Zidane, a 21st Century Portrait, a film by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Perreno, belongs to the absorptive tradition that has played a central role in the evolution of modern art. The author explores the tension between absorption and theatricality - crucial to 18th century French art as well as to 20th and 21th century photography - and draws aesthetic and philosophical consequences of this film that depicts, throughout all the 90 minutes of a soccer match, the French midfielder Zinedine Zidane.
Zidane; portrait; absorption; theatricality