David Beckham has taken many guises over the years: footballer, celebrity, fashion icon, philanthropist, businessman — but how about beekeeper?
Beckham – Netflix’s new four-part documentary, which is released today – begins with the former England captain harvesting honey from one of several hives at his Cotswolds home in full beekeeper garb, .
Beckham tells director Fisher Stevens (Academy Award-winning documentary maker as well as actor – he played the PR man Hugo in Succession) ).
Using historic footage and new interviews with familiar faces from Sir Alex Ferguson to Anna Wintour, Stevens and producer John Battsek attempt to paint an intimate picture of Beckham, with the first episode tracking his rise from humble beginnings as the son of an East End gas engineer and hairdresser to superstardom with Manchester United and England.
It covers plenty of ground from Beckham’s football-obsessed childhood, ascent to front- and back-page ubiquity and fledgling relationship with Victoria. The first episode finishes on his lowest moment in the spotlight, his sending off against Argentina at World Cup ‘98.
Early on, Beckham admits he was not bright at school (“Believe it or not!”) but he has long been smart enough to know that his star shines most vibrantly when he keeps his mouth shut. Down the years, most attempts to interview Beckham, now 48, from Match of the Day to Desert Island Discs, have left audiences none the wiser about what really makes him tick.
Stevens does a better job than most at extracting new colour and insight from Beckham, although there is still a sense that he is happy to say whatever the audience most wants to hear.
At one point, in a segment about Manchester’s vibrant Nineties scene, Beckham is asked about legendary nightclub, the Hacienda. “Never went to Hacienda,” he says. “Well, maybe I went a couple of times.” It is not entirely clear which it is, perhaps because Beckham himself is unsure whether a visit to the birthplace of acid house is entirely in keeping with the image he has worked so diligently to cultivate.
In another moment, Stevens asks if Beckham has any other quirky hobbies aside from beekeeping. “Lego,” is the one-word response. Still, the first episode, which is titled The Kick – a reference to Beckham’s infamous goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996, which launched his stardom – contains good detail on his early career and relationship with Victoria, past and present.
When Posh tells the camera she and Becks are both from “working class” backgrounds, Beckham sticks his head through the door and teasingly urges her to admit her dad did the school run in a Rolls-Royce.
Stevens’ direction is often smart. “It definitely didn’t change me,” says Beckham of fame before an instant cut to Ferguson: “Well, he changed. There’s no doubt about that.”
His former Manchester United teammates are insightful and offer a sharp contrast with Beckham. While Gary and Phil Neville were building their pension pots, Beckham was buying Gucci jackets; Roy Keane still seems outraged that Beckham spent part of an early pay-check on a fancy pen; Eric Cantona is sage and mysterious.
The series goes on to cover Beckham’s misery and self-doubt in the wake of France ‘98; the breakdown of his relationship with Ferguson and subsequent move to Real Madrid; and the latter stage of his career and post-retirement. The first episode is easy watching and, in lieu of providing anything dramatically new about Beckham, offers viewers of a certain age a vivid nostalgia kick.
Here is an interesting reminder that Beckham was once considered stunningly cutting-edge (a sarong!), despite being, by today’s standards, remarkably vanilla.
Now there’s the beekeeping he wants to name the honey Golden Bees but his wife, Victoria, prefers DB’s Sticky Stuff (the name of his honey
“DB’s Sticky Stuff, that could get you in trouble with HR,” quips Stevens before trying the honey. “David, it’s really good...very sticky, though.”
