04/04/2025
The author of 'Angeball' (which I loved), Vince Rugari, wrote a review of Ange & The Boss.
‘There is, unexpectedly, a very emotional undertone to this film ... Ange & The Boss deserves to sit on the top shelf of the Australian sporting film library forever.'
Thanks Vince!
Here is the full review
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By Vince Rugari
'It's hard to imagine Lionel Messi becoming a coach when he retires. Life in Miami seems to agree with him too much. But, just for now, for the purposes of this exercise, try to imagine it. And then try to imagine him washing up in Melbourne, of all places, after being lured there by a somewhat dubious businessman to do some junior coaching clinics - gratis - and then deciding he liked the lifestyle so much he would stick around and coach in the national league. Imagine that one of the players in his team was so inspired he goes on to become arguably Australia's greatest ever coach, in any sport, in history.
'And then try to imagine it happening in almost total anonymity, as if it was unfolding behind the curtains of a secret subculture within the city, 95 per cent of the population totally unaware of the presence of this legendary figure at the helm of one of their most important cultural institutions - and then being almost totally forgotten, somehow slipping between the cracks of the Australian sporting consciousness, to the point where a quarter of a century later, if you didn't know about it, you'd think someone made it up.
'This is essentially the story of Ferenc Puskas, world football's first true superstar, at South Melbourne.
'Of course, thousands of people remember it happening, but a fantastic tale like this shouldn't be memory holed. It shouldn't be shoved off to the side behind some bushes, like the statue of the Hungarian great which stands in Melbourne's Olympic Park precinct, unbeknownst to most. It should be front and centre in our minds. It should be celebrated, and shared.
'Fortunately, Ange & The Boss: Puskas in Australia is here to right these wrongs. Directors Cam Fink and Tony Wilson have done a marvellous job in rescuing this story from obscurity, blowing off the dust and cobwebs, and modernising it so as to not only serve as a fitting tribute to Puskas and his three seasons in charge of South Melbourne in the old National Soccer League, but as a small part of the origin story of Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou, who was captain of the team and credits Puskas' attacking ideals with helping to spark his own philosophy.
'The footage of Puskas gracefully carrying his enormous post-retirement belly around suburban parks in Melbourne during exhibition games staged by the Hungarian community would be worth the price of admission alone. And there's more comedy and farce beyond that: stories of the pre-match meals he mandated for South Melbourne players, the motivational talks he delivered them in very broken English, the X-***ed pranks they pulled on him, the nicknames he had for them, the vulgar gestures he delivered to mouthy fans behind the dugout during games ... it's pure gold, and to go any deeper than that would be to spoil them.
'But there is, unexpectedly, a very emotional undertone to this film.The scenes involving former South Melbourne president George Vasilopoulos, who was at the helm of the club during the Puskas era and later gave Postecoglou his first chance as a senior coach, are genuinely moving. They are a poignant reminder of how deeply important South Melbourne and football are to the Greek-Australian community, and how lucky they were to have had Puskas essentially rock up at their doorstep, deliver a title and a dose of inspiration that transformed not only the club, but left an indelible imprint on the people who were fortunate enough to have seen this miracle occur with their own eyes.
'The rest of us will have to settle for this documentary - which, absent a Delorean, does an excellent job in taking us right back to the time and place, and gives us as close to the feeling as we could hope for. Ange & The Boss deserves to sit on the top shelf of the Australian sporting film library forever.'
https://goodonewilson.substack.com/p/there-is-unexpectedly-a-very-emotional
A list of cinemas, session times and ticket links is on angeandtheboss.com . It’s likely this weekend is last chance for viewing at Norton Street Sydney, Balwyn and Westgarth cinemas. There is another Paul Trimboli Q&A at Nova Cinema on 9th March which will likely sell out. Kon Karapanagiotidis from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) will share his parents’ coming to Australia story that night. There are still daily sessions at Nova, The Picadilly in Adelaide and Five Star New Farm in Brisbane.
