''The Match'' is a 2021 Croatian-American sports

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

directed by Dominik and

Jakov Sedlar Jakov Sedlar (born 6 November 1952) is a Croatian film director and producer. A former cultural attaché during the 1990s in the Franjo Tuđman government, his documentaries promote Croatian nationalist views through propaganda. His 2016 documen ...

and starring Franco Nero, Armand Assante, and Caspar Phillipson. The film was inspired by true events which transpired in the spring of 1944.

Plot

To commemorate Adolf Hitler’s birthday, the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

organized a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match between an elite Nazi team and a squad of inmates from the camps made up of ex-footballers and political prisoners. Led by the former Hungarian football captain the team of prisoners are winning by virtue of their skills. During the half time they are given an assurance that they win freedom if they lose deliberately. However, despite all the obstacles confronting them, they are determined to win no matter what happens. The story is told in flashback by the last member of the team, then a boy, who manages to survive.

Cast

* Franco Nero as Branko * Caspar Phillipson as Colonel Franz * Armand Assante as Commander * Markus Gertken as General * Viktor Kulhanek as Young Branko * Andrej Dojkić as Laszlo Horvath * Filip Tallhamn as Karolyi Faraco * Philippe Reinhardt as Henckel * Milton Welsh as Peter * Paško Vukasović as Tibor * Inva Mula as Magda Stekely * Andrea Zirio as Sandor Stekely * Robert Maaser as Hans Gruber * Lujo Kunčević as Tomasz *

Mateo Kovačić Mateo Kovačić (; born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Croatia national team. He is usually deployed in a central or box-to-box role, but can play in deeper po ...

as Footballer #1 * Dejan Lovren as Footballer #2 * Ivan Colarić as Janko

Release

The film premiered at ''The Jewish International Film Festival'' in New Zealand on July 25, 2021, and it was released theatrically in the United States, on October 29, 2021, by Mutiny Pictures. On December 2, 2021, the film had its television premiere on Showtime Networks.

Music

The film's soundtrack was composed by Croatian composer

Dalibor Grubačević Dalibor Grubačević (; born January 9, 1975) is a Croatian composer, musician and record producer renowned for his works in the field of film music. Biography Dalibor Grubačević was born in Koprivnica (modern-day Croatia), where he grew up an ...

. It was distributed under ''Plaza Mayor Company'' on August 20, 2021.

References

External links