PENALTY: When Winning Is Worth So Much More Than Three Points

Italian cartoonist and filmmaker Aldo Iuliano’s short film Penalty has been raking in awards across the international festival circuit, and it is easy to see why. In just 15 minutes, Penalty manages to pack more of an emotional punch than most features. It chronicles a five-a-side soccer match seemingly in the middle of nowhere, under stormy skies that look ready to explode in thunder and fury at any moment.

But the weather isn’t the only intense thing about this soccer game. As Iuliano gradually shows us, with the help of gorgeous cinematography by Daniele Ciprì and evocative editing by Marco Spoletini – both of whom deserve just as much credit for Penalty’s success as its director – there’s a lot more at stake than bragging rights for the winners.

The Beautiful Game

The film opens beneath those menacing gray skies, on a ragged grassy patch near the sea, as the eleven men draw straws to see who will play the part of referee. The game then slowly unfolds, with the players at first appearing to be rather uninterested but gradually growing more and more aggressive as the game proceeds.

Despite typically being the main focus of a soccer match, the men’s feet and the ball are rarely seen (for very specific reasons that Penalty reveals in disturbing fashion later in the film). Instead, Cipri’s camera focuses on the men’s faces and bodies, with close-ups of beads of sweat on heavily creased brows and lean, muscular chests rising and falling with exertion. Spoletini edits these shots together in a rhythmic way that evokes modern dance more than it does a soccer match. There is little audible dialogue; the men’s movements do all of the talking for them.

Raising The Stakes

The match builds in intensity until a brutal foul leads to a broken ankle and a pivotal call from the referee for a penalty. From there, Iuliano pulls us out of the match and back in time to show us the shocking reason why the men are playing in the first place. In doing so, he shows us the incredible lengths people will go to start new lives.

Iuliano hails from the city of Crotone in the southern Italian province of Calabria, a popular landing point for refugees and other people seeking new beginnings in Europe. He shot the film there and cast untrained actors who he met when working in migration facilities. This could have been a risky move, but in Penalty it pays off. Watching the film, one can see that the desperation and pain in the eyes of his characters come from a genuine, deep-seated place that no amount of acting classes could replicate.

Conclusion: Penalty

Penalty is a beautiful piece of short storytelling that will appeal to fans of both soccer and cinema. Yet in the end, it is less about the sport the world loves and more about the innate human desire for survival.

What do you think? When do sports results mean more than just points and trophies? Share your thoughts in the comments below.