Friday sees the release of the new Ken Loach film, Looking for Eric, so it’s as good a time as any to throw some football nitty gritty into the critical mix.
As a Man United-supporting disciple of Eric Cantona, I’d been itching to see this film since word first spread after Cantona and Loach were spotted together at Old Trafford in April 2008.
The two first met after Cantona initiated contact with an idea he had for a film about his relationship with United supporters. His idea – based on a Leeds United fan who swapped loyalties to Manchester United when Cantona was transferred in November 1992 – didn’t quite ring true with Loach or with scriptwriter Paul Laverty. As devoted supporters of Bath City and Glasgow Celtic respectively, both were familiar with the sentiment, espoused by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, that “you can always change your life but not your football team” – a quote which found its way into the script, at least in a paraphrased form. In the end, the three – with Cantona gaining a credit as co-producer – settled on the concept of Eric Bishop, a middle-aged United supporter seemingly on the brink, who resorts to smoking weed and talking to his Eric poster in order to make sense of the direction his life has taken.
In spite of Loach’s football nouse, along with his famed sensitivity for the human condition, there was always a chance that the essence of the relationship between Cantona and his followers might be toned down in order to avoid alienating the average cinema-goer. Instead, the film manages to accommodate the somewhat inexplicable hero-worship of the Frenchman within a storyline that emphasises the socialist principle of team-work to the point that, according to Loach himself, the film could be viewed as anti-Thatcherite.
Thankfully for me it remains unashamedly pro-Eric.
Here’s a round-up of observations other border-line obsessive Cantonistas may appreciate (if you have no interest in football, look away now).
To get the most trivial point out of the way first, one of the goals as described by Little Eric does not correlate with the footage used. “Against Wimbledon, the defender headed it out, you took a touch with your right foot, the ball went a yard up in the air and then you volleyed it into the top corner”. A perfect description of Cantona’s goal against Wimbledon in the FA Cup in 1994. So why then was it accompanied by his goal against Wimbledon from the Premier League game in August 1996? According to the film’s editor, Jonathan Morris, there were concerns that showing the correct goal might confuse non-football fans as Cantona was wearing a green and yellow kit. The goal did eventually make it into the film, but it only did so in an earlier goal montage rather than in sync with Little Eric’s rehashed commentary.
Then there’s the editing of the goal montages, and the glaring omission of two screamers scored against Arsenal – one in September 1993, the other in March 1996. Both were in the top five or six goals Cantona ever scored, yet it turns out that the aforementioned Morris is an Arsenal fan. “The one thing I made sure of,” says Morris “was that there was no goal scored against Arsenal in the film”. Well, so long as the Gooner was happy!
September 1993
March 1996
At least Eric’s own favourite moment of his career made it into the film, you might think. A big deal has been made of the fact that, when asked by Loach about his career highlight, Cantona informed him that it was an assist rather than a goal. This made its way into the script and provides a foothold for the ensuing plot – but was Eric being completely honest with Loach, or was he merely giving him the answer that he thought a leftie would like to hear? Rewind a couple of years to the answer Cantona gave to the exact same question: “My best moment?” he pondered “I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.” Now it’s easy to see why Cantona decided against giving this answer when quizzed by Ken Loach. The mind boggles at the direction the film could have taken had the kung-fu kick formed a cornerstone of the narrative. Danny Dyer as Little Eric, anyone?
And last but not least, according to Big Eric, “You must trust your team-mates, always”. I’m yet to hear from Andy Cole on this issue, but I think he might have a bone to pick with Eric here. During the 1995-1996 season Cantona scored a ridiculous number of goals from long range, with an overwhelming number of cynics suggesting this only came about due to his refusal to pass the ball to his much-maligned striking partner. “Why does Cantona wear his collar up?” the old joke went. “To hide the marks from carrying Cole all season.” As for what Cantona’s former team-mate Lee Chapman might say on the issue of trusting one’s colleagues, it should suffice to say that the allegations that Eric slept with Chapman’s wife – Leslie Ash of Men Behaving Badly – have since been forcefully denied, at least by Ms Ash, and put down to being simply one of the many myths which surround Le Roi.
