Sam Taylor-Johnson (b. 1967)
David, 2004
Digital video, 107 min.
David Beckham feels familiar to us as a subject from the football field, advertising hoardings and paparazzi shots. Here the artist captures the international icon in an intimate setting, taking a siesta after a training session for his team at the time, Real Madrid FC. Created in a single, long take, this reverential and painterly film invites us to share the artists’ private view of her subject. Simply lit from one light source, Taylor-Johnson drew on diverse influences, from Michelangelo’s David (1501-1504), which shares Beckhams’ name to Pop Artist Andy Warhol’s film Sleep (1964). She says: “Filming while he was asleep produces a different view from the many familiar, public images.”
