Pelé was a star in football, but a supporting role in cinema

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In cinema, the 20th century athlete was only a sporadic actor. No comparison, for example, with swimmer Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984), winner of five Olympic gold medals who reigned on screen as Tarzan from 1932 to 1948.

Sacrilege of sacrilege: even a brucutu like Vinnie Jones, a Welsh midfielder who played for Chelsea and Leeds, had a more brilliant film career than Pelé, with emphasis on the cult “Jogos, Trapaças and Dois Canos Fumegantes” (1998).

By far, Pelé’s most watched and most prestigious film was the war adventure “Escape to Victory” (1981), directed by a first-class American filmmaker, John Huston (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, “A Adventure in Africa”).

International stars, such as Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Max von Sydow, shared the cast with the former player and other football-actors, such as the English Bobby Moore, the Argentine Osvaldo Ardiles and the Polish Kazimierz Deyna.

There, it was easy to shine because the talent at play involved the ball, not the dramatic arts: in the plot, set during the Second World War, a team of prisoners from the Allied countries face, in occupied Paris, a German selection.

Pelé would work with Huston again (this time as an actor) in another international production, “A Vitória do Mais Fraco” (1983), now in the role of himself and without a hint of the repercussions of the previous film.

In Brazilian cinema, his greatest success was “Os Trapalhões e o Rei do Futebol” (1986), seen by more than 3.6 million spectators in cinemas and by many others on TV.

Once again, Pelé’s weaknesses as an actor were disguised by the role he played, that of sports reporter Nascimento, and also by the fact that Renato Aragão’s troupe was responsible for keeping the ball in the air.

There was no way to make up for his deficiencies, however, in “Pedro Mico” (1985), based on a play by Antonio Callado, with Pelé in the lead role. The former player played a Rio rascal who dodged the police and the gang itself.

The only thing he didn’t dribble his limits as an actor: director Ipojuca Pontes resorted to Milton Gonçalves —who is, yes, a star on the screen— to dub him.

In cinema, the best images that Pelé leaves are those that record him, in dozens of documentaries that cover the history of football, as a monster on the pitch.

In this regard, the highlights are “Pelé Eterno” (2004), which recreates the famous goal on Rua Javari, considered the most beautiful goal by the former player and which was not recorded by any camera, and “Pelé” (2021), from Netflix , focused on winning three World Cups.

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