Pelé - The Movie - Blu-ray

Movie: Bauru, Brazil in 1950: For young Edson Arantes do Nascimento, spitefully called just Pelé by other kids, there is only one big dream: he wants to become a successful footballer and thus escape life in the slums. He is sure: one day he will win the World Cup for Brazil. And indeed, a few years later, as a teenager (Kevin de Paula), he makes it to a tryout for Santos FC. His idiosyncratic style earns him a place in the youth team, where he soon causes some spectacular victories. By the time he was 15, he had reached the professional league and, at just 16, was given a place in the national team that would represent Brazil at the 1958 World Cup. When he gets injured during training, however, his big dream quickly seems to be over. But then he unexpectedly gets a second chance.

Pelé - The film is a tribute to one of the greatest footballers ever. Yet directors Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, who otherwise specialize in documentaries, don't focus on the football god's great career, but instead illuminate only the birth of a legend (the film's original English subtitle). They tell how Pelé came to his nickname, how he followed his big dream with an iron will and was able to perform real ball magic even as a child. It's very rousing in places, and charmingly realised too - such as when the real Pelé makes a mini-guest appearance, apparently giving it his blessing.

However, the dramaturgical realization here and there also shows that the directors don't have much experience with feature films yet. The characters are drawn quite one-dimensional, what even strong actors like Vincent D`Onofrio or Colm Meany can compensate only with difficulty. But since the football scenes are well executed and the story itself is very involving, the movie offers really good entertainment despite its weaknesses. Although everyone who is interested in Pelé knows that his very first World Cup appearance culminated in a triumph, you root for the young player enormously, first to see if he can even make the national team and later to see if he can lead his team to victory despite his injury.

Pelé - The film - unlike the man it portrays - is not a legendary work. An entertaining biopic with good actors and some rousing scenes is the whole thing, however. You can put up with a few weaknesses. Overall, there is a very clear: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the Blu-Ray is on a pleasantly high level. The image sharpness is very good and allows even small details and textures to come to the fore properly. The coloration looks very warm and natural and also the tuning of black levels and contrasts support the positive overall impression of the picture quality. The same can be said for the sound. Although there are no big effects fireworks due to the genre, the surround channels are repeatedly occupied by atmospheric ambient noises and smaller sound effects, resulting in an overall very coherent sound carpet. Very good!

Extras: Bonus material has the Blu-ray except for the trailer and other program tips unfortunately not to offer.

Conclusion: Pelé - The film describes the career of Brazil's legendary football god from his childhood in the slums of Bauru to his first glorious World Cup in 1958. The production has to contend with some clichés, but overall has turned out very rousing and entertaining. The Blu-ray presents the film in coherent picture and sound quality, but you have to do without bonus material. Nevertheless: For football fans and especially for admirers of Pelé this disc is quite: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp