‘Diego Maradona’: Cannes Doc Focuses on Controversial Athlete [Capsule]

The highly-anticipated documentary “Diego Maradona” will be arriving on HBO this fall.

Director Asif Kapadia’s chronicle of the life and times of the controversial soccer/football athlete was seen by yours truly at the Cannes Film Festival this past May, although it was sadly not reviewed.

This is an excellent document tackling an intricate and very flawed man. Using archival footage and interviews to tell the story of one of the greatest soccer-football players of all-time, Kapadia’s doc captures the rise and outrageous fall of one of the sport’s worlds most famous legends. I was absolutely transported by this doc, especially when it tackled the World Cup games from both 1986 and 1990— with archival footage of the events impressively edited by longtime Kapadia creative partner Chris King (“Amy”). The closing moments in “Maradona” a little stretched out, but this was, for the most part, never less than an absorbingly made documentary about a fascinating sports figure.

If you remember, Kapadia won an Oscar for his 2015 documentary, “Amy,” which is, in my books, one of the very best docs of the entire decade. “Diego Maradona” opens in select theaters on September 20 before premiering on HBO on October 1.

Here’s the synopsis:

On 5th July 1984, Diego Maradona arrived in Naples for a world-record fee. For seven years all hell broke loose. The world’s most celebrated football icon and the most passionate but dangerous city in Europe were a perfect match for each other. On the pitch, Diego Maradona was a genius. Off the pitch, he was treated like a God. The charismatic Argentine loved a fight against the odds and led Napoli to their first-ever title. It was the stuff of dreams. But there was a price… Diego could do as he pleased while performing miracles on the pitch but, as time passed, darker days closed in.