Earlier this week, the documentary Pele made its way onto Netflix. This movie showcases the notorious Brazillian footballer Pele through his journey to becoming a three-time World Cup winner.
What is Pele about?
Sports fans are destined to enjoy Pele. The documentary features never-before-seen archival footage and multiple interviews with the footballer’s iconic teammates. It breaks down the “12-year period in which Pele, the only man to win three World Cup titles, went from young superstar in 1958 to national hero in 1970.”
Pele isn’t an easy watch as at the height of Pele’s fame stood “a radical yet turbulent era in Brazil’s history.”
In a Q&A with the footballer, who is now 80 years old, he was asked to reflect on the pressure he faced to take a political stance during such a critical part of his career. He shared, “I’m not a politician. I’m a Brazilian. I want the best for Brazil, but I can’t change the laws.”
He added, “I had problems during my career, because people confused politics with soccer.”
The Netflix documentary is directed by filmmakers David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas. Tryhorn is best known for his work directing and producing the documentary Crossing the Line. He also produced a sports documentary series called All or Nothing: Brazil National Team.
Nicholas was also a producer for Crossing the Line and Pele is listed as his first director credit on IMDb. However, he had previously worked on the sets of 28 Days Later, Sunshine and The Last King of Scotland.
What are fans saying?
Netflix’s Pele has high critical reception and its fans seem to be loving it. According to Google, 92 percent of watchers enjoy the movie and IMDb has given it a 7.1 out of 10, when it comes to user ratings.
Rotten Tomatoes critics have given the documentary a 76 percent, with many praising the movie for its investigative look into Pele’s life.
Online fans agree. One wrote that the movie was “beautiful,” highlighting their favorite scene as, “when he’s [Pele] talking at the 1970 World Cup.”
An athletic blogger also had kind words to share. They wrote that the movie had “fantastic footage and interesting insight into the political situation in Brazil during Pele’s reign as the best footballer in the world.”
Others have said that the documentary has made them emotional and they are happy to express that Pele is their favorite athlete— many have called this new movie a “must-watch.”
Pele is now streaming on Netflix.