13/07/2005
Real look to return to winning ways on silver screen
A feature film about Real Madrid proves the
nine-times European champions remain, despite recent on-pitch
disappointments, world football's most glamorous club according to club
president Florentino Perez.
"Today is a very special day for me," Perez said when "Real, The Movie"
was unveiled to the media at the club's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on
Tuesday.
"Ever since I became president five years ago I had hoped we would be
able to make an official film about what is the most important club in
the world.
"Football and cinema share the realm of emotions and I'm proud that Real
Madrid is breaking new ground by becoming the first football club that
has inspired a film of this type.
"We hope that this film will not just be enjoyed by our fans but by
everyone who loves football."
David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Raul -- four of the club's
galactico superstars -- take centre stage in the 90-minute film that
weaves together documentary footage and fiction in five short stories
designed to show Real's global appeal.
Beckham is the subject of a story about a Japanese teenage girl who is
having problems with her envious boyfriend because of her obsession with
the England captain.
Zidane is the idol of a Sengalese boy who yearns for the arrival of his
father to hear an account of Real's latest match even though he has
never seen the team play.
In a story set in New York, a teenage girl suffers an injury playing
soccer similar to one sustained by Ronaldo and in Madrid the love of he
club and its captain Raul is the one thing that inspires and motivates
the students of a local school.
Real Madrid great Alfredo di Stefano, the Argentine player who led the
club to five successive triumphs in the European Cup, makes an
appearance in a story set in the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
Director Borja Manso, a Real Madrid fan, dismissed suggestions that the
film was little more than a cynical marketing ploy.
GLOBAL APPEAL
"You can't escape the fact Real are one of the biggest brands in the
world," he said. "But what really interested me was what makes Real so
special that they can reach out and inspire so many people across the
globe regardless of social status, age or sex.
"In the two days while I was filming in the poorest areas of Senegal I
counted 59 people wearing Real Madrid shirts, to them Zidane was almost
a god. That tells you something about the appeal of the club."
The film, whose budget of six million euros ($7.31 million) is
equivalent to the salary paid by the club to Galacticos such as Beckham
and Zidane, will be premiered at the Bernabeu on August 25 before going
on release in Spain and other European countries.
It will also be presented during the club's tour of the United States
and Asia which gets underway on July 14.
Real start their tour in Chicago with a match against Mexican side
Guadalajara on July 16 and then play Los Angeles Galaxy on July 18.
They then move on to play games in China and Japan before winding up
with a game against a Thai all-star team in Bangkok on July 29.
Real Madrid, who have not won a major trophy in the last two seasons,
will be aiming to unseat arch-rivals and reigning champions Barcelona
when the league season gets underway at the end of August.
