Alice Kanterian

With over 100 ATP titles on record and his rank as world number 1 in 1973, Ilie Năstase is a legend in his own right. Nasty, by Romanian directors Tudor Giurgiu (Love Sick, 2006), Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu, paints a complex portrait of a colourful tennis player with a pronounced sense of showmanship. A documentary presented as a Special Screening.

Alternately portrayed in the press as a magnificent, capricious or arrogant ‘Bad Boy’, which earned him the nickname Nasty, Ilie Năstase was in the news long before MacEnroe, whom everyone knows for his raging outbursts. Through Nasty, the three directors take a documentary look at the contours of this flamboyant personality: a man who was the best player of his generation.
He was at the peak of his career when he won the US Open in 1972. That same year he played in the Wimbledon final and then the Davis Cup final against Stan Smith. A year later, he won the French Open and became world No. 1.

This remarkable showman, an unusual and charismatic player famous for his high-flying lobs and incredible speed on the court, enchants his public with every appearance and makes his matches a full-blown performance. Generous, eccentric and likeable, the Romanian is no less short-tempered, rude and abusive. Ilie Năstase is a highly contradictory character.

To shape this portrait, the directors drew on the testimonies of his friend, legendary gymnast Nadia Comāneci, and of tennis greats whose careers he inspired: while they readily acknowledge his impetuous nature, Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker, Björn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors make no secret of their respect for this irreverent man, whose legend has it that the tennis code of conduct was created after him.