A man appears on screen with his back to the camera. He is dressed as a beekeeper. He could be any honey production enthusiast, but the tattoos on his neck give him away: he is the David Beckham. Thus begins the documentary series in which the former footballer, at the age of 48, decided to “tell” his own story. So much has been written and discussed about his professional career and private life that one would think nothing else could be said.
The four episodes of just over an hour each (which premiered Wednesday, October 4 on Netflix)prove otherwise – especially since much of what has been written and discussed has not come directly from the source.
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The revelations are made by the “protagonist”, who looks straight into the camera, but also by his wife, Victoria Beckham, who is a key part of the story of the former England captain. The life of one cannot be understood without the life of the other, and both have become an essential part of pop culture in recent decades. As she says Anna Wintour in the book simply titled “Beckham”: “When you have two equally gifted people, you double the intensity, raise the temperature…».
His childhood, his start at Manchester United, how his romance with Posh Spice began, why Victoria Beckham never liked living in Spain, those infidelity headlines… it’s a story filled with photos and videos from his personal archive, as well as statements from his parents and some key figures in his career.
But you don’t have to like this sport to know who David Beckham is. These are some of the most revealing points of the documentary series directed by Fisher Stevens, winner of the Oscar for best documentary in 2010 (although today he is best known for his role in the series “Succession”).
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His childhood
“Be honest… What car did your father drive you to school in?” David Beckham asks his wife through the door as she states that they both come from humble origins and working class families. She hesitates, but he asks her several times, wanting to show that he is not being completely honest. “A Rolls Royce,” the former Spice Girl finally says.
The first episode, filled with photos of little Beckham on and off the pitch (almost always with a ball at his feet), focuses on how, for him, becoming a football legend was no accident. “His dream was to have a son who would play for Manchester United,” he says of his father. In fact, his middle name is Robert, after the footballer Robert “Bobby” Charlton. His father also admits that he was tough when David was a child, but adds that it “turned out to be the right thing to do.”
He wasn’t one of those parents who encourage their children even when they fail – he made him repeat the corners over and over again. His reasoning was: if she told him he was good, then he would have stopped trying. In fact, worried about little David’s height, there was a time when she gave him a Guinness and a raw egg every week to help him grow. Today he is a proud dad who treasures the 1,400 videos he has taken of his son playing.
His whims
When you grow up in a humble family and start making money, two things can happen: you can save it or you can spend it on whims. The case of David Beckham is the second. “I signed a contract with Adidas for £50,000 and went and bought a BMW-M3 for £50,000,” he recalls. He liked to buy the best cars, the best watches. “David used to get his paycheck on a Friday, spend it on Saturday and then spend the next five days waiting for his next paycheck to get the matching pair of jeans,” says former Manchester team-mate Phil Neville.
His quirks include his bees, LEGO bricks and the house he bought in the country, where he likes to go for walks. Judging by what we see in the latest episode, it might as well be his closet or, rather, closets: he has one for t-shirts, shirts, sweaters and jackets, another for suits, and a third for pants.
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The love story
David Beckham saw Victoria (then Adams) on TV and immediately said he was going to marry her. At least that’s how Gary Neville remembers it. They met shortly afterwards at Manchester United’s stadium and began a relationship which they managed to keep secret for about three months. At first, he recalls, they would meet in parking lots to avoid being discovered. Their first kiss took place in a parking lot, inside his BMW. When their relationship became known, they caused so much interest that two of the paparazzi who followed them everywhere (and who now claim they wouldn’t have behaved the way they did back then) even speak in the documentary several times.
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His worst moment
Victoria says her husband was “clinically depressed” because of all the “attacks” from the press and fans after his World Cup appearance. Daily harassment included spitting and people trying to overturn his car – even an effigy of his name hanging outside a pub. Someone sent a letter with a bullet to Manchester headquarters. “I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping,” he says. However, he never publicly denounced it, nor did he talk about how he felt.
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His parents’ anger at the way their son was being treated was such that on one of their trips to accompany him to a match they charged for their dinner in the room of a Sun reporter, Beckham’s mother recalled. Eventually, as is so often the case in sport, the same people who maligned him turned him into a national hero again when he scored a decisive goal against Greece in the 2002 World Cup.
The unhappy Victoria Beckham and Spain
“When I first moved to Spain, it was difficult. I was sold overnight. The next minute I was in a city where I didn’t speak the language. And most importantly, I didn’t have my family‘, he recalls, about signing for Real Madrid in June 2003.
Victoria Beckham was not happy in the Spanish capital and she says it in detail. “We had a family to think about. I had two kids, Brooklyn and Romeo, and that’s what no one seemed to take into account when they criticized me for not being in Spain in the first place. A child must go to school. I knew I couldn’t move until I found a school for Brooklyn. But it was all made up.”
Things got worse due to paparazzi pressure after the first reports of her husband’s alleged infidelity were published. “It was a nightmare. From the moment we opened the door in the morning, journalists were there in cars and wherever we went, they followed us,” he says. “It was the absolute circus.”
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“There were some horror stories that were hard to deal with. It was the first time Victoria and I had ever had this kind of pressure in our marriageBeckham recalls. When asked if this was the most difficult moment of her marriage, Victoria replies: “It was the most difficult period for us. Because we felt like the world was against us. And here’s the thing – we were against each other, if I’m being completely honest. We were connected. We had each other. But when we were in Spain, we didn’t feel like we had each other. And that’s sad. I can’t even describe to you how hard it was and how much it affected me». And he adds: “Mrevery time we woke up, we felt that there was something else. And I think we both felt like we were drowning». The documentary does not even mention the name of the personal assistant with whom Beckham allegedly had an affair, Rebecca Loos.
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Other revelations…
One of David Beckham’s hobbies, apart from honey, is LEGOs and one of his obsessions is cleanliness and order, which is evident at times. “When everyone is in bed, I clean out the used candles, turn on the switches so they are properly aligned, and make sure everything is tidy,” she explains. An obsession that follows him to his closet (where he stacks his shirts by color and diagonally so he can see them all) and the barbeque area of his summer house, which he cleans himself. This is the only time his children appear in the series.
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Source :Skai
I am Frederick Tuttle, who works in 247 News Agency as an author and mostly cover entertainment news. I have worked in this industry for 10 years and have gained a lot of experience. I am a very hard worker and always strive to get the best out of my work. I am also very passionate about my work and always try to keep up with the latest news and trends.
