Pelé: Birth of a Legend

Director: Jeff and Mike Zimbalist

Cast: Vincent D'Onofrio, Rodrigo Santoro, Diego Boneta, Kevin de Paula, Seu Jorge, Mariana Balsa, Leonardo Lima Carvalho

Music: AR Rahman

Rating: ***

It is well known that what cricket is to India, football is to Brazil. Pelé: Birth of a Legend celebrates the journey of a small town football lover to an international legend. Directed by brothers, Jeff and Mike Zimbalist, the movie, centres primarily on father-son relationship and nation’s love for Ginga, takes one on an emotional journey of a nation, where the sport is a religion.

The movie opens with the 1958 football world cup match where Brazil competed against many nations to reach the finale. It is for the first time that Pelé is playing at an international level.  Soon, the story goes back by few years where the nine year old Dico also called Pelé (played by Leonardo Lima Carvalho) is seen playing the game of football with his mates in Barau, a poor village in Brazil. Heartbroken about the nation losing the 1950 World Cup final, Pelé promises his father (Seu Jorge), a former football player, that someday he'll win the World Cup for Brazil. That was the year Brazil lost the World Cup final on home soil, leaving the sport lovers in trauma.

While he gets a lot of support from his father, his mother wants him to focus on studies. However as an ardent fan of the sport, Dico continues to play. The film focuses on his soccer-related adventures with the neighbourhood boys, and one fine day, amidst the cutesy mischief, Pelé and his buddies participate as “the shoeless ones” in a local football competition and manage to advance all the way to the finals before being defeated by the upper-class opponents. Disappointed by the defeat, he joins his father to work where he learns the finer skills of balancing using ripe mangoes.

Minutes later, the movie takes a leap. Pelé, now a 15-year-old boy finds a spot for himself in professional club, enters a local tournament and leaves a powerful impression with his skills, leading to his recruitment at a professional level. His skill and playing style "Ginga" leads to conflicts with his coaches until he meets and trains under coach Vicente Feola (Vincent D'Onorio), who initially warns not to use the skills to avoid another World Cup embarrassment. However, realising the strength of the team and their capability with Ginga, the coach encourages his team to ensure they play a powerful game, which in turn leads to the first world cup for Brazil.

The background score by the legendary AR Rahman adds value to the film. Titled after the popular style 'Ginga' – the only track from the biopic has a triumphant vibe, but I believe the single could have been used during the 1958 finale World Cup scenes to make it even more interesting.

Overall, the movie assures no boredom, however I predict that the movie may not impress the non-football fans. The movie is very well edited and the team deserve an appreciation. Both the actors, Leonardo Lima Carvalho & Kevin de Paula, are convincing as Pelé. The interesting storyline, visuals, production design and other factors enrich the movie watching experience, but fail to create magic as a biopic.