Kicking + Chatting: Blowing the whistle with Mattias Löw, director of The Referee

by Noah Davis

When director Mattias Löw set out to document Swedish referee Martin Hansson’s attempt to land a spot in the 2010 World Cup, he figured he had a nice, simple story to tell: Löw would follow Hansson, Sweden's most accomplished official, for several months, delving into his motivations, his stresses, his talents.

Then, Hansson missed Theirry Henry's handball against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier, and everything changed.

Löw chatted with K+S via email about the incredible missed call that transformed his film The Referee (Swedish title: Rättskiparen), which screens at K+S on Saturday, July 23, from a simple biopic into something historic.

Kicking + Screening: How did you strike upon the idea for The Referee?

Mattias Löw: I was always interested in who was hiding behind the mask, that rigid face we've become accustomed to seeing in the middle of the heat in top-flight football/soccer. Who would want to be there, and why? What were the underlying reasons for being a referee on this level when you can't win, only end up in controversy, and therefore somewhat lose?

We also wanted to understand what the human eye can capture as football/soccer gets faster and faster, and the elements of cheating become more sophisticated.

K+S: Missing the call on the Thierry Henry handball was a massive moment in Martin Hansson's career, and it adds a dramatic narrative to the story and an appeal to a wider audience that might not be there otherwise. In many ways, that low point for Hansson worked out well for the film.

Löw: As a documentary filmmaker you always struggle to find the most appealing way to structure the telling of your story. When something like what happened to Martin in Paris that night in November 2009 occurs, you feel somewhat lucky—from a cynical perspective, that is—as much as you also suffer with your character. But as this is Martin's reality in its purest form, you have to use it to be honest and to raise the stakes in your portrayal.

We chose to build the structure of the film around the incident because it was a documentary short. Had we done a feature-length documentary, we would probably have chosen a different path where the France-Ireland situation came somewhere in the middle of the film.

After all, these moments define top-level referees: If you've got it or not, and if you manage to go on and accept your mistakes.

K+S: On the other hand, did the incident’s notoriety make the filmmaking process more difficult?

Löw: I am not a major football/soccer fan and my producing wife and football/soccer-abhorring editor are even less interested, so we felt quite free from public opinion and consensus. Despite that, we did feel that the incident in Paris, as obvious and exposed as it was to the world, beautifully brought out the darker, private side of being a referee. We were quite sure the world knew very little about this part. Nobody knew what happened in Martin's mind after the game.

It would have been nice to speak to Thierry Henry too and see what was going on in his mind as I believe—hope?—he slept even worse than Martin.

K+S: You had great access when filming. Were there any places you wanted to get that you couldn't?

Löw: We would have enjoyed access at some international matches that Martin refereed, like a Champions League or a Europa League game, or an international 2010 World Cup qualifier here in Europe. Unfortunately, it was way too difficult to organize a smooth shoot due to the fact that football organizations like UEFA and FIFA have absolutely no interest in accommodating small, non-lucrative, personal stories.

Since we also had to deal with rights issues and spoke quite a bit with Martin (off camera) about the ins and out of FIFA and UEFA, we can calmly say that is perfectly clear that these giants have only one thing on their agendas and it is spelled "money." TV controls them like puppets as that's where the money is. Anything else is less than secondary. If you cannot bring them money or something that can lead to money, you are of no use to them and their cold, capitalistic needs.

We were utterly surprised at this cutthroat approach as we applied for access. We gave up quickly because media officers started to insult us, asking who we thought we were, etc., etc. I guess you could say that the top-level football/soccer world relies on the lowest common denominator.

K+S: The Referee has won multiple awards. Did you ever anticipate it would be this well received?

Löw: As I mentioned before we are not big football/soccer fans, but it's nice that the film seems particularly well received on the football circuit. We tried to make a film for football/soccer fans as well as doc and film buffs, and I think we succeeded. Almost a million  saw it on TV here in Sweden. And as football/soccer is such a beautiful glue for the world, I believe the film can offer some unusual insights into the life of a world-class referee out of the spotlight.

Winning festival prizes and being selected for festivals is of course nice, especially if the festival pays the trip, but the most important thing for us is that the audience understands how incredibly difficult it is to be a referee at this level. Nobody is perfect. I hope they understand this before they start chanting derogatory words, throwing things, and even attacking the officials. 

I know it sounds utopian and pretentious, but one has to try.

The Referee screens on Saturday, July 23. Purchase tickets here. 

 

Comments

[Perla]

Exactly they fling thsmeelves on the ground and I think What a drama queen mostly but the other day it replayed and the guy actually did get jacked in the face pretty hard. (I am petty and small also. Drama queens.)