Free TV premiere on the first anniversary of his death: From January 7th, ARTE will show the international version of the three-part series “Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor”, which has been expanded to include new original sounds. In Torsten Körner’s trilogy, which was already celebrated by audiences and the press when it was exclusively launched on MagentaTV last autumn, world footballer Michel Platini, world champion Didier Deschamps and double Olympic champion Edwin Moses, founding chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, now also have their say. “Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” will be shown in the ARTE media library on arte.tv from December 31st, and the documentary homage will also be shown on ZDF as an 88-minute director’s cut on January 12th.
In the BROADVIEW Pictures production initiated by ARTE/ZDF (producer: Leopold Hoesch), Grimme Prize winner Torsten Körner (“Black Eagles”, “The Indomitables”) tells of a life that was so exuberant, as if it had been more than one. Körner, who wrote the highly acclaimed biography “The Free Man” with Franz Beckenbauer twenty years ago, has designed a historically focused, sometimes nostalgic journey through life that connects Beckenbauer’s private life with his public one, the real with the imaginary.
It tells the story of a life that can only be understood as a great spectacle in the spotlight of the international playing fields. From Munich’s “Glasscherbenviertel” Giesing into the hearts of the Germans and ever upwards to New York, from the 1966 World Cup to a global figure and as “Emperor” and “Light of Light” to the most famous German in the world: the three-part series is like no other “Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” makes it clear what the modernity of the player and that of the “pop star” Beckenbauer consisted of. It tells of Franz Beckenbauer’s elegant outer-foot game as well as his versatility on the social stage. It tells of someone around whom advertising, politics and business fought and who became a cosmopolitan and the republic’s incarnated savior. And she tells how in the magnificent Bayern ensemble of the 1960s and 70s, Franz Beckenbauer was not only the libero, but also the team player – the one who made all his comrades bigger and more visible, but who was also impressed by their toughness, speed and… Goal threat benefits.
Last but not least, “Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” also demonstrates the modernizing power of football in general and FC Bayern in particular. Thanks to the Beckenbauer generation, the Giesinger club became one of the most glamorous clubs in the world, football became socially acceptable and, thanks to Beckenbauer and his manager Robert Schwan, the previously proletarian sport became a spectacle to which all doors opened.
“Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” is also a journey through time through the history of the republic, which looks into the soul of the Germans, from the year Beckenbauer was born in 1945 through the golden years of FC Bayern and the 1990 World Cup to the summer fairy tale and its aftermath. And just as the person Beckenbauer came into the light, he also influenced an entire generation of primarily men. Torsten Körner, alongside Franz’s brother Walter Beckenbauer, lets very different companions and prominent fans have their say: Matthias Brandt, Alfred Draxler, Uli Hoeneß and Thomas Hüetlin as well as Günther Jauch, Jürgen Klinsmann, Günter Netzer, Christian Petzold and Marius Müller-Westernhagen , Wolfgang Thierse, Oliver Welke and Arnd Zeigler.
Whether footballer or actor, entertainer or historian, they all help to present the “Kaiser” as the alternative majesty that Germany’s parliamentary democracy never had. In the new ARTE version, the original sounds from Michel Platini, Didier Deschamps and Edwin Moses also demonstrate the international appeal of the “Kaiser”. And they all describe who and what Franz Beckenbauer was to them: role model, big brother, comfort figure, comrade, coach, teammate and friend.
“Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” is a BROADVIEW Pictures production in collaboration with ARTE, MagentaTV and ZDF. producer is Leopold Hoesch (Kroos, Nowitzki, Black Eagles, The Indomitable, Edwin Moses). are creative producers Franziska Rempe (The Indomitables 2) and Felix Gottschalk (The Last Taboo). Are editorially responsible for ARTE Wolfgang Bergmann and Jean-Christoph Caronfor MagentaTV Sven Philipp and Jutta Black as well as for ZDF Daniel Pischower.
“Beckenbauer – The Last Emperor” Director: Torsten Körner. Producer: Leopold Hoesch
A BROADVIEW Pictures production in cooperation with ARTE, MagentaTV and ZDF
with Walter Beckenbauer, Matthias Brandt, Alfred Draxler, Uli Hoeneß, Thomas Hüetlin, Günther Jauch, Jürgen Klinsmann, Günter Netzer, Christian Petzold, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Wolfgang Thierse, Oliver Welke and Arnd Zeigler
Free TV premiere of the trilogy Tuesday, January 7, 2025 8:15 p.m. Part 1: “Fathers and Sons” 9:05 p.m. Part 2: “Golden Times” 10:00 p.m. Part 3: “Fairy Tales and Myths”
And already from December 31, 2024 online in the ARTE media library arte.tv
If you are interested in an INTERVIEW with Torsten Körner, please contact Philipp Graf / boxfish films: graf@boxfish-films.de.