The movie life of sports idol Diego Maradona, between heaven and hell, between glory and death, is reflected in the series ‘Maradona: Conquest of a Dream’, an Amazon production that premiered in Argentina and is available here Friday (29) around the world on its streaming platform.
The first of ten episodes, entitled ‘Promessa’, tells stories of the iconic former Albiceleste captain of the world champion in Mexico-1986, with its dramatic contrasts, on the eve of the tributes for his birthday on October 30, 1960 and almost one year after his death, on November 25, 2020.
In a parallel montage, one can see in the fiction the boy wonder who at nine years old told a camera his dream of being world champion and the retired football player who at 40, due to addictions, suffers his first cardiorespiratory attack that leaves him on the brink of death in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este.
The series is a super-production by BTF Media, associated with Dhana Media and Latin We, shown by Amazon Prime Video and which debuted on Argentine open television channel 9, with a maximum audience of 8.8 points, behind only a program with 14.1 points from local television leader Telefé, according to Real Time Rating.
“To understand him is to understand the political, social and economic context in which he lived”, commented to AFP actor Juan Palomino, who plays the adult Maradona, whose fame grew almost as he drowned in alcohol and drugs, with a turbulent sentimental life.
The context cited by Palomino refers to his birth in a favela and the repression of the dictatorship (1976-83), including a scene in which the young Maradona is about to be arrested as a suspect at a military checkpoint.
“Maradona: Conquering a Dream” plunges into politics, reflecting Maradona’s Peronist (currently ruling) identity, which hasn’t stopped him from admiring left-wing leaders like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez.
Despite the series’ epic tone, there is an attempt to delve into the sometimes dark intimacy of the former player, without forgetting his purest passions and volcanic love affairs.
“He lived this deep loneliness, which was wanted on no one. It seems to me that this is the key,” said Palomino, at the presentation party at the Argentinos Juniors stadium, where Maradona made his debut when he was just 15 years old.
“I’m a re-Maradonian (fan), I love Diego. I would get up at six in the morning to see him at the juvenile (U20 World Champion in Japan-1979)”, says Jean Pierre Noher, who plays the second lawyer and representative of Maradona, Guillermo Cóppola.
The Argentine press claims that the production was authorized by Maradona and questioned by Villafañe, mother of his first two daughters, Dalma and Gianinna.
The idol’s entire family is immersed in legal disputes. One is the investigation for the alleged medical negligence in the death of his father almost a year ago and the other for the rights to use the Maradona brand. The legend does not rest in peace, but revives on screen
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