Dfter the recent successes of the docuseries on Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vasco Rossi, Netflix launches Beckhama four-episode series on the career of David Beckhamone of the greatest footballers of all time and a world celebrity also thanks to his marriage to Posh Spice Victoria Adams. An exciting and introspective journey that also reveals new aspects of the life of the great English champion.
Beckhamthe plot
Directed by director and actor Fisher Stevens, the docuseries tells the incredible sporting career of David Beckham, an extraordinary English midfielder who won practically every trophy possible with teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid. Considered among the greatest English players of all time, Beckham was (and still is) an international superstar and perhaps the first football player to have embraced the world of brand partnerships. Becoming a celebrity even off the field.
Born in football in the mid-nineties, David Beckham gets naked in front of the camera. Telling not only the triumphs on and off the pitch but also the sacrifices, sacrifices and failures. And also revealing some aspects of his life never known before: from obsessive-compulsive disorder to depression. Without forgetting the long love story with his wife Victoria. All through the speaker’s voice and his family but also thanks to the help of unpublished interviews, exclusive images and lots of archive material.
Hard training and the search for perfection
Born in 1975 in the suburbs of London into a humble family without many economic possibilities, little David grows up with only one goal in mind: to become a Manchester United footballer. Team of which his father is a huge fan. Already a teenager, he attracted the attention of many English clubs and in 1991, at just 16 years old, his dream came true thanks to a contract signed with the Manchester youth team.
Excellent assist-man and skilled midfielder, David stood out from the start for his ability to deliver crosses and free kicks as never seen before. Not surprisingly, the original title of the 2002 film Dreaming of Beckham with Keira Knightley it is Bend It Like Beckham or “Bend it like Beckham”.
A very young David Beckham in an image taken from the docuseries. (Netflix)
The (first) turning point in his career occurred in 1996 when, during a match against the Wimbledon team, David scores an incredible goal from midfield. A feat that transformed him into an instant idol for all Manchester fans and the footballer most adored by young girls in England. It is precisely from here that the docuseries starts, always with the help of the champion’s first-person story, reconstructs a historical moment that will change the life of this young football talent forever. And from then on, nothing will be the same as before.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Structured as a journey between the past and present of David’s life – alternating with the voices and memories of friends, teammates, former coaches and obviously Victoria –, the series shows a very specific intention from the first scenes. That is, that of talk without filters about the champion who, with great honesty, does not give up tackling even delicate topics and never previously revealed. With an almost old-fashioned documentary approach, director Fisher Stevens – also an actor in the famous series Succession –, establishes a direct and equal relationship with David.
Following him in his country house while he collects honey or filming him in the immaculate kitchen that the former footballer cleans meticulously everyday. Where David He confesses to having a sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder that leads him to constantly tidy up the house, to rearrange objects and reposition furniture following certain patterns. «I clean very well, but to tell the truth I don’t think my wife appreciates it too much», she confesses with a touch of irony to the director.
David Beckham in a scene from the docuseries dedicated to him “Beckham”. (Netflix)
With a surprisingly sincere, and sometimes ironic, look, Beckham Above all, it reconstructs the psychology of man very well. That of a person who fought to assert his personality against harsh and overwhelming father figures – like father Ted and the historic Manchester manager, Sir Alex Ferguson – and which he has always maintained total control over his competitive life.
Even when the whole nation was against him for the expulsion from the match against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup. And immediately after for the affair with Victoria, a distraction from sporting performances as happens today for Matteo Berrettini and Melissa Satta who steals his energy. Except that David continued to win despite the Spice Girlsand despite the death and kidnapping threats of little Brooklyn, born on March 4, 1999.
The love between David and Victoria Beckham
«I didn’t like football then and I don’t like it now either» says Victoria serenely. And throughout the series about her husband and partly about her the ex Spice appears surprisingly frank, strong-willed, supportive and self-deprecating.
David and I met in 1997, but he had already set his sights on her by seeing her in the video Wannabe of the Spice Girls: “One day I’ll marry her,” he tells teammate Gary Neville. When they finally meet it’s love at first sight and David, just to spend a few minutes with her, he will antagonize not only his manager but also the United fans.
David and Victoria Beckham in a stock image from the series. (Netflix)
Destined to become the wife and mother of his four children, Victoria fascinates and entertains for the entire duration of the series. Especially for the indifference towards the world of football, so sacred for the English. An example? When she announced to David that she was pregnant the evening before the fateful meeting with Argentina. “Did you tell him right before the most important game of his life?” asks the director, echoing the thoughts of every spectator, «So what?», comment Victoria’s shrugs.
An indissoluble couple
Interviewed separately, the couple also confides the hardest moments of their relationship. Especially when in 2003, after yet another fight with Ferguson, David moves to Spain to play for Real Madrid. While Victoria remains in England with her children Brooklyn and Romeo. In that period, not only were the champion’s football performances not the best, but rumors of infidelity (on his part) surfaced. «The most difficult period of our marriage ever» declares Victoria, which however will be largely overcome by the arrival of two more children: Cruz and Harper.
For all subsequent years, David Beckham will win other trophies on the field until his retirement in 2013 while Victoria, having abandoned music, will first become a stylist and then an entrepreneur in the beauty sector. A bond that knows no crisis, as can also be seen in the few interactions, always complicit, that the two have in the docuseries. Capable, until the last moments, of offer a privileged point of view to get to know the man behind the public image. With all its thousand facets and fragilities.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED