Most football clubs tend to wait until they’ve won a trophy or, at the very least, scored a famous victory before releasing an official film. But even serial DVD-releasers Spurs might baulk at releasing a feature film about a season where the most notable games featured two heartbreaking defeats. In this respect, Blue Moon Rising is a typically fitting film for Manchester City.
It’s hard to escape the feeling that this 90 minute documentary was commissioned with a view to celebrate the Blues’ march into the Champions League, possibly the a trophy in play. Instead, it feels somewhat masochistic for even the most devoted Manchester City fan to want to relive their Carling Cup semi-final defeat to rivals Manchester United and the last-gasp fourth place failure at home to Spurs.
But although the main focus of Blue Moon Rising is the 2009/10 season, thankfully we don’t get it completely from the club’s perspective. Instead director Stewart Sugg chooses to follow the season through the eyes of five devoted City fans, and this provides a small amount of saving grace for the film.
Chief among the fans is Steve, who persuaded his mates to chip in and by a battered of Espace called Helios and is utterly devoted to his team, to the point of having a City shine-cum-games room in his house and encouraging his four-year-old daughter to throw away anything coloured red.
Everybody knows a Steve, the fan who would do anything for the club. Had Steve chosen to follow Rochdale or Stockport, he’d no doubt be a familiar face and volunteer around the ground. Instead, he’s just another regular devotee, albeit one who is a little more extreme in his fandom than the average supporter.
The chat with Steve and his four mates is amiable enough and much more interesting than whenever City’s chief executive Garry Cook or chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak utter whatever bland corporate inanity they’ve been asked about. In terms of insight into how the club works, these two bring nothing to our understanding.
But you know this isn’t the most engaging of documentaries, when the most emotional point comes when Steve takes Helios into the garage only for the mechanic to recommend the vehicle should be scrapped.
And while Sugg is keen to portray the five as average fans, there are some truly daft things that come out of their mouths, such as one admitting he votes Conservative on the basis their colour is blue. Or another listing why he likes so many blue things, to conclude with “The sea’s blue and I’ve always loved the sea.”
Ultimately, though, the ordinary fans section jumble alongside super-slow-motion, and frankly somewhat tedious, drawn out highlights and discussion of some of the key games of the season: Victories over Arsenal and Chelsea, both legs of the Carling Cup semi against United, and the loss against Spurs in the battle for the final Champions League place.
Key moments are hyped up with dramatic music and tension, but this falls completely flat because the games are so recent in the memory that we all know whether Tevez will score is penalty or if Emmanuel Adebayor will net against former club Arsenal (and his daft celebration is ridiculously glorified). It’s like the moments in Masterchef when they try to build the tension as to which cook will get through even though there’s one standout contestant and no amount of dramatic tension can make it interesting.
The exclusive access is also distinctly underwhelming as well. Insights from the players and staff are nothing more than you’d get on Sky Sports News after the game, although Roberto Mancini’s English lessons are an unexpected highlight.
This lack of insight is particularly frustrating especially as occasionally lines are thrown out you wish Sugg would expand on. Garry Cook mentions that the training facilities weren’t fit for his child’s school when he arrived at the club, yet we don’t get any explanation of why, and there’s no real clue as to what’s changed since Sheikh Mansour purchased the club.
There are brief nods to the club’s history as well, although these are told through visual metaphor-heavy recollections from fans at the 1976 League Cup final victory, the FA Cup final loss to Spurs and the third tier play-off final turnaround against Gillingham.
Indeed, the short section of the latter of these is incredibly frustrating as this was as much of a turning point in the Blues history as anything other game, yet we’re given absolutely no context of why this was important. Similarly, there’s no mention of the Shinawatra or Lee eras in the boardroom, or anything other than a nod to Malcolm Allison in the dugout, possibly some of the more interesting areas to focus on.
Ultimately, Blue Moon Rising eschews the more interesting areas of City’s past and present in favour of a jumble of style, none of which work. There are good stories around the blue half on Manchester, but this is no Once In A Lifetime - the excellent documentary on the New York Cosmos - and the overall technique leaves for a film that’s only sporadically interesting.
What’s left is a beautifully shot end of season review that might make a mildly diverting late night documentary on Sky Sports, or a top-class DVD for the fans. But unless you’re a Manchester City supporter, it’s difficult to see why anyone would pay money to watch this in the cinema.