The Olympic flame that was lit in Barcelona in 1992 has undoubtedly gone down in history as one of the most memorable moments in Spanish sport. The Barcelona Olympics were not only a turning point for the city, but also for the national sport, which proved more successful than ever in its attempts to achieve gold. Among the many milestones achieved during these games, one of the most exciting and least known was the performance of the national water polo team, which put this sport in the spotlight and managed to dethrone, for a few days, football as the king of sports.
Synopsis: Based on true events
’42 Seconds’ is a sports drama film that revives this epic feat, combining powerful narration to tell the story of the national team with a marked nostalgic tone that tries to appeal to all those who lived the moment live. ’42 Seconds’ is therefore a dramatisation of the Spanish men’s national water polo team’s race for gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. In reality, the aspirations of the team (almost all Catalans) were not to make a fool of themselves at the Olympics in their own city.: This led the team’s management to choose to sign the strict Croatian coach Dragan Matutinović, key and reason for the success.
The plot of the film tells the very tough physical and mental preparation (especially physical) to which Matutinović subjected them. The story of the team is told through the eyes of two of its members: the troubled Pedro García Aguado (Jaime Lorente) and the captain Manel Estiarte (Álvaro Cervantes). Aguado struggles with substance addiction, which years later would lead him to a rehabilitation program; Estiarte, on the other hand, deals with the tragedy of his sister’s suicide, and to do so he takes refuge in sport. Despite their opposite personalities, both companions will manage to overcome their demons, building a relationship based on shared suffering and a common goal.
The culmination of this story comes in the final against Italya match that has become a legend. Played on August 9, 1992, this match is considered one of the most exciting in the history of water polo: we will not spoil the ending of the film here (just in case any of the readers do not remember it or were not alive at the time). The final consisted of three extra times, in what has gone down in history as the longest water polo match.
The Matutinović method
Under the direction of Croatian coach Dragan Matutinović (Tarik Filipovic), Known for his quasi-military discipline training methods, The Spanish team is preparing intensively for the Games. The training sessions, which were held as a training camp in Andorra, were notoriously tough, with 10 kilometres of running and 10 kilometres of swimming required every day, which were intended to physically prepare the team to endure match after match at maximum performance. Matutinović, though controversial, managed to unite the team and bring out the best in each player, transforming their weaknesses into strengths and uniting them in adversity.
Cast and crew of ’42 seconds’
’42 Seconds’ stars the aforementioned Jaime Lorente and Álvaro Cervantes in the roles of García Aguado and Estiarte. Tarik Filipovic is the strict Matutinović, who shares a tense moment with Italy’s coach, Rudic, of Serbian origin, in the midst of the Balkan War. Òscar Muñoz, David Bagés, Cristian Valencia, Arnau Agut, Germán Alcarazu, Javi Franco and Santos Adrián complete the historic team.
The film is co-directed by Dani de la Orden (‘Litus’, ‘The best summer of my life’) and Àlex Murrull, from a script written by Carlos Franco (‘The Last Karaoke Night’, ‘Dating’). It is a production of Playtime Movies with Sábado Películas, Lightbox, Imminent Productions, which also has the collaboration of RTVE and TV3. Now available for streaming on Prime Videoalthough if we don’t have it, This Thursday, August 1, it will be broadcast openly on La1 (22:55).
From then on, it will be available completely free of charge.from any point in the national geography, on RTVE Play.
