I just saw a trailer for The Year of the Yao and it looks to be, in the grand tradition of Basketball-related documentaries, incredible. The trailer already had me excited for Yao and I didn't even remember he played over here. I vaguely remember newspaper acrticles but that was only resurrected in my mind once I saw this trailer. It just talks about how much trouble he had when he came here and his philosophy. Of course its fully equipped with tv footage of all the big guys, and one clip has Shaq saying he's not ready for the NBA as he trips over his own feet and falls. Adjusting to the different way basketball is played here. They talk about language and cultural barriers and he speaks about how to pay homage to his roots and his Family back in China. He said something about a blade of grass raising itself to the sun *emotional audiance moment for me already* and how quirky his translater is. This looks like its going to be the top doc of the year, and I would have said Oscar is already written on it except for over at IMDB it has a 2004 date, so must have shown on one screen last year somewhere.
Here is a synopsis from imdb:
Quote:
Despite facing the odds against cultural and language barriers, the pressure of representing a nation of 1.2 billion, as well as facing Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA's most dominant player, 7ft 6in Chinese basketball phenom Yao Ming succeeds in his first year in the NBA by finding friendship and support in his American translator, strength in the wisdom of his traditional Chinese values, and confidence in his own abilities. Through it all, Yao Ming became the most recognizable figure from China since Mao Tse Tung and a hero to millions around the globe.
I am so excited to see this. April 29th I think it starts a limited opening.
Though it was excellent.