‘Baggio: The Divine Ponytail,’ movie review: The tragedy of expectations

The Netflix biopic sets out to explore the ‘man behind the football,’ but captures neither the essence of the man, nor of football

The legend of Roberto Baggio is enshrined within Italian footballing folklore. Despite an injury-ridden career, the 1993 Ballon d’Or winner is known to the country as Raffaello del calcio; the Raphael of football. “I would like people, from the movie about me, to understand the difficulties faced, the importance of reaching the end of the path and being satisfied with what has been done,” Baggio said about the film in an interview with la Repubblica. However, director Letizia Lamartire’s film, made with consultation from the footballer, lacks several key ingredients of a good biopic... most importantly, a clear story. We are introduced to young Baggio as the film begins, setting out to achieve the dream of scoring a goal against Brazil in a world cup final. The narrative ‘path’ is set — the story is attempted to be told in a literal three act structure — Baggio’s time in Fiorentina, in the Italian national team and in Brescia, giving the audience glimpses of his personal life. However, the mammoth task the film undertakes, of cramming about two decades of a footballer’s life, into the short duration of the film, is its greatest downfall. Baggio: The Divine Ponytail has a hard time convincing the viewers about its seriousness. In trying to portray the various struggles that the protagonist has to navigate, the narrative loses direction. Is it about a father accepting his son’s ambitions? Is it about the player’s struggle to overcome the serious injuries that plagued his career? Or is it about the spiritual journey which helped Baggio overcome the trauma and emotional pain of not being able to fulfil his ‘destiny’?