed. This means they've got "Victim" written all over them.
"The zebra's stripes" shows considerable bravery in tackling the subject, warts and all. It also boasts interesting settings and fine performances, especially by Benoît Poelvoorde. Poelvoorde, who is a fine actor, impresses as a flawed (a very flawed) anti-hero who navigates a morally bankrupt environment while trying to hang on to some tattered shreds of decency.
The movie, however, could have been better. The story and screenplay could have used a final reworking : as it now stands, they lack rhythm, focus and closure.
By the way, do not expect the movie to leave you with a great big smile on your face... The outcome is tragic.
