Pasos de Héroe (Hero Steps) is a heartwarming story of a boy who has lost his lower leg from stepping on a land mine, but he has not lost the strength to manifest his dream of competing in a futbol tournament.
The Story
In the story, 10 year old Eduardo (Federico López) is placed in a residency school; his parents want a better life for him, as farmwork would be too difficult with his damaged leg and hands. Eduardo suffers bullying from some able-bodied boys in the school, who play on the football team. But he makes friends with an asthmatic Chucho and a girl named Valentina. Valentina has a secret room where the kids watch soccer on TV, and they are inspired to enter the same mini-world cup tournament that the school’s team wants to win.
Eduardo is encouraged by the music teacher Carlos (Hector García) to follow his dream. He recruits more players — including Jeronino, a boy without arms, runs secret practices, and raises the 25,000 pesos ($6 today) to register for the tournament. Along the way, he suffers setbacks from the disapproving school principal, who confiscates their ball and admonishes the rag tag team that not all dreams come true.
On the day of the tournament, Eduardo’s team must hike through the mountains to get to the field, where they face the school’s official team. Maestro Carlos tells the tired boys that they have already had a victory, because they are going to play.
The Film
Pasos de Héroe is the first feature film from Colombian Writer-Director Henry Rincón. His own father was disabled, and Rincón says he searched for 2 years to find the right boy to play the role inspired in part by his dad. The role of Eduardo was also inspired by the children that Rincón taught in film workshops for disabled youth and victims of conflict.
The movie was filmed in the small coffee-growing municipality of Pueblorrico, which is 3 hours south of Medellín, the former home of Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel. The poverty in the area gives children few possibilities, so it was important for Rincón to show that teamwork and friendships can help pursue a dream even when family cannot.
In Conclusion
As far as the soccer, this is one of those films where the quality of the play is supposed to be quite low because the children are so disadvantaged. And in this case, the low level of play is not meant to be comical, but to show that for these characters to even play futbol requires overcoming societal obstacles, and the children are trying their best to prevail.
Perhaps the greatest charm of the film is its serendipitous cast of novice and natural child actors, who did not know what was in the script. Especially touching is the armless Jeronino, who raises his foot to get called on in class, and who uses his feet to write his name on the team registration form and to play the guitar, and who has a brilliant smile.
The scenery is also an important part of the story. In an attempt to run away and return home, Eduardo walks the trail up the hilly El Gólgota. In reality, El Gólgota is a recent recreational attraction, but for Eduardo it is his way of giving up, until Maestro Carlos helps him him recognize his own heroism.
Pasos de Héroe is about victims of the conflict in Colombia with a goal of not further victimizing them, but seeing them as heroes of everyday life. This film has good examples of disability and Colombian rural life that can be discussed with children, and I hope more people will watch it. Director Henry Rincón Orozco has gone on to make other features and series.
8 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 8
Resources:
- Released: 2016-09-22 (Colombia)
- English title is Hero Steps
- 1 hour 36 mins
- In Spanish with English sub-titles
- I watched this on Amazon Prime
- IMDB
- Writer-Director: Henry Rincón (aka Henry Rincón Orozco)
- Stars: Federico López (Eduardo) , Hector García (Maestro Carlos)
- Watch the Trailer in Spanish
- Héroe Films on Instagram and Facebook
