At 85 years old, Ken Loach keeps an intact passion for football, often present in his work. The English director, double winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival (2006 and 2016), tells it to World ahead of the Euro 2021 final, scheduled for Wembley Stadium in London on July 11.
Page Contents
Like the semi-finals, the Euro 2021 final will be held in London. Will you be at the stadium?
Probably not. I often listen to the matches on the radio. And the big games, I’m very happy to watch them on TV. But I myself don’t have a subscription to Sky or other channels where you have to pay. I don’t want to give money to [Rupert] Murdoch or the press he owns. In fact, watching the game in a bar can be a great solution: both because you have the feeling of the crowd and because you can see the game well. In large stadiums, you are too far from the pitch.
Do you have more fun watching a game or watching a movie?
In front of a game, I think. Let’s say that between an average match and an average movie, the match will be better! With the movie you know how it will end. For the match, you can never predict it. Your team can lead the score until the last few minutes… then go through a disaster. A match does not follow the usual rules of drama. Of course, when they reach a very high level, when the cinema offers a wonderful experience, some films also transcend these rules.
When you cheer on Bath City FC in the National Sixth Division, do you watch games standing up rather than sitting down?
Yes, every time I’m up, it’s much better, more motivating. Watching a seated match is more passive. I like to go to the stadium to see the games of these lower divisions. No need to arrive two hours early. You can be much closer to the pitch, and at halftime you can switch sides to follow your team, which is attacking across the pitch. In my opinion, this is a much stronger experience.
How to appreciate professional football and the Euro while criticizing, as in your films, the effects of capitalism?
A good sense of humor can help. Appreciate the irony too. But it should also be remembered that football is not called the beautiful game [« le beau jeu »] for nothing. Watching great players, watching their technique, remains something exquisite. When a player is brilliant, I always enjoy observing his imagination, his intuition.
You have 58.16% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
