NETFLIX
ON DEMAND
"My name is Michael Jordan, I played for the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to 1998." So begins The Last Dance (the last dance), an event documentary series produced by Netflix and the American channel ESPN, and made available on Monday April 20 on the video subscription platform.
For those to whom the name of Jordan does not mean anything at all, this series of ten episodes (aired twice a week) retraces the last season of an NBA star player, in the late 1990s, and in take the opportunity to look back on his long career. For everyone else, whether they care about the orange ball or not, The Last Dance is a rare exercise: the laying bare of a king.
His career, his statistics, the empire he created – he is the first sportsman to become a billionaire – everything has already been written on the former number 23 of the Chicago Bulls. And yet, following in filigree the hectic last season of the "Dynasty" led by the player, who will conclude with a sixth and final title of champion, the series exposes a star who has become bigger than his sport.
The man behind the legend
For no other living sportsman, two former American presidents (Barack Obama and Bill Clinton) would not have accepted to play the documentary game. Besides them, the director, Jason Hehir, questioned all the actors of the time at length to try to approach the man behind the legend.
At a time when images and videos are saturating social networks, Netflix and ESPN are offering an unprecedented backstage behind the scenes of a team, at a time when reality shows had not yet made the exercise familiar. In 1997-1998, from the start of pre-season preparation, the Chicago Bulls offered a film crew almost total access to their daily lives.
As an athlete who had always stood – almost unhealthily – away from taking positions that could affect his concentration (as well as his business), Michael Jordan had imagined himself as an ideal son-in-law, a "Jumpman" – logo become that of his brand of sneakers – only focused on sport. And if many testimonies have since shaken the myth, The Last dance shows for the first time the “real” Jordan: a sickly competitor, who harangues, if not harasses his partners, a "Howling devil", obsessed with victory, as summed up by a former teammate. "It drives me crazy when I lose", admits the former star, who doesn't dodge the question.
In a safe, out of sight
All this was known. But no one had observed it in detail so far. Especially since this documentary almost never saw the light of day. The nearly five hundred hours of unpublished video filmed by the NBA during this final season of the Bulls have indeed slept for twenty years in a safe, out of sight. Several renowned directors have broken their teeth trying to force the passage.
And for good reason, Michael Jordan, whose agreement was essential, opposed the exploitation of these images, worried that they would chip away at his icon status, fearing that he would be taken "For a horrible person". Before being persuaded, three years ago, by the possibility of a ten-hour documentary, where he delivers himself like never before. Because his speech has become rare. Aside from press conferences related to his franchise owner status (the Charlotte Hornets), his last long interview was in 2013.
Jordan and his lawyers have of course exercised a right of inspection over the final assembly. And the first episodes of the documentary series do not suggest a trick question. But in this period of confinement, where sports fans only have the gnaw to chew on reruns of prestigious matches, this invitation to enter "the last dance" cannot be refused.
The Last Dance, directed by Jason Hehir (EU, 2020, 10 × 50 min). Two episodes per week available on demand on Netflix.
