Deborah Ross

Contains nothing you couldn’t get from Wikipedia or YouTube: Netflix’s Pelé reviewed

Was this documentary hampered because Pelé can't be interesting about himself?

Pelé wasn’t just an incredibly gifted player, he was also handsome and captivating. That smile! Credit: Courtesy Netflix 
issue 27 February 2021

Pelé is a two-hour documentary about the great Brazilian footballer — the greatest footballer ever, some would say — who played in four World Cups (a record) and was one of the first global sporting superstars. But while there is plenty of footage showing his astonishing talent, if you’re interested in what made him tick, or what his life was like off the pitch, or how adulation might ultimately mess with your head, then move on, nothing to see here. Or, to put it another way, if, like me, you’re the sort of person who goes straight to ‘Personal life’ whenever you look someone up on Wikipedia, it’s as if that section has been excised. However, if you are not that sort of person, you may come away more satisfied and less bored.

Why the filmmakers couldn’t get any vivid recollections out of Pelé, sitting in front of them, is anyone’s guess

Directed by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, and executive produced by Kevin Macdonald, this story, in as much as there is one, is conventionally told with archive footage, dramatic music and talking heads, including Pelé himself, now 80.

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