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Damned United (The)
R1 - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (11th April 2010). |
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The Film
 Soccer. Football. Association football. Call it what you will, but one thing that can be universally accepted is the fact that it hasn’t managed to catch on in the United States. It’s confounding that the most popular sport on the planet has somehow remained a niche activity stateside. Sure, a great deal of parents sign their kids up to play in youth leagues, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many people who can name a single player on any U.S. soccer team, or any team on the globe, for that matter. Hell, it was major news when the L.A. Galaxy signed David Beckham (arguably the most recognized player of today) and even the buzz from that faded quickly. Personally, I’ve always found it to be locked in on my boredom scale somewhere between hockey (fight clip reels notwithstanding) and Olympic curling. So you can imagine my trepidation when I came upon “The Damned United” (2009), a film which takes a look at the controversial 44-day reign of manager Brian Clough’s tenure with Leeds United. A British sports drama centered on soccer? Oh, please, someone put a bullet in my brain. At least, that was my initial response… However, I can safely say that, after having watched the film, “The Damned United” is much, much more than a film about soccer. Ostensibly, on the surface, it looks like another sports film; but the real meat of the picture lies in the personal relationships and drama which unfold in the life of Clough. He was a man with great personal convictions, someone who had a big mouth and a bigger sense of pride, but he knew what it would take to bring his team to the big leagues and managed to (mostly) get his way. His management style was only off-set by his longtime assistant, Peter Taylor, who had a much more congenial style and a knack for selecting the best players for the field. Together, the duo were able to bring a low-ranked, 2nd division team from Derby County to the forefront of soccer, eventually capturing the League championship in 1972. But some of Clough’s biggest hurtles still laid ahead of him. Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) and Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) are the duo in charge of Derby County, a 2nd division team hovering near the bottom ranking. One morning, a chance drawing finds the team squaring off against Leeds United, the top-ranked 1st division team known for their hard-edged, often brutal style of playing under manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney). The match ends as expected, with Leeds shutting out Derby , but Clough finds himself taken aback not only by Leeds ’ unsportsmanlike conduct, but also by the fact that Revie neglects to bother shaking his hand at the start of the match. And so begins Clough’s obsession and detest of the Leeds team. He makes it his mission to develop a top-ranked team made up of the finest players available, much to the chagrin of the Derby County chairman, Sam Longson (Jim Broadbent), who has to finance all of Clough’s newly-appointed players. But the gambles prove to be worthwhile, as Derby takes the top prize the following year. Clough continues to shell out top dollar for players, constantly drawing the ire of Longson and the board. Eventually, Clough pushes too hard and, after submitting a resignation he’s positive they’ll refuse, finds himself sacked from the Derby team. He and Taylor eventually find a new home at Brighton & Hove Albion, but a last minute offer by Leeds United finds Clough and Taylor parting ways after a nasty spat. Despite his longstanding hatred of the Leeds team, Clough takes the gig because he feels as though it’s his duty to refine its players, to make respectable gentlemen out of them. And, in the end, he fails in gaining their respect, and once again finds himself out of a job after a mere 44 days, I should note that the events of the film take place in a non-linear fashion. Director Tom Hooper, as noted in the audio commentary, says that they had toyed with the idea of presenting the film chronologically but ultimately decided that revealing the events out of sequence would have a far greater impact. And he was absolutely correct. After the opening, in which Clough is named Leeds’ new manager, we flash back to 1968 to witness the inaugural match between Leeds and Derby , and then back to the present day to see how Clough tries to mold Leeds ’ players, and so forth. By doing this, we get the privilege of comparing and contrasting past events which shaped Clough’s view of Leeds with how he chooses to deal with the team personally once he has control over them. I found that it did a far better job of putting us in Clough’s mind than a chronological film could have. Those thoughts, those past events, are on the forefront of Clough’s mind as he does his damndest to get the Leeds players to respect him, to change their ways to his specifications. But Clough goes about it all the wrong way; he allows his resentment towards Revie to influence his managing style and demeanor. Heck, it so consumed him that he was even willing to part ways with Taylor, his longtime assistant, just to have a crack at shaking Leeds up. The cast is full of accomplished actors, but the onus is placed squarely on Michael Sheen who deftly carries the film to incredibly heights with his portrayal of Brian Clough. Though I’m not familiar with his real life counterpart, I’ve read that Sheen completely nailed every aspect of Clough, from the fact that he so closely resembled him in his prime right on down to his drawling vocal tone. I find Sheen to be one of the more versatile actors working today, he plays every role with incredible conviction, whether it be as respected journalist David Frost (who, coincidentally, once interviewed Brian Clough) in “Frost/Nixon” (2008) or a werewolf hell bent on getting revenge against vampires in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” (2009). He tackles each role with the same amount of bravura skill and tenacity, traits which set him apart from most actors working today. The film is based off of the novel, “The Damned Utd”, written by David Peace. The book, however, has been noted as being largely fictional since Peace wrote much of it as a “stream of consciousness” from Clough’s own mind, and obviously he would not have been privy to those internal thoughts. But it did go on to become a best seller in the U.K. despite the fact that members of Clough’s family have come forward to say it unfairly depicts a negative image of a man who struggled with inner turmoil, alcoholism and a bitter rivalry with his predecessor at Leeds, Don Revie. Though, to be fair to Peace, he does note that the book is a “work of fiction based off of fact”. The film cuts out large chunks of the novel, obviously it would have to, but I was surprised that it still contained information which is known to be blatantly false. For instance, after securing a position with Brighton & Hove Albion, Clough and Taylor vacation in Majorca where the offer from Leeds was made to them. Clough decides then and there to renege on his agreement with Brighton’s management and to part ways with Taylor. But the reality is that Clough worked with Brighton for over 30 games before he jumped ship. The truth makes it look like he tried to make due with his new surroundings, but the film paints him as a rabid opportunist who let nothing stand in his way in taking over the reigns of Leeds United. Something I particularly enjoyed was how director Tom Hooper chose to film the soccer matches; namely, he didn’t. Well, not entirely, anyways. He didn’t want this to be a sports film, only in essence, so he focused his camera work on the drama and psychological tension rather than by staging choreographed soccer matches. During one particularly big game, we simply watch Clough in his office, chain smoking and drinking, while we see the silhouette of the crowd through his office windows going ballistic during the game. During another, we simply see Clough walk through the entryway of an empty stadium, hear some deafening crowd noise, and then a title card presents the final outcome. I found the drama surrounding these matches to be paramount to the actual game play that we rarely witness. After all, this isn’t some cookie cutter inspirational film about a soccer team that comes from behind to win the big game, this is a character study about a man determined to be the best no matter the cost.
Video
The 1.85:1 anamorphic image is kind of ugly, drab, devoid of warm colors, hazy, soft and generally unimpressive… and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to look. Director Tom Hooper combines archival footage with his film, and he explains in the audio commentary that he intentionally bestowed his appearance upon the film so that viewers could get a better sense of being transported back to the late ‘60's/early ‘70's where it all takes place. The standard definition image certainly lacks the clarity and sharpness that is likely found on its Blu-ray counterpart, but the picture itself is likely to differ little more. I’ve always found England to come across as hazy, shady and bland, something this film does little to rectify in my mind. The combination of archival footage featuring soccer matches, news flashes and interviews almost perfectly matches in with the 35mm footage used for the film. Viewers need to understand that the film’s intended look might not be pretty, but it so accurately represents the time period that it’s done so to a fault. Personally, I like my films to appear consistent with the period they are intended to inhabit, so I applaud Hooper and cinematographer Ben Smithard with achieving such a precise look.
Audio
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track is a rather subdued affair. The majority of activity has been relegated to the front and center speakers. Crowd noise does a good job of providing activity to the rear speakers. I can’t recall a single instance where the LFE track was put to use, though if it did see any action it was obviously minimal. Some of the dialogue sounds a bit muddled at times. That would be less of an issue if the cast weren’t speaking with such thick English accents, so as such things can be made even more difficult to discern. But those instances were far and few between. There is also a French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track included. Subtitles are available in English, English for the hearing impaired and French.
Extras
Thankfully, “The Damned United” is stuffed with enough damned extras to keep you busy for an awfully long damned time. We get an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, interviews and bonus trailers. An audio commentary with director Tom Hooper, actor Michael Sheen, and producer Andy Harries starts things off. The trio discusses a great deal about the life of the real Brian Clough in comparison to what we see on screen. Hooper seems to get the most time in, telling stories of how they sought to achieve a look to the film that would make it fit in perfectly with those old news reels and photographs from the ‘60's. Sheen mostly talks about his approach to becoming Clough and what he learned about his character. They also discuss some of the excised bits that never made it from the script to the screen. It’s a lively track filled with great information that fans of the film should really make a point of listening to. There are nine deleted scenes, presented in anamorphic widescreen, with optional audio commentary by director Tom Hooper, for the following: - “Leeds 1974: “Whose Desk is This, Love?” runs for 3 minutes and 6 seconds, Clough sits in Revie’s old office and makes himself at home. - “Leeds 1974: “Is Everything Alright, Brian?” runs for 1 minute and 53 seconds, Clough, in a moment of anger, hacks up Revie’s old desk and burns it behind the stadium. - “Leeds 1972: “That Was as Perfect a Half of Terrible Football That I’ve Ever Seen!” runs for 4 minutes and 8 seconds, Clough has a facetious pep talk with his players after a disastrous first half against Leeds United. - “Leeds 1974: “Never Got It” runs for 1 minute and 23 seconds, Clough tries to make peace with Bremner (Stephen Graham) by claiming he mailed him a welcoming card. - “Leeds 1974: “I’m Not F**king English” runs for 1 minute and 48 seconds, Clough has a talk with Bremner, who corrects him on his country of origin. - “Leeds 1974: “Fucking Scot” runs for 5 minutes and 8 seconds, Clough goes back to Derby to make a deal with the new manager, Dave Mackay (Brian McCardie), and spends more for a pair of players than he intended. - “Leeds 1974: “Never Come Between a Footballer and his Motor” runs for 12 minutes and 15 seconds, Clough stops his senior players from accepting complimentary cars until he gets a mild tongue lashing from the top brass at Leeds. - “Leeds 1974: “Keep Fighting” Version 1 runs for 2 minutes and 11 seconds, Clough tries to give his players a positive pep talk after losing a game, but no one is really listening. - “Leeds 1974: Keep Fighting” Version 2 runs for 3 minutes and 34 seconds, this is just an alternate take of the previous scene. “Cloughisms” are a series of interviews Michael Sheen shot as Brian Clough which were then used at various times throughout the film when needed. They are presented with optional audio commentary from director Tom Hooper. They include: - “Clough on Derby’s 1st Division Championship in 1972 – Based on David Coleman Interview” runs for 5 minutes and 39 seconds. - Clough on Chairmen and the Beautiful Game – Based on Michael Parkinson Interview” runs for 1 minute and 45 seconds. - “Clough on Don Revie – Based on David Frost Interview” runs for 1 minute and 36 seconds. - “Clough on Russia” (no commentary available) runs for 29 seconds. “The Perfect Pitch: The Making of The Damned United” featurette runs for 16 minutes and 15 seconds. Broken up into a few sections, via title cards, this piece examines adapting Peace’s novel for the big screen, interviews with the principal actors about their roles, and a look at shooting some of the film’s major soccer matches. “Creating Clough: Michael Sheen Takes on ‘Old Big ‘Ead’” featurette runs for 10 minutes and 17 seconds, the actor discusses the lengths he went to in order to make sure his portrayal of Clough was genuine. He studied books and interviews with the man, and really did everything he could to get into his head and become Brian Clough. “Remembering Brian” featurette runs for 9 minutes and 35 seconds, this plays like a mini biography as cast, crew, and real life soccer players talk about who Clough was, what he meant to the sport of soccer and his unique coaching style. This footage is intercut with clips of Clough. “The Changing Game: Football in the Seventies” featurette runs for 19 minutes and 12 seconds, former players, journalists and colleagues talk about Don Revie’s ahead-of-its-time coaching style, the style of playing that was prevalent in that era and how soccer that is played today compares to the game back then. Finally, there are bonus trailers available for the following: - “The White Ribbon” runs for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. - “An Education” runs for 2 minutes and 25 seconds. - “The Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day” runs for 18 seconds. - “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” runs for 1 minute and 45 seconds. - “Broken Embraces” runs for 33 seconds. - “Rudo Y Cursi” runs for 33 seconds. - “Sugar” runs for 2 minutes and 6 seconds. - “A Prophet” runs for 2 minutes and 8 seconds.
Packaging
My copy of “The Damned United” arrived in an amaray eco-case which, amusingly enough, didn’t have half of its slot holes punched out. Seriously, they need to stop using these. They’re cheap, flimsy and I highly doubt they’re doing much to aid the environment.
Overall
Far better than I ever could have expected, “The Damned United” is less a sports film and more a fascinating character study of a man driven to succeed with the very team he had come to loathe. Michael Sheen gives a solid performance which is firmly anchored by the strengths of his equally-adept co-stars. The image on the DVD is intentionally drab and de-saturated, and the film is all the more better for it, and the audio quality is perfectly serviceable. Throw in a good slate of extras and this is a disc I would highly recommend.
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