• Post category:Movies
  • Post last modified:April 6, 2019

The Damned United

THEY LOVE ME FOR WHAT I’M NOT… THEY HATE ME FOR WHAT I AM.”

In 1974, Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) is appointed new manager of Leeds United, but the job only lasts 44 days. The story about the man who once took Derby County from the foot of the British Second Division to the top of the First Division gets a first-class treatment by TV veteran Tom Hooper and writer Peter Morgan who by now knows how to milk the most thrilling ingredients out of real-life drama. The focus lies on the cocky and overly smug Clough who is unable to relax his bitterly competitive attitude toward former Leeds manager Don Revie. It’s a marvel to watch Sheen once again transform himself into a famous person – and make us totally buy into it.

2009-Britain-U.S. 97 min. Color. Produced by Andy Harries, Grainne Marmion. Directed by Tom Hooper. Screenplay: Peter Morgan. Book: David Peace. Cast: Michael Sheen (Brian Clough), Colm Meaney (Don Revie), Timothy Spall (Peter Taylor), Jim Broadbent, Henry Goodman, Maurice Roëves.

Last word: “I think Leeds] were so great to let us film at Elland Road. When we were shooting the famous scene of Clough accusing the Leeds players of cheating on his first day… for Michael [Sheen] to be standing yards from the spot, if not on the spot from where Clough gave that speech. We’d turfed out the old car park, so we were sandwiched between the unchanged west stand and that old run of red brick warehouses that looked unchanged from the archive. So, to be able to have that degree of authenticity was really helpful. I found it a real buzz.” (Hooper, indieLondon)

 

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