The Damned United
Posted: October 23rd, 2009, 11:59 am
Spoiler Alert
I just saw The Damned United on DVD last week and I gather it recently premiered in New York. Obviously the producers think there is a market for the film and no doubt Michael Sheen is now a globally famous actor, but I can't help if the film might be lost in translation. While the likes of Brian Clough, the main character, Don Revie, Peter Taylor, Dave Mackay, Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner were household names in the footballing world of the 1970s, I would be amazed if anymore than a handful of American's would have heard of them
The film is about the 44 difficult days Clough spent as Manager of league Champions at Leeds United, before he was sacked after a poor start and upsetting his players, many of whom, like Bremner and Giles, were regarded as world class players.
I had mixed feelings about the movie. As with many movies based on fact a lot of dramatic licence was used, in fact the Clough family and former Leeds player Johnny Giles were unhappy about the way some of the characters were potrayed in the original novel, though I gather the screenplay was toned down in an effort to keep them happy. I can't imagine Dave Mackay would have been happy as being potrayed as a backstabber, who as Captain in the movie, replaced Clough as Manager of Derby County after he'd been sacked, whereas in reality he had left the club a couple of yrs before and was at the time of Clough's sacking Manager of Nottingham Forrest.
I just saw The Damned United on DVD last week and I gather it recently premiered in New York. Obviously the producers think there is a market for the film and no doubt Michael Sheen is now a globally famous actor, but I can't help if the film might be lost in translation. While the likes of Brian Clough, the main character, Don Revie, Peter Taylor, Dave Mackay, Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner were household names in the footballing world of the 1970s, I would be amazed if anymore than a handful of American's would have heard of them
The film is about the 44 difficult days Clough spent as Manager of league Champions at Leeds United, before he was sacked after a poor start and upsetting his players, many of whom, like Bremner and Giles, were regarded as world class players.
I had mixed feelings about the movie. As with many movies based on fact a lot of dramatic licence was used, in fact the Clough family and former Leeds player Johnny Giles were unhappy about the way some of the characters were potrayed in the original novel, though I gather the screenplay was toned down in an effort to keep them happy. I can't imagine Dave Mackay would have been happy as being potrayed as a backstabber, who as Captain in the movie, replaced Clough as Manager of Derby County after he'd been sacked, whereas in reality he had left the club a couple of yrs before and was at the time of Clough's sacking Manager of Nottingham Forrest.