Brazil had lost the 1966 World Cup after Pele suffered a serious injury after which he declared this was his last World Cup. Journalist Joao Saldanha was hired to shape the team up for the 1970 World Cup and went through a series of games without a loss. He had persuaded a reluctant Pele to try one last time. But then Saldanha was fired. It turned out he had connections to the Brazilian Communist Party. He fell back on his journalism career which followed football.
As this was developing Brazil was being ruled by a military dictatorship and we were shown cases of protestors being chased down including Saldanha's family. Many of the protestors were resentful of the players, feeling they were an endorsement of the government.
The players were uncertain about the new coach Mario Zagallo who seemed to be traditional. There was some tension between Zagallo and Saldanha, but they both wanted Brazil to win. The players supported one another, but at time confidence was an issue.
If you follow football as most of the world terms the sport, you already know the end result, Brazil's third World Cup. But a few of the games had dramatic elements. With Peru they were against a coach that had been a star Brazilian player. Against Uruguay they were haunted by a previous humiliating loss and we are shown that in the 1950 match one Brazilian fan died in the seats. Against England there were some outstanding players. In the final the Italians provided tough competition. In all games the weather was brutally hot.
A fairly conspicuous element for me was smoking. One of the main characters, Saldanha was always seen puffing or holding onto a cigarette. Other smoking was in the background and did not include any of the players. That was a part of his character and he was the key role.
Brazil assembled a fine crew and cast. Here are some of them.
Quico Meirelles was the director. He has 12 directing credits, 3 for cinematography and 3 for the camera & electric department including "Blindness" (2008).
Rafael Dornellas was the creator and writer. He has 2 writing credits, 1 for directing and 1 for assistant directing.
Felix Sant'Angelo was the head writer. He has 12 writing credits, 2 for directing and 2 for the camera & electrical department.
Eric Theobaldo was a composer. He also wrote music for the theatre. For the 2016 Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro he wrote the DJ for the marching athletes. Eric has 21 composing credits, 16 for the music department and 1 for soundtrack.
A second composer was Beto Villares, often paired with Theobaldo. He has 30 composing credits, 13 for the music department and 1 for directing including "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" (2006) at coinciding with World Cup time and "Xingu" (2011).
A third composer was Fil Pinheiro. He has 12 composing credits, 27 for the music department and 2 for soundtrack including "Love in the Time of Cholera" (2007).
Alexandre Ermel was a cinematographer. He has 14 cinematography credits and 38 for the camera & electrical department including "Blindness" (2008).
Kaue Zilli was another cinematographer. He has 64 cinematography credits, 9 for the camera & electrical department and 1 for writing including one of my very favourite dog films, "Caramelo" (2025).
Guilherme Porto was an editor. He has 13 credits for editor, 19 for the editorial department and 1 for writing.
Rodrigo Santor played Joao Saldanha. He has been in some prominent tv. commercials. He has made films in Portuguese and English with 83 acting credits, 2 for producing and 1 for additional crew including "Love, Actually" (2003), "Heleno" (2011) as a football hero, "Rio" (2011) and "The 33" (2015).
Bruno Mazzeo played Mario Zagallo, the Brazilian coach. He got his start in the theatre. Bruno has 32 acting credits, 17 for writing and 2 for directing.
Lucas Agricola played Pele as he admitted he has a close physical resemblance to Pele and has some soccer experience. This is his only listed acting credit.
Caio Horowicz played Mazzetti. He has 23 acting credits and 1 for the art department, including the Oscar winner "I'm Still Here" (2025) that I have not yet seen.
"Brazil '70: The Third Star" is available subtitled and dubbed on Netflix. If you are any kind of sports fan you will appreciate some of the dynamics. Politics might be more of factor than you might have expected.
A short clip on "The Making of Brazil 70: The Third Star" showed how they filmed it. The sporting scenes were re enacted from the original action. We are shown vehicles following the players on the field to get different perspectives.
As usual I have bolded the first time a film is listed to indicate I have seen it.
