Offside (2009 film)

Plot

Charlie (Terry Rogers) is the good-looking, hard-working brother who runs Uncle Vito's cafe, as well as the local soccer club. He enjoys casual success with women, but is careful to avoid commitment. The other brother, Frank (Peter Evangelista) is an unemployed dreamer who studies the Joga Bonito, Total Football and Johan Cruyff, while functioning as the coach of their suburban football team. For Charlie it is all about winning; for Frank it is all about the pursuit of excellence.

Meanwhile, their suburban team is made up of old school friends who have a range of issues of their own. Damon (Peter Michell) is married to Isabella (Elena Carapetis), who is slowly turning her ocker husband into an Italian. Angelo (Sam Tripodi) is married to Lisa (Kimberley Hart); she wants him to focus on starting a family. Kon (Frank Romeo) and Mark (Saxon Cordeaux) are slackers; they work for Sarah (Chloe Gardner), who fancies Charlie. And Charlie fancies Katie (Georgii Speakman), the unattainable sexy blonde with a secret.

The guys are all approaching the end of their football careers. Family responsibilities, age and business pressures combine to make this their last season together and they would love to go out as champions. To this end, they embrace serious training and adopt a few questionable tactics. When Uncle Vito (Gabriel Damiani), the godfather of the piece, backs the boys to win the cup to the tune of $50,000, the tensions increase. As the team closes in on an elusive place in the Cup final, Charlie discovers true love, but has to decide if Katie is the kind of girl he can safely take home to mother.

Woven through all this is the progress of the Socceroos at the 2006 World Cup finals, with the steady success of the Australian team generating enthusiasm amongst Australians who traditionally had no interest in soccer, and increasing inspiration for the boys.

"It's a fun film", said the producer, Matt Salleh. "One that's character-driven, hopefully by characters who resonate with people."

Cast

The main cast includes:

In order to play the role of Leechy, well-known media personality Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann flew to Adelaide for six hours. Once shooting was completed, he broadcast his afternoon drive-time radio show from a sister Adelaide radio station, before flying back to Sydney.

Script

Offside started life as a script called "2nd Generation", which focussed on the way second generation migrant children often squander the hard work of their parents. Carlo added the idea of the soccer team keeping them together beyond high school, and the concept for Offside was born.

Urtext

The film was independently financed, and was the first feature produced by Urtext Film Productions, an independent film company based in Adelaide, South Australia. Urtext functions as a filmmakers co-op. Once writer/director Gian Carlo took the script for Offside to Urtext, the collective quickly started making their first feature film.

Executive producer, Matthew Salleh, said that he believed Australian "audiences want to see themselves reflected on the screen" and that Offside fulfills that desire.

Filming

It was shot in less than 30 days, in January/February 2008. Much of the work was done at night, because that was the only time the locations were available for filming. Adelaide experienced a heat wave as it usually does around that time of year and many scenes, which supposedly occur in winter, feature actors clearly dressed for an Australian summer.

The film gained enormous support from the local football community. Intense interest from numerous local businesses and individuals made private funding of the film achievable, and, as Filmink put it, "something the neighbourhood could be a part of". Many members of the Adelaide United Football Club attended screenings of the film. Offside, explained Matthew Salleh, is "about those die-hard football fans we all know and love. They're who this film is based on, and they are the ones that want to see this film, so we're looking to them, as opposed to the mainstream film industry, to help promote this movie".

Locations

The film was shot entirely in Adelaide and surrounding areas. Angelo’s home was at Burbridge Road, West Beach. Mark’s flat was at Renwick Street, Henley Beach. The Fasta Pasta restaurant on South Terrace, Adelaide was used for Uncle Vito’s coffee shop. Rigoni’s – a long-time landmark restaurant in Adelaide – was the setting for the lunch where Katie and Shakira walk out.

Football matches were staged at the TK Shutter Reserve, Klemzig (home of the North Eastern MetroStars), and in the Northern Parklands. A couple of training run scenes were shot at Montefiore Hill, with the City of Adelaide as a backdrop. The office occupied by Sarah, Mark and Kon was the BCFR Accounting offices in Melbourne Street, North Adelaide. The fish and chip shop was in Fourth Avenue, Klemzig. The car scenes were all shot in Woodville. The end scenes were shot at Joe’s Kiosk, Henley Beach, which has since become a famous meeting place, for South Australian politicians.

Soundtrack

Music by Ikochi, Fighterpilot, Laura Hill, King Daddy, Pornland, Tracer, Fireballs, Matthew Salleh, Maeder, M Williams, Andrew 'Pange' Niemoeller, The Huckleberry Swedes, Sonic Monkey, and The Secret Game.

Critical reception

The film received a positive reception from critics. An account of the premiere was broadcast nationally by SBS One, the Australian television network most closely associated with soccer. Filmink embraced it as "a good underdog film", placing it in the same class as The Castle, Crackerjack and Two Hands. The first screening at the Adelaide Film Festival was sold out. The cinema manager described a later screening on 26 March 2009 at the Mercury Cinema as their "biggest night in thirty-five years".

Additional awards and nominations