Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker

"Anyone walking onto Wimbledon’s centre court cannot avoid passing Rudyard Kipling’s famous lines emblazoned above the entrance: “If you can handle victory and defeat / And treat those two imposters just the same”. Boris Becker made his first triumphant appearance here in 1985 at sweet 17 and went on to become the youngest player ever to be crowned champion. Thirty-four years later, when his financial problems have become a legal case, he returns for Alex Gibney’s documentary portrait to “perhaps the only place I love” and pauses thoughtfully in front of this motto. No one knows better than he just how apt these words are when it comes to his own life. Gibney’s brilliantly structured film is about precision and accuracy, about being in control – or at least mastering the psychological tricks to appear so – about ups and downs and the fine line that separates (self) deception from reality. Becker was interviewed for this film in 2019 and again in 2022, just a few days before his sentencing. Fellow travellers also have their say – from the ironic Ion Tiriac to the witty John McEnroe. A journey of self-discovery about, by and with someone who loves the game."
(Berlinale)