La gran final (2006) User Reviews

Three interspersed stories of people in remote parts of Mongolia, Niger and Brazil struggling to get TV reception of the 2002 World Cup final between Germany and Brazil

[pfkflyer · 8/10 · 24 March 2007]

The three plots can be a tad corny, but very colorful, valuable and humorous insights into these three native cultures, and the cinematography is truly stunning, especially the scenes in Mongolia and in the desert - not so much the Amazon rain forest, which is probably harder to capture visually...although the native warrior running through the forest with Ronaldo's jersey number 9 painted on his bare back was pretty good. The sweeping views of the Altai mountain range in Mongolia in the background, with the four hunters on their shaggy ponies carrying their golden eagles on one arm knocked me out. Also the hugely overloaded truck in the desert. Undertones of political or class conflict constitute a second common thread (besides the World Cup) that ties the three stories together.

Favorite tag line (from the Mongol storyline): "How was your day, Grandma?" "Fine as usual, my boy - another day witnessing existence in bewilderment."

three stories that show the world's passion for the most beautiful sport

[grimplegrumple · 8/10 · 25 April 2006]

I went to see this movie after reading a couple of articles on it, and because this is a world cup year. The movie is really funny, it shows three different tribes from three different continents who live almost in exile from the "modern world" and how they stop their normal everyday routine for 90 minutes, to see two countries compete for the ultimate prize in sports, and probably the most important prize any country could aspire for, the FIFA World Cup of football. I love football, I've played it all my life, and I eagerly wait for the next World Cup even before the current one is being played. For those who don't know anything about football (or soccer, if you're from the states) you will still enjoy this movie because it's not about the sport, it's about the passion for the sport. It's amazing that for one month every four years, the world literally stops. Beer consumption goes up about 200% and for the two hours of the final, there are hardly any, if none at all, crimes committed. If you are a football fan, watch this movie, and you will understand the motivation that drives the characters. If you are not a football fan, you'll still enjoy the situations the characters get themselves into, but know this, it's not exaggerated at all, in fact, the movie was based on something that really happened to the director of the movie while shooting a documentary. It's a very original movie, and I really couldn't compare it to anything else, but if I had to mention a similar movie, I would have to say that it's a little like "The Gods Must be Crazy". So trust me, watch this film, preferably before June 9, and enjoy the World Cup this summer, remember its only for a month every 48 months.

Take me to the backwater with Karl Marx

[fablesofthereconstru-1 · 7/10 · 18 July 2008]

In a steppe, a desert, and a rain forest, World Cup fever is catching, a male-afflicted malady with only one possible cure-all: the television, preferably color, the most-prized possession in any contemporary hunting and gathering society. Using the same concept that filmmaker Jim Jarmusch implemented in "Night on Earth"(taxi drivers of the world, unite!), soccer fans of the world unite in Mongolia, Niger, and Brazil for "La Gran final", a film that demonstrates the universality of male camaraderie that's inherent when men huddle around a television for some big game. Unlike the 1990 observational comedy from Jarmusch about cab drivers and their passengers, the narratives in "La Gran final" are liberated from self-containment by a cross-editing method that suggests, at times, a story-driven "Baraka"(the 1992 documentary from David Fricke about the world we live in). Far from being a staid ethnography about a people's mere existence in some non-industrialized sector of the world, "La Gran final" is surprisingly funny, with a brand of humor that's appropriately western in feel, since civilization slowly encroaches on their unadulterated lives.

One commonality that all three narratives share is the way in which sports possesses a cultural currency that unites the haves and have-nots in a temporary epoch of cheering and booing. In Mongolia, the Mongol general joins the fox hunters in their yurt, and in Niger, the nobleman sits on his patio chair with both, the Arab and African commoners. Echoes of "O Ano em Que Meus Pais Sairam de Ferias", Cao Hamburger's film about a San Pauolo boy's separation from his exiled parents during Argentinia's dictatorship that centered around the 1970 World Cup, abound, as "La Gran final, too, shows how television is truly an opiate of the masses, a case made most strongly in the Brazilian narrative. When the natives' television loses its signal, the fervent soccer fans go to the sawmill where American timber men are watching Brazil play Germany to a scoreless draw. Earlier in the film, we learn that the natives were given a television as payment for, what is essentially, the raping of their forest. The restless natives are appeased natives, stood down by talking furniture, which enables the timber merchants to chop down their trees without worry of being murdered. In one particularly striking scene, the natives approach the American contingent from their backside, in silence, like an ambush, before they settle down next to their natural enemies.

Light in tone, nevertheless, the astute viewer will pick up on the darker undertones in "La Gran final", a comedy about the anaesthetic effects of television in the third world.

What a great little film!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 7 May 2008]

I really, really liked this film--far more than I expected. When I heard that it was about the World Cup, I was NOT excited to see it--having no interest in soccer/football. However, while this is the backdrop for the film, you don't need to have any interest in the sport to love this film.

The movie is about three groups of people living in places where most people would never think they'd care about the sport--mostly because you'd never believe that they would have access to television. The trouble to which these people go just to see the game was rather humorous as well as inspiring.

The first group were Mongolian nomads. Despite their lifestyle and the remoteness of their homes, they were excited at the thought of watching the finals! The second were from Niger and all were in the middle of the Sahara Desert--again, not a place to easily see a game on the television! The third group (and my favorite) was from Brazil--which made sense because Brazil was in the finals. However, this was not in a city such as Rio or Brasilia--but in the middle of the Amazon and the people were all primitive tribesmen!! Seeing one of them constantly wearing a Ronaldo jersey and talking about all the famous Brazilian players was surreal to say the least!!

I loved this film because it had a gentle sense of humor and irony but still respected the people--never making fun of them or belittling them. Additionally, it was one of the greatest films I have ever seen on showing the humanity and commonality all people have--even from the most foreign-seeming parts of the planet. Great directing, writing and acting all made this a terrific film and my vote for sleeper film of 2006.

PS--My favorite part was when the Brazilian group's TV broke and they desperately dashed about trying to find a way to watch the game. The final scenes with these men at the mill were truly wonderful!