Watchlist: Human Playground

Netflix takes us on a journey to discover the never-ending link between man and play

“We humans love to play. We’ve been playing since the dawn of our existence. Our playgrounds are like mirrors that help us examine ourselves and the world around us. Playing is the ultimate way to learn about our bodies and our minds. And it’s the most dangerous games that push us to our limits. Games that are tough, painful and often deadly, help us to explore what we are actually capable of. Everyone has a personal reason to play these games”

It is with this sentence, spoken in the deep voice of Idris Elba, that this journey dedicated to the evolution of the game and sport around the world begins. Ancient traditions and modern ramifications, boiling deserts and atavistic rituals, pain and redemption, asphalt and snow. In this anthropological gallery conceived by Hannelore Vandenbussche and produced by Netflix, all the meanings of the sporting element, all its scenarios, all its protagonists find their place.

The docuseries, filmed around the globe, is a tasty visual definition of Huizing’s Homo Ludens divided into 6 episodes. It tells us about Acapulco divers, featured in Issue 7 of our magazine, as much as Senegalese wrestlers, falconers from Kyrgyzstan as much as women’s Paris-Roubaix, motorsports as much as sumo and kung fu arts, drawing up a vast encyclopedia of the game in all its forms and derivations.

The testimonies of the various athletes/players make this product even more relevant and enjoyable, penetrating the subjective experience and explaining what drives a human being to persevere in challenging himself, his opponent (including animals) and the natural elements. For all these reasons ‘Human Playground’ enters our Watch List with great merit. Don’t miss it.