鈥楲iving legend鈥橺latan Ibrahimovic comes to the silver screen
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Even though he鈥檚 still an active player, a new film premiering last week was attempting to tell the story of Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic by focusing on the star鈥檚 childhood growing up in a poor part of the city of Malmo.
Ibrahimovic, Sweden鈥檚 most successful player, still plays for AC Milan at age 40, and is known for his bravado and swagger, standing in contrast to his typically more humble compatriots.
After starting out with Sweden鈥檚 Malmo FF in 1999, he has gone on to play for major teams including Ajax, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
Pitched as a 鈥渢rue underdog story,鈥 the movie 鈥淛ag ar Zlatan鈥 (I am Zlatan) is based on the autobiographical book of the same name, but director Jens Sjogren said that he wanted to hone in on the player鈥檚 early years.
鈥淲hen I read the first chapters of the book I thought of my own childhood,鈥 Sjogren said, adding that by focusing on the young Zlatan the movie is likely to appeal to not just those who have followed 鈥淚bra鈥檚鈥 football career.
鈥淓ven though Zlatan had a rough childhood at times we have all been children and struggled with different things,鈥 the 45-year-old director said.
For Sjogren it was important for the film to also tell the story from a child鈥檚 perspective.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 he鈥檚 experiencing, we get to experience, but when there鈥檚 things he doesn鈥檛 hear or doesn鈥檛 understand then we as spectators shouldn鈥檛 understand that either,鈥 he said.
Big honor
The film starts following Zlatan from about aged 12, when he struggled in school. It also shows him moving away from his mother and in with his father before moving on to his first years as a professional player at Malmo and Ajax.
The perhaps somewhat daunting task of portraying a still living icon on screen was given to first-time actors Dominic Bajraktari Andersson, 15, and Granit Rushiti, 22, who are both playing Zlatan at different ages.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a great footballer, one of the best in the world. He鈥檚 a legend, so it鈥檚 of course a big honor for us to play him,鈥 Rushiti said.
As a former promising young footballer himself, though he had to retire after an injury, Rushiti said Zlatan had already been an inspiration to him.
鈥淚鈥檝e played football all my life so he鈥檚 been a big part of my life and my own football career. So I鈥檝e taken a lot from him,鈥 Rushiti said.
Both Rushiti and his younger co-star are, just like Zlatan himself, from Scania in Sweden鈥檚 far south.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 always played football, but he鈥檚 been a role model in other ways. Like his demeanor and what he鈥檚 like as a person. We are roughly from the same area, the same city Malmo. So he鈥檚 been a great role model,鈥 Andersson said.
Living legend
When the shooting of the movie was finished, the two young actors also had the opportunity to meet Zlatan in Milan.
鈥淏efore we started recording the movie I thought that Zlatan was pretty tough, he almost looked scary. But when I met him he was very kind, he was very charming and joked around. He got me to relax and all the nervousness just disappeared,鈥 Andersson said.
鈥淚t was like meeting a living legend that you鈥檝e looked up to.鈥
Last week鈥檚 arrival of the film to cinemas was reserved for Zlatan鈥檚 home country of Sweden. More countries will follow though in the coming weeks.
While Zlatan鈥檚 status as the greatest football player Sweden has ever produced is undisputed in his home country, his star in his hometown of Malmo has faded somewhat.
Just months after a statue of the local hero was erected in Malmo, it became the target of multiple acts of vandalism after Ibrahimovic announced that he was buying a stake in Stockholm-based club Hammarby, Malmo鈥檚 rivals.
Seen as a betrayal by fans, the statue has been spray-painted, knocked over and parts of it have been sawn off.
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