He is one of the world’s most renowned and gifted players. Neymar da Silva Santos Jnior–or simply Neymar–has gained international acclaim for his abilities on the field while playing for major teams such as FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as the Brazilian national team. Off the field, he causes quite a fuss, with his colourful and provocative behaviour keeping him in the news.
In Neymar The Perfect Chaos, a new three-part Netflix documentary, the star speaks directly to the camera to give his side of the tale.
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos, a three-part biographical documentary series on Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., better known as Neymar Jr. in the football world, premiered on Netflix on Tuesday.
He is largely regarded as one of the finest, if not the best, players in the history of the game. Beginning January 25th, the three-part original series will be accessible on the streaming platform.
The Gist:
From his early days at Pele’s former club Santos to European powerhouses Barcelona and PSG, as well as a prominent role on Brazil’s men’s national team in their 2016 Olympic gold-medal campaign, Neymar has commanded attention. It’s difficult to look away from Neymar, which is exactly how the Brazilian soccer superstar likes it. Off the field, his flashy attire, ever-changing haircuts, and bad-boy antics appear to be staged in order to keep the spotlight on him at all times.
Many of Neymar’s former and current colleagues, as well as the player himself, attempt to convey the narrative of why he is the way he is in this three-part documentary. Performance Worth Watching: The interviews with Neymar’s father and manager, Neymar Sr., are the most intriguing portions of The Perfect Chaos because they shed light on the aggressive maintenance of the star’s brand that has occurred virtually his whole career.
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Memorable Dialogue:
“They’re claiming that in training, they were advised not to attack him too hard, that he receives special privileges, that he has two physiotherapists,” an off-screen analyst observes before questioning, “so, is he a diva?” “Yes!” exclaims their equal.
There is just no denying that Neymar is one of the finest footballers in the world, if not the best ever. He’s a phenomenal talent who has done remarkable things on the field from a young age, climbing to the top levels of the world’s favourite sport. There’s also no denying that… well, he’s a pain in the ass. A renowned flopper, an unrepentant diva, and a man known for his flashy, vulgar, and contentious conduct, which occasionally reaches very insane proportions.
Given these facts, any documentary about Neymar should aim to address one crucial question: is he great because he’s tough, or is he great because he’s difficult? Is there some broader tragedy that feeds his achievement, similar to Michael Jordan’s never-ending desire to fabricate grievance in order to stoke his own competitive flames to greater heights?
It’s difficult to leave Neymar: The Perfect Chaos feeling like you’ve received a good solution to this question. That’s not to suggest there aren’t fascinating elements to the documentary; there are. There is a film of Neymar as a thin small boy displaying flashes of the speed and creative brilliance that would eventually propel him to superstardom.
There are interviews with his father, Neymar Sr., who emphasises the importance of his off-the-field brand, noting that at one point, he was making twenty times as much from sponsorships as he did from football. There are archival and contemporary videos of Neymar’s early coaches seeing that the young player’s explosive combination of brilliance and attitude was, in their words, “developing a monster.”
The sections that highlight the celebrity himself, on the other hand, feel the most missing. On-screen interviews provide little information, revealing nothing that we haven’t previously surmised about Neymar off the field. One footage, apparently intended to humanise Neymar as a loving family guy, shows the star smiling and shooting as he teases his kid with an unwelcome present of books at his birthday celebration, but instead indicates “well, so he is just like this, huh?”
It may be too much to expect Neymar The Perfect Chaos to shed light on Neymar’s inner life, as that does not appear to be the producer’s objective; this isn’t an impartial work. The way everything is presented–the game video, the interviews, the structuring of the tale from the beginning–makes it plain that this is meant to be hagiography, a glossy pitch for Neymar: The Brand.
Perhaps, in doing so, it accidentally sheds fresh light by implying that the brand is all that exists.
OUR RECOMMENDATION: SKIP IT. Unless you’re a die-hard PSG or Brazilian national team fan who can’t get enough of Neymar, The Perfect Chaos doesn’t provide much fresh insight into a guy you’ve probably seen enough of.
