Intense and intently observed, Teodora Ana Mihai’s “Heysel 85” chronicles the eruption of violence before a major soccer match in Brussels. Its setting is the real Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, but it presents its drama through fictionalized reporters and local leaders, and thus creates an engrossing political microcosm. Using a combination of staged footage and archival tape, Mihai conjures the era with deft aesthetic control, all while creating a work of commentary that feels distinctly of the now. Even though it comes awfully close to tipping its hand, it remains an anxiety-inducing work of cinéma vérité.
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