David Peace does indeed use real people in TDU, to the point
where I believe there was talk of legal action from some
surviving players of the great Revie team - in fact a quick
Google has just confirmed that Johhny Giles won an apology
from Peace and his publishers and as a result he will not
feature in the film, starring Michael Sheen (Tony Blair in
The Queen) as Brian Clough - when my brother, another Leeds
fan, reported this to me he told me Ol Big Ead was to be
essayed by Martin Sheen, which would be interesting to say
the least!
It's certainly Noir and although Giles has won his apology
no-one in the book is portrayed in a favourable light - Billy
Bremner is dead so cannot protect his reputation, but I can't
imagine his surviving family are thrilled with what Peace
makes of him. Sheen's a marvelously intense actor and I must
admit I'm fascinated to see how he inhabits the skin of
someone who was a household name in the UK - I'm trying to
think of an American equivalent, and as the only?gridiron
coach I can think of is Vince Lombardi I'd take him;
Brian?Clough would be the name that would come up if you?had
asked anyone, before these saturation coverage days,?with no
interest?in football to name a football manager. ?
It's a dangerous game this imagined history, I
had?real?problems with?Jake Arnott's The Long Firm for its
treatment of real historical characters. Then again, I have
no?problem with Ellroy doing the same because I am much less
familiar with the?American history he rewrites.??
By the by, The Damned United is one of my favourite ever book
covers, it's fantastically unsettling with the very simple
device of blacking out eyes.
I do think Leeds are the Damned United sometimes - we're
currently paying for our sins! But would recommend The
Unforgiven (another noir title! God, what a club) for anyone
interested in the actual history of?Revie's Leeds and
Football Against The Enemy as the best book on football ever
written -?in which I learned that Dynamo Kiev had a nuclear
license, there's a crime plotline waiting to happen, 3-0 down
in the Champions' League when a mushroom cloud
forces?abandonment.?
All the best, sorry for rambling on!?
Colin. ??
-----Original Message----- From: Charlie Williams <
cs_will@hotmail.com> To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 9:51
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Perhaps a more relevant suggestion
for the sports noir discussion?
I love that film. But isn't it more sports politics than
actual sports? Not being picky, just trying to home in on
some examples where the actual playing of the game is what
it's all about. It's easy to find examples in not noir/HB:
Mean Machine, Escape to Victory... Erm, I'll start again.
Rocky, Rocky I, Rocky II... Plenty of baseball films too. But
curiously few non-US sports, which is where we come back to
rugby. Maybe the yanks are just better at doing sports in
cinema.
Anyone who really likes soccer should check out Zidane: A
21st Century Portrait. Mesmerising (or spectacularly boring,
depending on your taste) and actually quite noirish, in a
subtle way.
Charlie
---------- charliewilliams.net
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Juri Nummelin"
<juri.nummelin@...> wrote:
>
> Would THE LAST BOY SCOUT merit in any
way?
>
> Juri
>
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