Kill The Referee (les Arbitres)

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08/13/2012 Fascinating to see the life of a referee in a major tournament. Nothing spectacular for a film but it would have been nice to have some commentary from the referees. See more 05/19/2012 Careful! You'll start to feel sorry for Howard Webb!! Interesting film. See more 09/22/2011 Great thing about these cinematic docs is, you dont need to know/care about the subject. this film about football referees is just thast for me, in fact not interested in football a whole lot. but like another great doc recently(Senna) about formula one and that great legend which i did not care for. watching them i got interested in the people followed. this film Referees being the euro championships of 2008 and following a bunch from various countries, through some interesting times during tournement. its all on the pitch footage and changing room stuff for most part but it is interesting and entertaining and shows the total disrespect these people can get at times from both players and fans. this film certainly is a brief look at these guys but fills in enough info on homelife and sometimes politics of the proffession to make it a worthy watch. See more 09/20/2011 Neat little insight into the mindset and attitudes of professional referees and their relationships with linesmen, families and the press. Follows several of Europe's top refs (and professional Man U supporter Howard Webb) through the EURO 2008 tournament. One of those documentaries where nothing is explained, just watch and learn for yourself. Clearly f**king offside! See more 08/24/2011 While "The Referees" lacks the cutting edge of a lot of current documentary films , it's still a fascinating look at how the system works during a major tournament . England's leading ref , Howard Web is one of the protagonists and it's interesting to see how he communicates with his assistants during the game. I would have liked to have seen some kind of narrative and it would have been much better if we could have seen the world cup in 2010 instead of the European Championships of 2008. See more 08/19/2011 A French documentary that's fascinating if you have any interest in the hidden workings of football. It follows the various teams of referees and assistant referees at the Euro 2008 tournament, and some of the most intriguing content comes from recordings of the hasty conversations between officials via their microphones and earpieces while matches are going on. But the real drama here surrounds English referee Howard Webb. Having awarded Poland a dubious goal against Austria, he then awards a crucial penalty to Austria near the end of the same match. Replays show that the decision in Poland's favour was wrong and that the penalty decision against them was correct. This doesn't save Webb from being threatened with death and compared to Hitler by furious Polish fans, their anger fuelled by comments made by the Polish president. Meanwhile, back in England, members of Webb's family are menaced in their homes by Polish expats... Commendably, given that the film has the official approval of the football authorities, it doesn't attempt to hide the fact that match officials sometimes have to rely on guesswork and often make mistakes; there's an interesting sequence showing the Webb, his assistants and a FIFA assesor reviewing the crucial decisions in the Austria-Poland match and clearly admitting the error over the first goal. But more than anything the film reveals just how badly some fans need to remember that it is, in fact, only a game. Incidentally, at my local arthouse this film was billed as 'The Referees'; I'm not sure where those who run the Flixster application got the more provocative English title shown here. See more Read all reviews

Kill The Referee (les Arbitres)

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