Monday, August 2, 2010

Accidents of Fate: Rättskiparen (The Referee)

Rättskiparen (The Referee) is short documentary about Martin Hansson, the referee who missed Thierry Henry's handball. A Swedish television program had already committed to this project before the infamous incident which kept Ireland from going to South Africa. The station's plan had been to track the country's top ranked referee in the months leading up to the 2010 World Cup - as fate would have it, the story of course got more complex with that one game. It's an incredible portrait - part of a wave of films looking at referees. This one has an unusually personal quality to it.

3 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 2, 2010 at 11:49 PM

    Excellent piece about a strange profession. Thanks so much for the post. I will recommend it.

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  2. UnknownAugust 3, 2010 at 3:16 AM

    I totally agree with earlier comment! The best documentary I have seen for quite some time. The Referee is truly recommended.

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  3. CookieAugust 4, 2010 at 5:29 AM

    While the piece is good showing the opinion of his mother and all, I still can't help as an Irishwoman feel incredibly annoyed. He shouldn't have even expected to be given a chance to go to South Africa, he should have refused the chance. Managers must resign when they fail, and so should referees. If had been in Ireland that night he wouldn't have gone.

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