victory Tagged Articles at Cinematical
How Come There Are No Great Soccer Films?
Filed under: Sports », Fandom », Newsstand »
If soccer movies were as exciting as sportscaster Andrés Cantor makes scoring in real-life soccer matches sound ("GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!'), we wouldn't be asking this question. But even die-hard fans of both cinema and soccer must ask, Why have there been no great movies about the most popular sport in the world?
You might easily dismiss my thinking since I'm an American and I live in a city where (American) football is considered a religion, so why not listen to more informed opinions? Simon Clifford, team owner and manager, trained players for soccer film The Damned United, which opens in the UK tomorrow. He told Glenn Moore of The Independent UK: "If the football doesn't look right the whole film can fall flat."
Director Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Fame, Angela's Ashes) observed: "It's an impossibly difficult sport to replicate because football is seen primarily in wide-shot. The excitement unfolds seeing at least four players in one shot. This is very difficult to cheat. The illusion of film is about editing and close-ups." Parker notes that boxing, baseball, and American football lend themselves much more easily to film adaptations. "Most importantly, the skills cannot be replicated by actors as they can in boxing or baseball."
Is this all hogwash to cover up for the Brits' inability to make a great soccer movie? Bend It Like Beckham was pretty good, but not really great, was it? Is that the best we can hope for? Do you think John Huston's Victory, with Sylvester Stallone as a goalkeeper (pictured) and Pelé, is a hidden gem? Are we missing some awesome foreign-language flicks that capture the spirit of the sport? How come there are no great soccer movies?
Pele Scores a Biopic
Filed under: Drama », Sports »
When I was a very gullible first-grader, somebody told me the name Pelé was short for "Peg Leg". I was then convinced for a very short, very stupid afternoon that the soccer legend actually played the sport with a wooden leg. After I was set straight on the truth, I felt like an idiot, but the worst of it is that I was never able to fully appreciate Pelé's real talents. I couldn't get over the fact that he'd be more impressive to me if he had that handicap. I haven't thought much about him since elementary school, after which I gave up on soccer, but now I'm looking forward to finally learning about Pelé as I wish I had in the beginning -- with a biopic. The three-time World Cup winner has just signed with the William Morris Agency, which will be packaging a movie in his honor. Even with both legs, Pelé's story should be perfect for a film with plenty of crowd-pleasing dramatic arcs. He grew up in poverty in Brazil and was taught to play by his father, a former pro footballer. At 15, he went pro, at 16, he joined the Brazil national team, and at 17, he was the youngest person to play in a World Cup final, and subsequently the youngest to win. About a decade later he scored his 1000th goal and then won his third Cup. After retiring from playing the sport in Brazil, he functioned as a star player (past his prime) for the New York Cosmos and also co-starred with Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone in John Huston's Victory. I'm not sure who will be best to star as Pelé, but since the actor will have to be repped by WMA, the list is certainly narrowed down. Unfortunately I have no access to the agency's list of talent. And I don't suppose City of God's Alexandre Rodrigues is on it.
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