Most legendary matches from the World Cup over the years have been the one off upsets like the thrown together team of American amateurs who beat England 1-0 in 1950. One of the great stories, though, is the absolutely unknown North Korean team which travelled to England for the 1966 Finals, not only because they beat Italy to reach the last four–and took an early 3-0 lead against Portugal before collapsing to star Eusebio’s four goals–but for the way in which the people of Birmingham (where they were based for the opening round) took them on as favorites only a dozen years after the Korean War.
The Game Of Their Lives is a terrific documentary from Daniel Gordon which looks at the North Koreans’ 1966 experience as well as visiting the usually off-limits nation to film interviews with the (still living?) players and their manager. While the historical bits were interesting for me, always love to see some of what happened before I got to be a fan, the really meaningful moments were the interviews and scenes filmed inside North Korea.
The secretive communist regime rarely allows foreign cameras in or their people to speak to journalists and many outsiders tend to belittle the cult of Great Leader and Dear Leader (father/founder of the nation Kim Il Sung and his son/current dictator Kim Il Jong). The players, though, made heartfelt comments about their Great Leader which made me think about how different people see the same things differently. They all broke down in tears during a scene filmed at a memorial featuring a huge statue of the man who lead their country at the time of the Finals, all wishing that he were still around to guide them.
My second favorite part was the interviews with people from Birmingham who were involved in those days as fans or civic leaders. They explained how the city, whose main soccer team had just been relegated and which viewed itself as underdogs to bigger metropolises like London, quickly took to the most unlikely visitors. I guess 1966 was a simpler time than today because even if the Cold War was in full force the visiting squad and the locals easily and commonly mixed together without incident; no way that would happen today.
From a film perspective, Gordon did a good job. He intercut archival footage with new material, and paced the game footage with the other discussions. Other than explaining the two Kims and the impact of the war on North Korea early on to give context and understanding to other material, he left politics on the sideline.
recommended even for non-soccer fans
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