RIMET, THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP

RIMET, THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP (Italy, Argentina, Brazil, UK, 52 min, 2010)

documentary by César Meneghetti, Filippo Macelloni, Lorenzo Garzella
produced by Daniele Mazzocca and Pier Andrea Nocella

(en)

Shot in Brazil, England, Spain, Italy, Uruguay and Argentina, the documentary tells the story – using filmed reconstructions, archive materials and interviews with witnesses and experts – of the incredible and mysterious events behind the Jules Rimet Trophy, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
The history of the cup, forged in gold by demand of Jules Rimet in 1929, dates back to a century and crossed the whole planet, including the fascist Rome, the slums of Rio de Janeiro and the city of London.
It’s a story full of surprises and intrigues worthy of a spy story.
It was hidden in a shoebox under the bed of the manager of the Italian Federation Ottorino Barassi, to escape the searches of the Nazis during the Second World War.
Then it was stolen in London before the World Cup of 1966, and was found inside a bush by a dog, Pickles, after a series of plot twists worthy of a thriller.
Replicated in secret by order of the English Federation, the replica was used during the celebrations of the British victory in 1966. Assigned permanently to Brazil in 1970. Stolen again in 1983 at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Federation in a robbery organized by three foolish guys in a shady bar on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. It was then melted down and transformed into gold bars by the thieves, arrested thanks to the information given by a remorseful partner in crime. The replica of the cup was bought in auction in 1997 by FIFA in a dispute with the Brazilian Federation, after the price rose up to 250.000 pounds. Nowadays, the replica can be seen in display at the National Football Museum in Preston, England.
Along with players of international football as Carlos Alberto Torres, Joao Havelange, Gary Lineker and Jorge Valdano and with the help of experts, historians, writers and journalists as Marthin Atherton, Pierre Lanfranchi, Kevin Moore, Mario Romano Alonzo, Darwin Pastorino, Alberto Cerruti, Wilson Aquino, Roan Johnson and Mauro Betting, the documentary traces the history of the trophy revisiting some places and meeting the still living witnesses who help us to shed light on the mystery of the Cup and on the presumed curse that surrounds the trophy and that has affected many of the protagonists of this story.