During his heyday, Brian Clough was widely acknowledged as the greatest ever English football manager to never manage the national team. He was brilliant and charismatic, loved by the fans during his glory days at Derby County, and respected by his players. He was also an outspoken, egotistical nightmare for his superiors and rivals. The Damned United examines Cloughie's spectacular fall from grace during an ill-judged decision to manage league champions Leeds United in 1974.
Why Did Brian Clough Go to Leeds?
The film skillfully presents the wider picture of what led Clough to Leeds by juxtaposing his dire 44 days there with flashbacks to his celebrated tenure at Derby. Clough hated Leeds. He bad mouthed them in the press and called them cheats. What on earth made him agree to manage the team? The Damned United does a damned good job of revealing the complex love/hate relationship Cloughie fostered towards the league champions and their manager Don Revie. And it's this human side of the picture, the precarious see-saw between Clough's insecurities and obsessions, his likability and his extreme arrogance, that gives the film its heart. Brian Clough is a character as proud and interesting as any hero, and as flawed as any villain.
The Damned United - Book Versus Film
Tom Hooper's film The Damned United is based on the book of the same name by David Peace. The book was a bestseller, but it does take a somewhat darker approach, imagining Cloughie's descent into alcoholism, and presenting a view of him as far more paranoid and power hungry. It was not well received by Clough's family (the great man himself died in 2004), which has meant an understandable reticence on their part to embrace the film. Yet Hooper's film is a much brighter, happier affair. Clough is portrayed as witty and astute. Qualities which work alongside the infamous braggadocio to convey his undeniable charm. With the chameleon-like acting abilities of Michael Sheen added to the mix, The Damned United achieves a far more positive, yet still utterly fascinating, portrait of Brian Clough.
Michael Sheen as Brian Clough
Michael Sheen inhabits the character of Brian Clough with proper gusto and painstaking attention to detail. For those of us who remember the man himself, the performance is really quite breath-taking. The whole film, in fact, is like a time machine. The recreation of 1970s Britain, from football grounds to flowery wallpapered semis, is perfect. Timothy Spall, as assistant manager Peter Taylor, is also quite superb. He doesn't have the same physical characteristics as the actual man himself, but the performance is captivating. It is the delicately realised relationship between these two men that forms the backbone of The Damned United, rather than on pitch antics. That said, by using actual footage from matches and TV interviews, which is deftly woven into the film, The Damned United cleverly avoids the often cringe worthy sight of actors attempting to play football. The believability factor is never lost, with real footage of mud, blood and glory fully capturing the essence of British football in the seventies. The supporting cast are also faultless, with particular plaudits going to Stephen Graham (who played the racist nutter Combo in This Is England) as Billy Bremner, Jim Broadbent as Derby chairman Sam Longson and Colm Meaney as Leeds supremo Don Revie. Ultimately, though, the film belongs to Michael Sheen/Brian Clough. And deservedly so. To paraphrase Old Big Head himself, I wouldn't say The Damned United is the best film ever made about football, but it's in the top one.
- The Damned United
- Starring: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Colm Meaney
- Directed by: Tom Hooper
- Written by: Peter Morgan, based on the book by David Peace
- Running Time: 97 minutes
Michelle Strozykowski - Michelle Strozykowski lives in a small brewing town smack bang in the middle of England. She loves films, especially arty European ones ...
