Review of Pele: Birth of a Legend

Consider - how interesting can a movie be about the success of a sporting legend? Obviously the material is begging for some musical montages, and it does not disappoint. I mean, we're talking a powerful cultural legacy here - football and Brazilian culture and music This movie serves up a full platter of sentimentality and showmanship, not to mention an army of condescending Swedes. Simply put, some of these scenes are majestic in their color and rhythm, and there is a palpable feeling that the creators of this felt passionately about the subject matter. The simple themes of transcendence, struggle, and family (topos?) often fade behind the theme of simple, graceful, perfect movement. How many movies about sports movies have succeeded with such a simple, yet grand, exposition of the sport itself?

I watched it in dubbed English I wonder what was lost in translation? I may watch it again in Portuguese. To be fair I'm an American who has recently been bitten by the soccer bug, so I have a profound appreciation for the elegance of the sport. I found that some scenes motivated this feeling as well, with a sense of sublime cinematic portrayals of the beautiful game.

Surely this movie is marketing for the Rio Olympics. It doesn't matter. This is a very beautiful movie, and I hope that many Americans watch it, as this younger generation has probably not even heard of Pele, let along seen him play (or is it dance?).