Red Army (2015)

After the war, the Soviet Union struggled to rise from the ashes. Their hockey program became the best in the world. Coach Anatoly Tarasov created a game of crisp passing and strategy unlike anything in North America. They always won. Tarasov is fired after an incident that angered Khrushchev. The tyrannical Viktor Tikhonov became the new coach. He instituted an unrelenting regiment and is reviled by all the players. This movie follows them through the Miracle on Ice, the purge afterward, Perestroika, migration to the NHL, and finally rebuilding a new system from the latest chaos.This is another avenue to examine the USSR and the Cold War. It's best for hockey fans although there is very little new to real hockey fans. It's missing the shock value or truly new information. I think Fetisov has more to give. He's a main interview for this doc. He seems to be holding back since he's a big government Putin official now. This is a solid doc but a deeper dig could get something truly revealing.

Sometimes sports can seem like they have a bloated sense of self-importance but it can resonate in the grand scheme of geopolitics. The Cold War was indeed an era of tension and it manifested itself most publicly when the Soviet Union brought its teams to North America. It wasn't just teams representing countries, but they were representing ways of life - America, the capitalist way of life, and the Soviet Union, the communist way of life. And ostensibly, those lifestyles determine who has the better players, at least that's what they wanted the teams to think. When you hear that a country has beaten Canada at hockey, you know that means business. However, the documentary Red Army shows how the Soviet Union team members, who are all world class athletes, become disenchanted with their leadership and are recruited over to American leagues.As expected, the attitude of the Russians today in the interviews are amusing and intimidating. Director Gabe Polsky feeds off the candid moments he captures, even if that results in the participants condescending him. With very deliberate motions with the camera, he capitalises on moments that other directors would have considered an outtake. There's a sense of humour and a sense of danger constantly bubbling, and Polsky's collection of archive footage always perfectly illustrates the portrait that the anecdotes form. It shows a skill in hockey that I've never seen before and Polsky makes it quite poetic at times. However sometimes its drama is too boisterous, but it's only real crux is that with such a big team it's hard for it to stay focused and follow all its characters at once. While it's most likely drenched in bias coming from an American, but pushing politics aside, it's the individual lives that matter.8/10

To be honest, I thought the focus of this documentary was going to be a behind-the-scenes look at how the Soviet National Hockey Team reacted to the "Miracle On Ice" 1980 Olympics loss to an amateur U.S.A. squad, at Lake Placid. However, I was surprised that the movie really glossed over that event, and instead centered on an inside narrative of the Soviet team itself over a span of several decades.The great Soviet defenseman Slava Fetisov is really the focal point of the documentary, as he recalls his early enlistment as a child for the team, the incredibly rigorous training once he was selected, and eventually becoming part of the famed "Russian Five", perhaps the greatest quintet of players to grace the ice at the same time. That's just the beginning of the story though, as Fastinov recalls after Perestroika", believing he would be able to join the National Hockey League, in North America, but how promises by his coach Victor Tikhinov, whom he disliked intensely, were never kept.After a defection to the West by one of the "Russian Five", and a threatened boycott by other players, Fetisov and other Russian players were finally able to leave and join the NHL. I thought it was quite interesting that even once in the NHL, the players were denigrated by fans, coaches, and even other players. Finally they found a home and great success with legendary coach Scotty Bowman and the Detroit Red Wings.This documentary was written and directed by Gabe Polsky, who seemed to struggle with his interview style, at times drawing ire from the interviewees, even at one point getting the "middle finger salute" from Fetisov. However, I got the feeling some of this was meant to be seen by the viewers and that the relationship between the two was warmer than depicted.All in all, despite the rough spots, I found the film insightful and interesting, and I felt I learned quite a lot from it.

Red Army illustrates the way of life hockey creates for its players, fans, and country on and off the ice. Polsky intimately describes the pride, devotion, and hardships these players experienced once shoved onto the patriotic pedestal meant to represent strength, determination and nationalism Russia insisted its people adopt. To be a part of the Red Army hockey team was a national honor, it proved your undying love and support for your country, it meant absolute popularity and respect from your fans (which was the entire Russian population), because to Russia, it wasn't just a game, it was a way of life, it was a fight that could move Russia to the top once again. The film primarily follows Slava Fetisov, highlighting his triumphs and relationship with the Red Army team and Russian government, his impossibly tough transition in the NHL, and the affect his hockey talents and patriotism had on his personal life. It's absolutely mesmerizing to watch the dance of the game, the political movements and the life decisions these players and their families are forced to make. It's a life full of tests and courage - Polsky shares an absolutely phenomenally detailed truth.