Sunday February 6, 2011, 7:30 pm

At the Echo Park Film Center

Los Angeles Filmforum and the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles present

(Fußball wie noch nie)(aka Football Like Never Before)

by Hellmuth Costard

**NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION!**

Long before the films Zidane and Kobe Doin’ Work singularly followed their titular characters, German filmmaker Hellmuth Costard  made the film that served as a model for both, Soccer Like Never Before, by, following George Best through one match of Manchester United in 1970.  What better way to get away from the Super Bowl then through this absorbing film of football as defined by the rest of the world?

“This hypnotic portrait of Man U legend George Best trains six cameras on the revered footballer over the complete course of a match against Coventry City. Made at the height of Best's fame and tabloid notoriety, Costard's film focuses insistently on Best—warming up, looking restless and bored, waiting tactically to unleash his genius—rather than the on-pitch action to arrive at a sublime and revealing rumination on celebrity and a tantalizing glimpse of the man behind the myth.”  - BAMcinématek

This screening made possible through the generosity of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles.  Special thanks to Annette Rupp and Stefan Kloo

(Fußball wie noch nie)(aka Football Like Never Before)

by Hellmuth Costard (1970, color, 105 min.)

The sun shone on Old Trafford on 12th September 1970 as Manchester United beat Coventry 2:0 in a league match. It was not an important victory; that season Man Utd would only be also-rans in the race for the championship. But a record was preserved of the match that is probably unique in the history of film and television. Using eight 16mm cameras, Hellmuth Costard, one of the most important experimental filmmakers in German cinema of the 60s and 70s, followed every move over the 90 minutes of the man in the red jersey with the number 11 - traditionally associated with the conventional outside left, but here worn by the mercurial George Best.

There are hardly any wide shots in this film, the cameras are trained on George Best throughout, and we follow the progress of the game only through his actions and reactions. We only see the ball when it comes near Best, and most of the time it is only Best in shot. The viewer can only guess what his happening on the pitch to make the 24 year old star from Belfast run, sprint, turn, pull up or stand still. We don't even see the second goal, just Best's lay-off that sets up the chance. Only when he congratulates Bobby Charlton do we realize who has scored. And it is only by observing the markings on the grass that we realize how little time Best spends in the vicinity of his own penalty area. Football As Never Before is a film without cut away shots, which makes it the exact opposite of most television today. Even the crowd is only a blur in the background.

What at first seems like an eccentric experiment turns in the course of the film into something much more valuable: never before has the spectator had such a clear view of a player's progress through a match and his attempts to "read the game" - or such an insight into how carefully a player like Best paces himself. Particularly in the first half he spends far more time waiting for the ball than in possession of it. At times he seems to be just standing around hands on hips, at others he strolls around the pitch like a man out for a walk - even the referee overtakes him en route to the opponents' goal. And then, out of nowhere, he explodes into action, as he does for the first goal.

With the passing of time, Football As Never Before seems like an exercise in nostalgia, and not only because George Best's decline from the status of football icon has been so widely reported in the media. Nowadays football is much faster and more athletic; any Premier League manager of today, faced with a player who runs as little as Best, would substitute him at half time. The demand for total commitment must have been less unremitting in those days. So there is hardly a nasty foul to be seen, no one rolling on the ground theatrically to get an opponent booked, and certainly no arguments with the referee. And the absence of perimeter fencing to keep the crowd off the pitch would be almost inconceivable now.

Advance ticket purchase available through Brown Paper Tickets.  Click here to purchase!

This screening series is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Additional support is generously provided by the American Cinematheque.