"The Birth of a Legend" was shot based on the story of the football king Pele. If you don't know much about football like me, it is also a very good movie to watch as a sports inspirational film. Some tears and blood. Although it is inevitable that the deified narrative that the protagonist will hang up as soon as he uses "Ginga" is a bit cliché, as an artistic treatment, it also has the miraculous effect of strengthening confidence.
The background of the story is the defeat of Brazil in the 1950 World Cup. The traditional Brazilian football playing method of "Ginga" was challenged by the new European football playing method, causing the Brazilian people to lose confidence in their traditional way. As a teenage genius who played "Ginga" in the streets of Brazil since he was a child, Pele's step-by-step success is also the process of rebuilding the Brazilian people's confidence in their traditional "Ginga" football.
Bailey was born in a poor family, and when he was a child, he gave people a shoe shine, but he also lost his livelihood to play cloth football with his friends in the streets and alleys (this episode reminds me of the "Dream Travel" in which I was shining my shoes but thinking of playing boy with guitar). His mother wouldn't let him touch football, but he crawled on the roof to listen to the broadcast of Brazil's football game. For the first time, I proved myself in a game in the village. Although I did not beat the team with sneakers led by the rich young master, Bailey and his friends won the audience with their joyful and highly entertaining "Ginga" play. The applause and the scout's appreciation. However, his four-eyed partner died unexpectedly, and this loss of his partner almost ruined his football career. In the process of working with his father, he was constantly encouraged by his father, and his mother also changed her mind, brought in a scout, and sent away her son. In a professional team, because he couldn't learn to play with his feet, he was coldly looked at by the coach and repeatedly doubted himself. However, after winning the team with "Ginga" in a ball game, he was lucky to be selected for the national team. Injured in an accident on the eve of participating in the World Cup, but he was ordered to encourage the players to play with the familiar "Ginga", and finally won the 1958 World Cup, proving their worth to the world and proving the value of "Ginga".
It's also not very accurate to say that Bailey was hanging all the way. As a young and famous player, his mental instability and people's doubts about "Ginga" in such a big background made him doubt himself several times. The first time I suspected it was when I played a game with a rich young master when I was a child, and everyone called them the "barefoot team". In order to win the approval of others, they grabbed a few bags of peanuts and exchanged for a few pairs of sneakers that didn't fit their feet. As a result, they couldn't play their strengths on the court, and even their four-eyed friends lost their lives. This was a huge blow to Pele, and he was even determined to give up his football dream. At this time, the noble man in his life, his father, appeared, and encouraged him to stick to "Ginga" in private conversations, not to care about other people's eyes, and to give him silent encouragement on the court, asking him to take off his shoes that didn't fit his feet, to "Ginga". Ginga" conquered the audience. When Pele was discouraged and worked with him, he also awakened Pele's repressed football dream through the "fruit practice method" for a long time. Pele's football construction site has laid a solid foundation during this time.
The second suspicion was that after being selected for the team club, the coach was very dissatisfied with his "wild way" playing style, and the players kept laughing at him. When he was packing his bags and preparing to go home, the second noble person in his life, the grandfather of the club scout, appeared, told him the history of "Ginga" and encouraged him to be himself. Later, his "Ginga" shined in the game and was promoted to the national team.
After entering the national team, his self-doubt persisted. The third fatal suspicion was a knee injury due to his hesitancy while playing "Ginga" on the field. This is exactly the same process as his father was injured before (I don't know if he thought about it when he was injured). As a result, he was unable to play for a long time, and in the World Cup, he was forced to take orders in a critical situation because the generals of several yuan were injured one after another during the game. But on the field, even if his father guarded him expectantly in front of the TV, even if the club scouts silently cheered him on in the audience, he still could not eliminate his inferiority complex and doubts. At this time, the third nobleman, the rich young master who has always regarded himself as a European, woke him up: we are always Brazilians, and we should show the world how Brazil plays. Even though the Swedish coach seized on the Brazilian player's physical defect and maliciously slandered it at the press conference before the final, the hopeful Pele tried to inspire his teammates just like his father had inspired him, and regained hope for "Ginga". Although his leadership was still weak at this time, and even his proposal was almost buried, it still had a very good motivating effect in the end, and also showed signs of a team leader.
"Ginga" is a kind of happy kicking method for self-entertainment formed in the process of African people's resistance to oppression. Its dazzling dribbling and kicking, like graceful dance steps, is the release of the Brazilian people's nature to seek freedom. A failure may be just an accident, forcing the Brazilian people to learn the European way of playing is like cutting their feet to fit their feet. As the rich young man in the film said: I have fantasized about being Italian all my life, but when I came here, I found that I was a Brazilian from start to finish. Brazilians have the Brazilian way of playing, Europeans have the Europeans' way of playing. There is no distinction between skills and races. The most important thing is to believe in the traditions of your own nation, believe in the methods you are familiar with, and implement them unswervingly. go down.
In addition to the inspirational road of the football king Pele, many places in the film are also particularly attractive: at the beginning Pele and his friends played the "Ginga" football in the streets and alleys, dozens of people crowded an old radio to listen to the football of the Brazilian team The radio, the hugs and dances in the streets and alleys of the Brazilian people after the victory of the World Cup in 1958, can be felt everywhere in Brazil, the country's love and enthusiasm for football. The most touching scene was during the 1958 World Cup, when Bailey's mother, who had always been against football, had no intention of doing housework, and ran to the room surrounded by the TV, where she and Bailey's father kissed excitedly. Although my mother always played the role of "strict mother" during Bailey's growth, she was not without tolerance and understanding in the later period, which was not only support for Bailey's future, but also understanding of Bailey's father. After so many years, the victory of another generation has finally washed away the humiliation of the previous generation, and the reconciliation with the past is precious.
View more about Pele: Birth of a Legend reviews
