‘Nasty’ Serves Up Punchy Portrait of ’70s Tennis Bad Boy Ilie Nastase Who Helped Define Era
variety.comChristopher Vourlias There’s a scene early in the documentary “Nasty,” a rollicking portrait of the ’70s Romanian tennis bad boy Ilie Năstase, where the Grand Slam champion’s mentor and longtime doubles partner Ion Țiriac recalls teaching Năstase how to ski.
The young prodigy was a fast study — perhaps too fast. “He skied down perfectly,” says Țiriac, “except he ran into the fence because I hadn’t taught him to stop.” You’d be hard-pressed to find a better metaphor for the free-wheeling, fast-living Năstase, a “wild child,” “rock star” and “insolent, elegant, angry, whimsical bon vivant” who makes a fitting subject for the documentary, which was directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D.
Popescu. A co-production between HBO Documentaries Europe and Romania’s Libra Films, the film has a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23 and will drop across Europe on Max the following day.
Arriving on the scene at a time when tennis was shedding its buttoned-up image, the eccentric, petulant, foul-mouthed Năstase paved the way for mavericks of the game like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, leaving an indelible mark while helping transform tennis into a TV-ready sport.
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