The salad bowl of discord and the ideological ferment triggered by the decision to participate in the final of the Davis Cup of 1976 in Chile of Pinochet. From those hectic days begins the story of A team, the first (“and certainly unique”) docuseries written and directed by the manufacturer Domenico Procacci. Tennis fans – first and foremost the producer and founder of Fandango – have been waiting for a tribute to quartet formed by Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti, Paolo Bertolucci and Antonio Zugarelli, headed by Nicola Pietrangeli. Because, in fact, no one had yet told the exploits of the Italian national tennis team which reached four endings of Davis Cup between 1976 and 1980, winning the first “salad bowl” right in Chile upset by the dictatorship. But the docuseries produced by Fandango, Sky And Cinecittà light it is not only aimed at tennis fans either to insiders. At the preview, to which we of Hall of Series we were invited, during the screening, in the hall, the din reigned, but of laughs And applause have a good time. The first directorial work of Domenico Procacci it’s not just an excellent example of sports docuseries (here you can find the one about Maradona), but it is a surprising, intense, funny and historically exciting human comedy, capable of involving above all those who do not understand anything about tennis. The Sky Original docuseries in six episodes will air from May 14 on Sky Documentaries at 9.15pm and the next day on Sky Sport One while the episodes will also be available on demand on Sky And NOW.
On the occasion of the release, without spoilers, let’s see why you absolutely must not let it escape.
Four different human beings, a formidable quartet
The directorial debut of Domenico Procacci it is a hymn to the passions. It is a human story, made up of different and sometimes conflicting visions, of dreams, ideals, laughter, improvised follies (of Panatta!) And sweat. If you are expecting the classic celebratory documentary on a sporting affair of the past, however, you could be very wrong. THE six episodes mainly retrace the sociopolitical events and the costume of the sixties and seventies. They show the almost bizarre differences between the present and a very different cultural and sporting past. A way of life the more human, less competitive sport, where passion, dedication and preparation were enough to bring young talents to the top of the world.
The story told is already exciting in itself and the skilful direction of Procacci, as a true conductor, enhances it. But it is the montage of Giogiò Franchini to mark the difference between one sports docuseries, very well done, and an extraordinary work, fun and of high artistic value. The editing, in fact, manages to convey with irony and with a comic timing as a maestro all the disagreements between two couples who never agree, namely Panatta-Bertolucci and Barazzutti-Zugarelli, and Captain Pietrangeli. A quintet of missed comedians, reunited by Procacci, who have not yet lost the desire to tease themselves after 46 years. Five tennis artists with different styles and with antithetical visions of the world, but always ready to join forces in times of difficulty.
A team is a simple and brilliant idea. When Domenico Procacci told us about it for the first time, he immediately convinced us to co-produce it. The result even exceeds expectations, it is a splendid six-part story, written, directed and edited with great skill, passion and irony, which contains everything: the celebration of a complicated but unique success, the sporting epic, the political history. , the Italian and international costume of the twentieth century and five sensational protagonists, with very different characters off the pitch, but all irresistible.
Roberto Pisoni, Director Sky Entertainment Channels
The background, the story of the “red shirt”, the points of view and misunderstandings
The first episode of A team – entitled The battle of Nicola – suddenly drags us to the center of the controversy about the decision to fly to Chile to play the Davis Cup final. A frantic, stormy start, which creates the right tension, as before a final. In the according to, The good people, we retrace the internationals of Rome, the victory against Spain in Barcelona, the 1974 defeat and South Africa of apartheid and the symbolic gestures against racism. The changing of the guard, the third episode, tells us about the years of formation of the quartet in the center of Formia, under the guidance of Belardinelli; the friction between Pietrangeli and the players and the growing admiration of the public.
In the fourth, entitled We do not feel for you anymore, we are in 1978, when the team decides to dismiss Pietrangeli. We thus experience betrayals, personal problems, defeats, couple changes and tragedies. With the last two episodes, respectively entitled Pugni Chiusi and Santiago, we return to the childhood of the quartet: at the origin of the passion for tennis; and retrace the Davis finale of 1980 in Czechoslovakia. After taking stock of their respective careers, the circle closes: we return to the victory of the 1976 Davis Cup for a exciting finalefull of background, from the “welcome” of the Chilean regime to the explanation of the “red shirt”.
The story opens and closes, therefore, from a single significant moment.
A team starts with the very delicate decision of the national tennis team to go to Chile, two years after Pinochet’s coup, and ends with a new point of view on the incident as much contested by public opinion as by the intellectuals of the time. The quartet he was even accused of sympathize for the regime. Domenico Procacci he wanted to offer those four boys, then in their early twenties, the opportunity to tell their story point of view. Adriano Panatta, for example, will confess:
I really lived those moments with discomfort. I wasn’t well thinking about what had happened just two years ago. Communication at the time was certainly different, less immediate, but the news that came from there was horrible, horrible.
The documentary therefore covers a time span that goes from the end of the years Sixty at the beginning of the years Eighty. A chapter of history narrated by Panatta, Barazzutti, Bertolucci, Zugarelli and Pietrangeli which, aged but always combative, allow us to go in depth and to look below the tip of the iceberg from a privileged point of view:
Studying the sporting story of the Italian victory in the 1976 Davis Cup I realized that it was only the emerged part of a much larger iceberg. I found much more that deserved to be told and I tried to do it in the best possible way and with the help of people more capable than me. I wanted the protagonists to tell their story. Nobody could have done it better
Domenico Procacci
A team is a story written by Domenico Procacci with Sandro Veronesi, Lucio Biancatelli and Giogiò Franchini just waiting to be rediscovered by a new angle. A great Italian sporting history enriched by audiovisual material and direct, exciting and entertaining testimonies. A journey through the often faded memories told by those (not so much more) young boys who have marked the history of tennis, together with their captain, nicely described as the villain of the story.
Produced by Domenico Procacci And Laura Paolucci and produced for Sky by Roberto Pisoni, Dino Vannini and Gaia Pasetto, with the patronage of ConesA team awaits you with six hilarious episodes starting from 14 May on Sky Documentaries at 9.15 pm and on Sky Sport Uno on Sunday 15 May, while from 14 May the episodes will be available on demand on Sky And NOW. A team is an exciting and hilarious overview of a chapter of Italian history narrated by one unprecedented perspective.
