349. Infinite Football (Fotbal Infinit); movie review

INFINITE FOOTBALL (FOTBAL INFINIT)

Cert TBA

70 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

I was just five years old when my mum and dad first took me to watch football. 

I can't remember the details of the game but from the moment I saw our team run out on to the pitch, I must have been hooked.

For more than 50 years I have spent too much time travelling the length and breadth of the country often being disappointed by my illogical addition to my boys in sky blue.

However, despite witnessing more shattering defeats than joyous victories, it has never occurred to me that the spectacle would be improved by more than just basic rule changes.

I did applaud the move to prevent the keeper from picking up the ball from a back pass and the introduction of more than one substitute.

The offside rule has become more complicated as the years have progressed and VAR has surely not simplified the game in the way which was imagined.

Romanian Laurentiu Ginghina, whose low-level footballing career was ended by injury wants to be much bolder to increase flow stop and players being hurt.

During Corneliu Porumboiu's Infinite Football, he explains that he has devised new rules which would revolutionise the game and, in his eyes, improve the spectacle.

Included in his concept are players being prohibited from leaving specified segments of an octagonal pitch and "allowing the ball to be the star." In other words, there is no tackling.

Unsurprisingly to anyone except Ginghina, no football authorities are remotely interested in the changes he proposes.

So, why should his ramblings have found itself the platform of an international movie?

Curiously, Ginghina has followed his local government workplace where he has the say over the housing of those at the lower end of the social spectrum.

He seems to care little about the consequent appointments than he does talking about his off-the-wall ideas about football.

I thought I would enjoy Porumboiu's movie but it just felt like I was watching the musings of someone who didn't understand the game.

I can go down the pub and hear plenty of that so what makes him more fascinating than any other fan?

I am afraid that my answer was nothing.

Reasons to watch: Crazy ideas about a potential shake-up of football

Reasons to avoid: Surprisingly dull

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? Until standardisation of football rules in 1863 “hacking” (kicking down an opponent) was a part of the game which marked its masculinity.

The final word. Corneliu Porumboiu: "I like football very much. I’ve played professional football in childhood and adolescence. I used to train every day and play official matches weekly, so I can say that football is part of my education. Perhaps that’s why I envision football topics as documentaries. I have in mind another football film idea that I hope to do at some point.: Tiff

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