Starring:
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Runtime: 96 mins. Reviewed in May 2014
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The title gives it away – well not quite, the goal being a clue, but the football code for the film is Soccer, in the wider world, Football. Those who love the code will have no difficulty in watching this entertaining film. Those who know nothing about it may give up, although the excerpts from particular matches are well edited, well-paced to keep up the adrenaline flow if not to help out in knowledge.
But there is obviously much more than soccer in this film. The country of location is American Samoa, the country’s team (country of only 65,000 people) have been playing, with little success, sorry, no success for more than a decade. They are on the FIFA list of countries, at the very bottom.
So, this is a film about underdogs, way way under. We are treated in the opening match to a clash between American Samoa and Australia, the latter winning 31 to nil! But the team is not absolutely dispirited. They keep on training, have a strong esprit de corps in the team, try out a number of coaches – with minimal success. We see an American Samoan man, living off-island, as they say, who does his best to build up the players, exasperated at their lack of stamina, fumbling the ball, kicking erratically, and the goalkeeper letting too many through. They bring back from Seattle their best goalkeeper (even though he was there for the 31-0 defeat).
Eventually, the president of the local club does some scouting, finding a number of American Samoan players who have joined the American military and living in the US. These are talented men and bring some life to the team. He also goes to the United States to find a coach, a Dutch-born coach, Thomas Rongen, who is pretty tough, initially exasperated with the men, but determined to do something with them. He more than puts them through their paces.
As might be realised, this is also a film about American Samoa, about the American influence, about life on the island, families, society – and a very explicitly devout religious sense and prayer. But, there is not enough for the young men on the island to do and many of them have joined the American military and move away. Their hearts, however, seem to be very much on the island.
A particular feature of the film is the character, Johnny. At first, audiences will be thinking that a girl is playing, and they aren’t entirely wrong. However, Johnny is a transgender person, living the life of a woman, but at times that of a man. The technical term for this third gender on the island is… fa’afafine. Johnny is also called Jaiyah by the members of the team who accept her/him, especially with such commitment to the game.
The drama of the film is all building up to South Pacific games – the team steadily keeping up its reputation for losses. But Rongen comes to prepare them for qualification matches for the World Cup, enlisting the presence of the expatriates, pressurising them all during their training regime.
If you don’t want to spoil the ending, skip this paragraph. Clearly from the dynamic of the film, the team is destined to have a victory, even if it is just one. They defeat Tonga. It is such a moment of triumph that the audience cannot help joining in the exhilaration and sentiment. They play well in a couple of other games, and, to the delight of the President of the club, find that they have jumped 18 places and are substantially away from the bottom of the ladder.
So, this is a sports film for those who love soccer and are interested in seeing a very weak team (even being defeated in one competition by Tuvalu!) build up a spirit and achieve a modest victory. The film is also an interesting sketch of life in American Samoa.
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