The birth of a legend, what a simple but profound title. On the surface, it seems that Nascimento has grown from an ignorant black poor boy to the ball king Pele, but in my eyes, the whole movie reflects far more than that. The whole film is flooded with Brazil, the historical problems of this special country and the Brazilians' pursuit and discussion of their roots, which is brasilidade. Before I talk about the movie, please allow me to talk about the history of the birth of Brazil. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese navigators discovered Brazil. These navigators originally wanted to go to India, but crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the American continent (that is why the native Americans are called Indians, and look at the word índio. It is so similar to the word índia in India), where the Portuguese colony was created. Subsequently, the Napoleon's continental blockade policy caused the Portuguese royal family to be caught between France and Britain to embarrass each other. Pedro I (a royal prince) hid in Brazil and led Brazil to independence, no longer a Portuguese colony. But here is precisely the irony. The colonists leading the colony to independence are as ridiculous as letting the Japanese become the father of our country to liberate the new China. But this is exactly what happened in Brazil. It can be said that colonial immigration brought Europeans, and capital brought black African slaves. Brazil was born in such a multi-ethnic, multi-ethnic and historically problematic environment.
Therefore, in the film, black children can be seen skinny and ragged playing wild football on the dusty road, white children from Italy wearing clean jerseys are enjoying themselves on the court. The status gap is not because the princes and generals of India have a natural caste, nor are they simply divided by skin color, but because the blacks in Brazil are the descendants of slaves. This white superiority is derived from the history, society and economy of Brazil. There are various reasons.
Then, in this multi-ethnic mixed situation, what exactly is Brazilianness and what is the root of the Brazilian (raiz) is a question that modern Brazilian writers like to explore in their works. In this film, we can see the Brazilian’s own answer: Dico, a descendant of Italian immigrants who had been born well since childhood, laughed at the black boy Nascimento and his Renga playing style, and laughed at his nickname. profit. Considers himself a noble European. But at the end of the film, I understand that I am a Brazilian, no matter how blindly imitating Europeans, I am just a clown. So he entrusted his beliefs to Nascimento, who also used to play as the king Pele, just as Pele changed from a derogatory ridicule to a glorious code name, full of Brazilian characteristics. It is Brazilian and will gradually be recognized and understood.
The work cannot be separated from culture, culture, history, society, all are intertwined, this is Brazil, the vigorous Brazil (Vivo!)
Although the birth of the legend was not filmed by the Brazilians, and the language was mostly English rather than Portuguese, the Brazil presented in the final movie is truly authentic and worth seeing!
Sichuan International Studies University Class of 2018 Spanish Portuguese Language Department Francisco
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