ESPN Films 30 for 30: The Two Escobars (new addition)

Well this was simply a fine film that captivated me from beginning to end. Broken down into essentially two parts (Pablo & Andres) it weaves a tale that is simultaneously grotesque and inspiring. That Colombia could be so united by it's soccer/football team is a testament to hope and a proud culture. This film incorporates numerous poignant interviews (both historic and contemporary) of former players, government officials, former drug traffickers, former Colombian soccer federation officials, and close friends and family of the two Escobars. You feel as though you are receiving the true story from the horses mouth, so to speak. And maybe, just maybe, we actually are.

'The Two Escobars' is essential viewing if only for it's presentation of the facts associated with the Andres Escobar murder that have been muddled by misinformation (which I too have been guilty of believing). The film even goes so far as to elude to Andres death not being related to drug cartel retaliation at all. But the truth may, in fact, be uglier and more of an indictment on the horrific and terrifying society of the time.

This film is worth your attention whether you are a fan of football, a fan of documentaries, a fan of history, or simply a fan of learning about people and cultures. It's not a feel-good movie on the surface, but if you know the Colombia of today it would be impossible not to feel good about how far this country has come since the turbulent times portrayed in this film.

On a personal note, I recently spent 5 months of my life in Colombia teaching English and I will say that Colombians are some of the friendliest and happiest people I have met anywhere on this Earth during my travels. Not only that but Bogota, where I spent the majority of my time, did not feel unsafe except in the deepest hours of the night and only really in the dodgier areas. But while there I never spoke with anyone to any great extent about the past, two decades ago when the country was a world away from the security it enjoys today. This film provides a glimpse into that tumultuous time when fear and paranoia clearly gripped every man, woman, and child in the country. It's the best history lesson I've ever watched!

See it!!! It's not really just a good ESPN program, it is actually a fine feature film (clocking in at 103 captivating minutes). I would honestly not be surprised if this is nominated for an Oscar. This is as good of a sports documentary as you are ever likely to see and is up there in the pantheon of the greats with documentary films like 'Hoop Dreams'.

I was 14 when I was watching the US play Colombia in the 1994 World Cup. I had already been playing soccer for almost 10 years and was watching the game with my dad, who was also my coach. We were watching the game in our living room and I totally remember when Colombia scored an own-goal. What I didn't know was the story behind that goal, the story behind the player, Andres Escobar, and the story behind the entire Colombia soccer team.

This documentary really delivers the story of what the Colombia National team had to go through to get to the World Cup. It also goes into a stunning detailed history of the relationship between the Colombia drug trade and a football-crazed nation. The historical footage the directors were able to obtain is absolutely incredible. Lots of real footage of Pablo Escobar and his involvement in the sport and the community. There is footage of the team and players at the prime of their careers. Footage of pick-up football games between rival drug dealers at their million-dollar ranches.

What really makes this film special is that the story is told by the people who were there: Family members of Pablo and Andres Escobar, team members and the coach of the 1994 Colombia National team, and people closely involved in the drama such as Pablo Escobar's cousin and Pablo's right hand man. When you hear the story coming out of their mouths and then watch the footage, the emotions you feel for these individuals is real. I was really touched by this film, not just because I'm a huge soccer fan, but because of the human lessons that can be learned from this film. There will always be a constant battle of good vs. evil in this world, and this was a story of just that.

The video describes, on one side, all the success of Colombian soccer founded by a good soccer team school established by coach Francisco Maturana. And on the other, the dirty money generated by Pablo Escobar and other Colombian drug lords between the end of the 80's and all the 90's that penetrated the Colombian professional soccer society. In my opinion, 95% of what is said in the movie is true, HOWEVER in some instances the edition and translation (since I'm a native Spanish speaker and lived in Medellin between 1989 and 1996) are not correct and can be misleading. For example, as far as edition, the video mixes images of Pablo Escobar's participation in public soccer games in the 70's with images of Medellin's Nacional soccer team in a game in the city's stadium in 1989. Regular watchers could conclude that in 1989 Pablo Escobar could go to soccer matches in public stadiums, but in reality and what most watchers wouldn't know is that during 1989 Pablo Escobar was already a wanted man and he completely avoided public appearances. A second example of how the movie can be misleading: it is true that Colombian referrees received dirty money from drug lords to benefit their teams in the Colombia's national tournament, however the movie implies that Medellin's Nacional team won the South American tournament Copa Libertadores also as a result of "buying" international referrees and favoring Nacional's results to become champion. However, there was never any claim by Copa Libertadores or FIFA's organizing bodies, evidence, or even rumors that Nacional illegally won such an important tournament. As to erratic translation, when describing the series of events that affected Colombian's National Team during the 1994 World Cup in the US and specially prior to Andres Escobar's assassination, the movie translates that Chonto Herrera's brother "was killed". However his expression can also mislead a viewer making him/her believe that Chonto Herrera's brother was also assassinated even though the Spanish expression "se mató", as it was said by the Colombian soccer player in the movie, can also apply to a death in a car accident or other accident of some sort, but the movie fails short to clarify the cause of Chonto's brother death. The bottom line is that Chonto was psychologically affected by the tragic news he received from his family prior to the game with the U.S. national team and that affected his performance. In general, this is a story of cruel reality in Colombia as society and passion for soccer, but that also leaves us with hope by knowing that there are many people and soccer players like Andrés Escobar whose image is left clean as a gentleman on and off soccer fields.