Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker

Every so often, a film festival will strategically add a project to its lineup for which the quality of the actual product proves to be less of a talking point than the sheer attention its premiere gets. For the 73^rd edition of the Berlinale, Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker is a prime example, with all eyes on the protagonist freshly released from prison. (In a meta turn of events, a photograph of Boris Becker as a guest at a previous Berlinale was used by newspapers alongside a particularly damning headline and, as such, recurs in the film.)

Two sittings of interviews with Becker make up the main narrative: one is from 2019, the other conducted three years later, shortly before his sentencing over withholding assets. The production sets out with the clear goal to find out where it all went wrong for the uniquely successful tennis star, but soon strays into a classic retelling of his career. In all fairness, the film presented at the festival is only the first part of two, and the second is likely to dig deeper into his downfall. Still, the Apple TV exclusive has more of the makings of a PR campaign to rehabilitate the prodigy’s reputation than an unbiased documentary baring the truth.

Throughout his interviews, the tennis star talks like a man spinning a yarn, but perhaps grandiloquence is just a natural side effect of growing up in the limelight and having microphones shoved in your face on a daily basis from age 17. Renowned filmmaker Alex Gibney only challenges his subject once: when Becker’s statement contradicts an event described in his autobiography.

When it’s neither the sportsman nor one of his companions providing commentary on the archive footage of his matches, a CGI-animated tennis ball spinning in slow motion occasionally disrupts the material. This is the height of any creative execution, as most of the material presented offers exactly the same result a deep dive on YouTube will get you.

Selina Sondermann

Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.