Between the fans, the players, the commentators and the armchair experts, the role of the football referee is a tough one, with every decision under closer and closer scrutiny and vitriol poured onto the match official to the extent that he or she can never win. Even when there is praise, it is grudging.
The thoroughly absorbing short documentary The Game follows a top-level Swiss football match, and is largely seen through the eyes of leading referee Fedayi San as he has to juggle with the physical pressures of watching over the match (it is reckoned a referee covers about seven miles during any one game), deal with bickering and argumentative players, work in liaison with his linesmen and keep tabs on the off-pitch video assistant who constantly feeds him information to help former his on-pitch decisions.
It is a beautifully structured film that remains steady and emotionless as it pieces together footage from the crowd, commentators, officials, players, stewards and video assistant to present a delicious dive into an aspect of the game rarely focussed upon. (Only once is the camera trained on the ball, as a matter of interest, as it is slotted into the net for a goal.)
Fedayi San shows great control of the match despite pressure from all quarters. He is exasperated at times by the players as he aims to make the right decision, but he also acknowledges that passions run high during a game. Even at half-time he and his linesmen huddle to make sure they’d got a decision right earlier in the half.
Elegantly made by director Roman Hodel, if offers a new perspective of the beautiful game, balancing great visuals with striking audio (as match officials keep in touch via radio) and delightfully offering up a human element as San is driven away from the stadium by his father who has attended the match, and who says simply; “It was a good match”. San’s reply is just that it was “exhausting,” and that something always happens when his father is in attendance.
Switzerland, 2020, 17mins
Director: Roman Hodel
Production: Ensemble Film Gmbh, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
International sales: Ouat Media
Producer: Franziska Sonder
Cinematography: Lukas Gut
Editor: Rolf Hellat, Roman Hodel
