The way back - True Blue 2

You don´t have to be a football fanatic to appreciate The Way Back – True Blue 2. By the Swedish movie premiere in the spring of 2002 the film was honoured for its warmth and humour.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic from The Way Back - True Blue 2
The legendary football team Malmö FF has been kicked out of the Swedish Premier League for the first time in 64 years. The camera captures the despair in the faces of the players and leaders afterwards in the locker room. The unemployed supporter Lasse is home in his kitchen, devastated. His girlfriend Maria is trying to console him. From now on, the way back to the Premier League begins. Lasse follows his team at the football grounds all around Sweden. But sometimes he drinks a little too much…

A young guy with an immigrant background gets an important role in the team. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is described as being the greatest talent in Swedish football ever. However, his cocky attitude creates problems in the team. Zlatan has to control his temperament and learn that football is a team sport.

From Malmö with Love - review by Henrik Hamrén


Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the Gertten brothers.

 

19 YEAR-OLD ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC sits on a train contemplating his future in football: “When I turn pro I’m gonna have a Diablo – that’s a Lamborghini … a purple Diablo.” The scene is taken from the 2002 documentary film True Blue 2 (Vägen tillbaka – Blådårar 2), by Stefan Berg and the Gertten brothers,Fredrik and Magnus.

JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN MALMÖ remembers that scene. It was before Ibrahimovic’s move to Ajax and the celebrated back heel for his country in the Euro championships, before his multi-million contract with Juventus. Before Zlatan became “Ibra” on the world football stage. It’s easy to see why the two films about the Malmö FF football club were such a success. They have all the sure-fire ingredients of a documentary: a build-up of tension, strong emotions, a dramatic shift from darkness to light, not to mention a sulky star who finally comes good and saves the day. “It was a shot in the dark, really,” says Magnus Gertten. “We just went up to Sveriges Television and said: Hi – we want to make a film about Malmö FF. It probably wasn’t the best formulated film idea they’d ever heard, but finally they gave it the go ahead.” It was a wise decision – the film was an immediate hit. And since then, Berg and the Gertten brothers have been making films at a cracking pace, leading the way in the so-called “Malmö Wave” of Swedish documentary films.

Read the whole review "From Malmö with Love - You´d better watch out. The underdogs are coming" by Henrik Hamrén in Made in Sweden #4 2004 - the magazine abut swedish film.

Review BlådårarMADE_IN_SWEDEN_04.pdf 1.25MB

Festivals

2002
Gothenburg Filmfestival 25/1-2/2

Nordic Panorama, Oulu 23-29/9

Festival de Sevilla, Cine y Deporte 4-10/11

IDFA Amsterdam 21/11-1/12

2003
Doc Point, Helsingfors 16-19/1

B-film, Hamburg 10-12/4

European Documentary filmfestival Oslo 31/3 - 6/4

2004
Festroia - International Film Festival, Setúbal, Portugal 4-13/6

Sheffield

Ballspotting, Berlin February 20-26

Prix Europa, Berlin, Nominated to Golden Goal Award


Zlatan is back in shape in True Blue 2.



The movie is about love for a fotboll team.


Zlatan is still numer one.