Synopsis
Lord of the Wing – the true story, warts and all, of the greatest entertainer the world of football has EVER seen.From the ‘Jungle’ at Parkhead to the sun-kissed terraces of Lisbon, Jimmy Johnstone was a God with a leather football at his feet. Mesmerising twists and turns left the game’s greatest defenders close to tears…..and Celtic fans laughing in wonderment.
But true geniuses inevitably follow a chequered path off-the-field and Jinky was no exception. Alcoholism came close to destroying his career and, almost, his life.
But for millions of Celtic supporters and genuine football fanatics, the lasting memory of Jimmy Johnstone is of his incredible skills as he destroyed Red Star Belgrade, Real Madrid, Rangers and many, many more.
In this biographical film, which contains footage from the many highlights of his footballing days, Sir Alex Ferguson, Eusebio, Johann Cruyff, Denis Law, Terry Cooper and, in an astonishingly rare interview, Alfredo DiStefano (amongst many other stars of football), pay tribute to this enigmatic character.
To a man, they agree that “we will never see his like again”.
Review
(by Kevtic)
There are at least 3 DVDs about Jimmy Johnstone this being the 2nd of those. I’m not going to wax lyrical about Jinky as many more qualified than me have written thousands of words about the ‘wee man’ over the years and the fact that he was voted the Greatest Ever Celt really says it all for me. The film, directed by Jamie Doran, tells Jinky’s story from his early life in Viewpark to the devastating news that Jimmy had Motor Neurone Disease and of course touches all the important points in between.
The DVD itself starts and ends at the premiere of the film held at the Clyde Auditorium in April 2004. Amongst an impressive guest list Jimmy is clapped and cheered into the auditorium and takes his rightful place amongst his pals the Lisbon Lions. Sadly in the week running up to the premiere a 2nd Lion was taken from us and a poignant tribute is held for Ronnie Simpson. Later Jimmy said he thought about cancelling the premiere but the other Lions said that is not what ‘Faither’ would have wanted.
Peter Mullen does a brilliant job of introducing the film and recounts a story of how he nutmegged Jinky in a charity match. That’s one to tell the grandchildren. The film, narrated by Billy Connolly, opens with Jinky returning to Lisbon to relive his memories of Celtic’s greatest ever triumph. It’s a shame that Jinky’s wish couldn’t have been fulfilled that he’d have liked to have shared the trip with the other Lions. That would probably have required a DVD all of its own.
Showing in how high regard Jinky was held not just at Celtic but in the wider football world the list of those recalling Jinky’s famous and in some cases infamous moments are a stellar cast of football’s who’s who. It’s an impressive list including Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, Henrik Larsson, Eusebio, Cruyff, Martin O’Neill, Brain Clough, John Greig, the great Di Stefano of Real Madrid and of course his fellow Lions. What shines through is the deep love and affection everyone had for Jinky. Each story is recounted with a smile and a few shakes of the head as they not only describe his great games but also recall some of the antics he got up to.
Interspersed between the talking is of course the many clips of Jinky in action. The majority of which most Celtic fans will be familiar with although there is very grainy footage of Jinky’s destruction of Red Stasr Belgrade which was salvaged from someone who filmed it off the TV. Watching Jinky in action I couldn’t help but see a similarity with Messi today, the way the ball just seems to be attached to his foot with a bit of string and just glides past people as if they are not there. He really was mesmerising to watch. That’s probably where the similarity ends as I can’t see Messi down his local shops getting a loaf and some milk chatting with the locals as Jinky does in his home town of Viewpark.
Of course off the field Jimmy also made the headlines and Denis Law’s retelling of the famous Largs boating incident and how he ended up floating out into the Firth of Clyde in a boat with no way of getting back is hilarious while Jimmy relives the tale and ends up once again floating out into the Clyde with no means of getting back. I expect it was a set up but funny nonetheless. A few days later despite the furore this incident caused Jinky tore England apart at Hampden as Scotland won 2-0.
Incredibly he only won 23 Scottish caps. Pat Crerand provides background to that time when a Celtic player playing for Scotland was often booed as the crowd was mostly made up off Rangers fans and players were subject to sectarian abuse. This got so bad that Jimmy asked Big Jock to tell Scotland not to pick him.
Off course Jinky had a dark side with alcohol playing a huge part, he acknowledges the pain and suffering he caused his family during the dark times but they stood by him. Jinky also pays thanks to Willie Haughey who he said saved his life and helped him get his life back on track.
Sadly in November 2001, Jinky was diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease. He was only 57. Jinky, like all his other challenges, met this one square on and searched for a cure for this terrible disease. It’s incredibly hard to witness the effect this terrible disease had on such a great player. When recounting the news it even reduces hard bitten journalist Hugh McIlvanney to tears.Jimmy did get to achieve one ambition by recording a single with the help of Simple Minds although I’m old enough to remember Jimmy singing a song called Passing Time which was the b –side to official club single ‘Celtic are Here’.
I was lucky enough to see Jimmy playing for Celtic as his career at Celtic Park was coming to a close although I wasn’t really old enough to appreciate what I was seeing. There’s no doubt Jinky was not only the greatest ever Celt but also one of the world’s greatest ever players and up there with Pele, Maradona and Cruyff. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see anything like him again but this film goes a long way to giving future generations a glimpse of how good the ‘wee man’ was and allow those who saw him to relive those fantastic memories.
Product Details
Publisher:Lord of the Wing
Language:English
Running Time: 97 mins
ISBN:B00021Y84Q
Extras:None