Over the last week, a new sports documentary ANGE & THE BOSS has premiered before sold out cinema audiences in Sydney and Melbourne. The screenings are part of the Greek Film Festival and management at Melbourne’s Astor said it was the first time the iconic venue had been sold out in years.
ANGE & THE BOSS is focused on ‘The Boss’, the legendary Hungarian and Real Madrid striker Ferenc Puskas who terrorised defenses in the 1950s and 60s, captaining the Magnificent Magyars to years of undefeated glory, and soring 83 goals in 84 internationals. As now Tottenham Manager Ange Postecoglou says at the start of the film, “if you’re having a poll of 100 journalists… 90% of them are having him in the top ten players of the last century.”
But this film isn’t about the great Puskas’ well documented heyday. ANGE & THE BOSS focuses on the last leg of his amazing football life. In the late eighties he landed in Melbourne’s outer east, coaching clinics and a junior team in Keysborough, before finding his way to South Melbourne Hellas, where the team captained by Postecoglou won the 1991 championship in dramatic fashion.
“When I heard about this story ten years ago,” director-producer Tony Wilson says, “I was amazed I didn’t know anything about it. Surely Puskas living here should have been front page news? I figured if I didn’t know, others wouldn’t know either and it would be a good topic for a documentary.”
“Interviewing the players was a joy,” co-director Cam Fink says. “The love for Puskas and that magical era is still abundant.”
The Astor audience certainly shared that love. ANGE & THE BOSS is full of funny little stories — about food, training philosophies, translation foibles and the Postecoglou experience, driving the great man around in his 200B. But it also has sections dedicated to the Hungarian tragedy of 1956, and the great Greek migration of the 50s and 60s.
On Sunday, generations of Greeks and other migrant groups sat in a cinema with lumps in their throats as they watched black and white images of courageous men and women walking down gangplanks, looking for work, dancing in parks, making new lives. The photo of a five-year-old Postecoglou with his immigration number card is poignant.
Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) President Bill Papastergiadis, who is also South Melbourne Hellas Chairman, noted the film’s powerful message about community in his opening remarks to the Q & A. Mr Papastergiadis noted that “this story transcends football.”
“It talks about the migrant experience, its challenges, and successes. More importantly, it is a story of how migrants from Greece helped transform the lived experience of all Australians. In that process, they engaged with all the migrants in Australia and importantly the Hungarian Football King, Mr Puskas,” Papastergiadis added.
“This encapsulates the strength of our multiculturalism where we all gain from a shared experience.”
Mr Papastergiadis then handed it over to Santo Cilauro, who organised a big ‘Hi Ange’ thousand-strong-selfie to send to his great friend in London.
When Socceroos’ and South Melbourne greats Paul Trimboli and Miki Petersen joined for the Q & A, the sold-out audience remained in its seats. This was a football film event, and now it had its footballers.
“Magical” is the word Petersen used for the Puskas era in the film, and Trimboli repeated it on stage. They were funny and deferential and gave more examples of Puskas’ relaxed easy manner. “Don’t make it any nervous,” Trimboli remembered was regular Puskas pregame instruction. “Don’t need it!”
At the end of proceedings, all the Puskas era South players in the theatre descended on the stage – Peter Tsolakis, Kimon Taliadoris, Michael Michalopoulos. We also saluted Val Kopasz, who with her husband Arpi, owned the garden supply and looked after the man they called ‘Öcsi. [Little Brother’].
The event concluded with hugs and shared memories in the foyer. Trimboli and the other players signed autographs and posed for photos. “How can we show our parents? When will it be on again?” was the popular refrain. At the moment, the filmmakers are hamstrung by the cost of license fees for a wider release. But if the response to the premiere is any indication, ANGE & THE BOSS is headed for the back of the net and will enjoyed by audiences around the world.
Ange & The Boss will have one more outing as part of the Greek Film Festival, 4pm Saturday at Palace Balwyn.
