Search - Maradona La Mano De Dios (1) (Full Sub Dol Chk) on DVD

Follows the basic life story of Maradona

Tom Plum | Roswell, NM United States | 12/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having read Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona, Soccer's Fallen Star, a book by Jimmy Burns with the same name as this movie, I looked hard at the credits to see if this movie was based on this book but did not find evidence of it. The phrase "hand of God" after all, is virtually, synonymous with Diego Maradona. However, I will say, much of the basic storyline does follow the book and possibly El Diego: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Footballer also. So if you like this movie, I suggest one might enjoy these books. The Jimmy Burns book I believe is not looked upon as favorable towards Maradona by many but none the less, a lot of that book is in the movie. The Burns book is important because information on Maradona in the English language is probably somewhat limited. Burns being part Spanish and a fluent speaker and also being a big fan of Barcelona who Maradona played for ably tells us of much of what we might not otherwise know.

As so many biographical pieces, this movie starts a bit slow in discussing the life of Maradona as a developing soccer player in laying the foundation for the movie but it is worth the short wait for the soccer fan when the movie delves into the life of the Maradona we are familiar with and that is that of his games in the World Cup (1986 and 1994, the 1990 World Cup is not dealt with) and some of Maradona's career at Barcelona and Naples in Italy. Even then, some aspects of Diego's adolescent period is funny, important, pivotal to the story and at other times, this part of the film might sag just a tiny bit. For the sake of brevity, I can see some things being left out if not central to the movie. Once this story starts to roll, it is rather exciting. The coverage of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and the 1994 World Cup in the USA is well done and at least, gives one a bit of the atmosphere. I'd humbly surmise that truth indeed imitates fiction and that the preparation for the 1994 World Cup is a bit Rocky-like and a bit inspirational.

Overall, this movie is pro-Maradona, it touches on some negative aspects such as going on drunken sprees, womanizing, cocaine abuse or keeping bad company. At the same time, there are serious omissions. Coverage of the 1994 World Cup might be fine and dandy but at that period of time in his life, Maradona was under investigation for having fired an air gun at journalists and injuring some, a charge of which he was later found guilty. This incident is left out amd surely, would not have been flattering to how we view Maradona.

One should read the Jimmy Burns book for a fuller view on Maradona. This movie is good but I do not believe it should be taken as a critical examination of Maradona. This movie is a co-production between Spanish and Italian film-makers and is in the Spanish language. The English subtitles are of aid to English speakers however, the Spanish spoken in this movie is fairly mainstream Castillian and not that difficult to understand to those who have some knowledge of the language. One can also note nuances that surely make it accurate to life in Argentina.

I'm sure, a Spanish language motion picture in this vein will have it's detractors, however, though not perfect should be recommended as a fairly faithful representation of the life of Diego Maradona to fans of soccer and sport. That said, the editorial review, product description at the top of the page seems to be overly dramatic, flattering and even not true to what this movie is about. I don't care to give away details about the movie but I will say, I recognize the recurring cinematic metaphor employed by the movie from what I have read on Maradona and believe the metaphor representing his life is overemphasized in the number of times we see it but does merit inclusion."