Tigers

I've seen several movies about football or soccer and this one is definitely the best so far. Because it focuses mainly on the backstage of the players' lives, making it interesting even for those who don't like this sport.

"Based on true events", reads an opening title card. At 16, Swedish teenager Martin Bergtsson saw his dreams of becoming a professional footballer fulfilled when he was "purchased" for the Inter team from Italy. At 19, he was already out of the business by choice, after witnessing the ins and outs of a professional soccer team and suffering from depression. Accustomed to keeping a diary of notes of various kinds, for which he was even questioned by one of the coaches of the team, all that material took the form of a book and Bergtsson published «In the shadow of San Siro» at the age of 21, on which «Trigar» is based.

These are the brief details of a very simple and punctual story about a "football adventure", which will open the eyes of those who want to open them a little, about the world of professional sports, whatever the sport, determined by supply and demand. With a handful of key characters played by a young cast and directed by a young Swedish filmmaker, the film works very well both as a diversion and as an eye-opening biography of how the "entertainment industry" can kill noble and sensitive spirits like Bengtsson's - who, to cap it all, was born under the Pisces sun, which made him more vulnerable to everything he experienced; a transition witnessed by his girlfriend, a beautiful model; his African-American friend, his only pal in the team; the Italian owner of the team, two or three key players and a mother more lucid than the Virgin of Lourdes with the little shepherds included...

In a modern version of slavery, as seamstresses who live like prisoners in a Chinese textile factory where they work, these young men are subject to the business machinations of their owners and the cruel rivalry of their peers. Soccer has been "deprecated" as nonsense for a public that shouts "Goal!", with closed eyes ignoring the events behind every game. And do not take me wrong: it is nothing against sport itself. It is about this phenomenon that they have turned it into, that stupefies us every time there is a game or a world championship, that has nothing to do with the ancient Olympic glories of ancient civilizations, such as the Greek or the Mayan. Recommended by someone who doesn't lose sleep over football.

There is something really quite unnerving about this drama. It adopts a fly-on-the-wall approach to depict the brief time Martin Bengtsson spent at Inter Milan in 2004. He was a skinny, determined, 16 year old bought by this legendary football club where, upon arrival, he struggled pretty much from the start of his short-lived flirtation with top flight football. Erik Enge is really very good in the role. His desire to succeed and to sacrifice whatever is needed to achieve that, is palpably delivered as the film gradually exposes us to a culture in which success is everything. Not speaking Italian doesn't help the young Swede, nor does his own lack of maturity - but it is soon pretty clear that this kind of training atmosphere is not designed to foster any sort of team spirit. It is very much dog eat dog - failure means sale or worse. Luckily, he makes friends with "Ryan" (Alfred Enoch) who speaks English, helps him find his way, buy his first car (even if he is too young to drive) and to see a bit of the nightlife where he meets model "Vibeke" (Frida Gustavsson). His bosses take a dim view of this liaison and coupled with the alienation and pressures he is constantly subjected to, we are soon aware that his mental health is just as precarious as his physical one. This film aims fairly and squarely at an industry - and that is, I think, entertainment in general, not just soccer - that values success at all costs. People are just as much a product as if they were in a jar on a shelf. The challenges he faces are immense but so are the rewards, and those who facilitate - rather than deliver themselves, are benignly ruthless and seriously risk averse. Bengtsson was a boy in a man's world. Lonely, isolated and treated little better than a performing chimpanzee. The film itself is actually not that great. The production is quite basic and the POV style of photography did start to annoy me after a while, but the underlying messages of a desperation to thrive subsuming everything, and of an industry that cares little of any "duty of care" to those it attracts makes for a compelling, at times quite tough, film to watch.

An actual good story about how something you'd think is your dream actually becomes a nightmare. Imo all the actors are recent, but the actor who plays martin bengtsson to me really stands out. His emotions are clear to see just looking at his eyes. My main problem with this movie however is that it isn't historically correct. The story takes place in the early 2000's. But the movie is modern witch throws you off a bit. Nevertheless it is still one of the better swedish movies ive seen.