Heleno: O Príncipe Maldito

The rising splendor of Rio de Janeiro and increasing prowess of Brazilian football players combine with the appearance of star player Heleno de Freitas in the 1930s. His skills are dazzling with the Botafogo football club and Heleno sets his sights on leading resurgent Brazil to its first world cup victory. It is not to be. World War II, arrogance, addictions and a bad case of syphilis conspire to bring Heleno an early retirement from the field and from life. "I am surrounded by vultures and all I want to do is score a goal," is not an attitude that endears one to teammates, much less friends and family. Heleno suffers the ultimate indignity for a Brazilian athlete, resorting to playing ball in Argentina.

I had a chance to step into Rio's Maracanã stadium from the players entrance on the field level and it was exhilarating. Heleno provides a similar feeling. Watching it I felt immersed in Brazil's deep and thrilling football culture. Heleno is worth watching for its gorgeous black and white photography alone, but this alluring and tragic film is so much more fulfilling. It is one of my favorite sports films, so refreshingly different from the mainstream. Rodrigo Santoro (Heleno) is amazing. Eventually Heleno's aggressive and ball hog style gave way to Pelé and his beautiful passing game. Perhaps Heleno influenced this? Watching Heleno brought me back to the football games that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing with my Brazilian brother Luiz Fernando. Seen at the Miami International Film Festival. Maravilhoso!

Heleno is an outstanding biopic which excels in acting, directing, scripting and cinematography. With its nonlinear narrative and black & white cinematography, its artistic production values soar without making the movie artsy. R. Santoro's rendition is mesmerizing which doesn't do justice to the supporting cast who also display a great acting performance. Despite its challenges to an average movie goer, with B&W picture, subtitles (for foreign viewers) and a narrative laden with flashbacks, the story is very engaging and fun to watch. Perhaps the most important thing about Heleno is the director shows a movie can have highly artistic features without sacrificing on its entertainment value and without boring the audience to death. Hats off to this great cinema work.

The first time I saw Heleno on DVD, it was disturbing and haunted me for months. By the fourth time, I was able to view it more objectively, specifically to see if there were not enough soccer scenes. The balance of scenes on and off the pitch is about right, but I agree with others that more soccer would be better. The contrast of black and white gave the film an edginess not possible with color. The photographs at the end contributed to the overall balance of emotion. Rodrigo Santoro was unbelievably superb and the actresses, Aline Moraes and Angie Cepeda complemented him well. Would we like to see more of him playing soccer? Sure, in another movie or as an added feature on the Heleno DVD. I recommend all of Santoro's films.

Vintage black and white, beautifully shot. Fonseca and Santoro were both present at the Sept 14 Premiere at TIFF. They were very concerned in making this an accurate as possible biography of this syphilitic, arrogant Brazilian footballer. Santoro lost 30 pounds over the three months of shooting. Oscar might be calling in the wings. Beautiful portrayal of the club and beach scene of Rio in the1940's.

Heleno was aggressive and driven, very much a fanatical Botafogo player first, but aspiring to win the world cup, which he never accomplished. This was the time when the Maracana was being built, the 200,000 capacity stadium on the other side of the Corcovado from the beaches of Copacobana and Ipanema. Heleno only played there once, as demons chased him to the Sanitorium and death..

One of the best Brazilian films in years! Rodrigo Santoro is stunning. Surely the best role of his career! The story of the controversial soccer player, Heleno De Freitas, is worthy of a movie - done in black and white - which has a photograph and a sensational flawless direction. You want to see again to repair more in detail and beauty that it exudes.Surely, after passing through the film festivals around the world, will return to Brazil with a suitcase full of much-deserved awards. Do not forget to watch the movies this wonderful work of art.The Brazilian Cinema is coming with everything this year, please get out of the way!