The Damned United from the perspective of someone who hates sport
This blog post is about the film . It is not a comparison with the book and it certainly won't explore the accuracy of the film's depiction of Brian Clough's life and career. I am afraid that before people started talking about the film I had never heard of Brian Clough, having avoided even David Peace's book because I knew it was about football. Plus, I was two years old in 1974, and it wasn't as if I remember the events from the first time around.
Michael Sheen as Brian Clough. Photograph by Laurie Sparham
So it was with some trepidation that I went to see a biopic of a football manager, half expecting to be bored or baffled - instead I was thoroughly entertained. Most of the sports films I've seen follow the arc of a pair of star-crossed lovers, beginning in adversity but ending up happily ever after. The Damned United instead jumps back and forth between Brian Clough's remarkable success at Derby County and his difficult tenure at Leeds United. Clough's rise unfolds in parallel with his fall, both caused (it is suggested in the film), by the extent of his ambition. The calendar flips back and forth in a device that could have been irritating or confusing but fortunately works well.
With little actual football shown on screen, the story becomes about Brian Clough's rivalry with Don Revie, and his relationship with right-hand-man Peter Taylor. The performances are all excellent and the film is moving in its portrayal of these mens' preoccupation and dependency on each other. How pleasing to see a film set in the 1970s that doesn't wallow in period detail or musical nostalgia. It also doesn't matter whether or not you are familiar with the characters involved, the film assumes no prior knowledge and if it was full of in-jokes my enjoyment wasn't at all damaged by not getting them. You can watch an interview with Tom Hooper - the young British director of The Damned United, Longford and John Adams - which we uploaded on the website last month to accompany our item on HBO. With a production of going into production this year, we are likely to hear more about Tom Hooper very soon.
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