Pelé: Birth of a Legend (2016)

A straightforward, hearty sports biopic, is <em>'Pelé: Birth of a Legend'</em>.

I love football, if I'm not watching films I'm watching the beautiful game, so was looking forward to checking this 2016 flick out, as it portrays the early years of the late, great Pelé. The film isn't quite as amazing as the Brazilian baller himself, but I think it just about creates a pleasant enough 100 minutes or so. It does have the usual biopic clichés, but if we're being honest that's to be expected.

Kevin de Paula and Leonardo Lima Carvalho do well as the titular character, though the standout from an acting standpoint is, in my opinion, Seu Jorge. I, to be honest, did not know of him until just over a month ago when I watched 2019's <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/marighella-2021/">Marighella</a>'</em>, I was thoroughly impressed with him in that and sames goes for this - a very capable actor. Elsewhere, Vincent D'Onofrio and Colm Meaney are involved too.

My only main criticism of this is the fact that it's told in English. That obviously makes it that tad bit more watchable to English speakers like myself, so I wouldn't complain too hard, but it does slightly irritate me when the whole story is rooted, in this case, in Portuguese-speaking life and yet everyone speaks Anglais. Nothing major, granted.

**How to be Brazilian through Pele's movie**

One of the wonderful movie that are classified in the biographical category. When you watch Pele: Birth of a Legend, you feel a sense of belonging to Brazil because of everyone's love for the legendary star Pele. The director and screenwriter made us feel that we belong to this story that is told through the film.

The story revolves around a person named Pele, and the difficult experiences he went through in his life, including hardship and poverty for him and his miserable family, until he reached the Pele we know now. What impressed me more about the film than Pele's directing is that the director was able to produce impressive sports clips. The performance of the actors was good, especially the little Pele, who was skilled in his acting performance.

A great person like Pele Many people don't know that Pele went through harsh experiences until he reached Pele who we know now. He grew up in a poor family, and the film showed us the extent of the suffering that Pele was in until he arrived from Santos to the national team. I liked the Brazilian samba music, which gave the viewer stimulation and made him feel that he was Brazilian.

I felt the passion watching one shot after another. I was hooked from the first shot.