It’s unusual for documentary features to get theatrical runs, at least around here in northern New Jersey, but Red Army is the exception.  It chronicles the most famous hockey players in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and ’80s, when the Russian national hockey team was considered to be the best in the world.  And it follows a few of their players to America after the Cold War thawed, when the NHL was finally able to secure some of that talent.

Gabe Polsky’s film isn’t what I would term a traditional documentary.  He lets his camera roll in interviews and some of the most insight is to be gleaned from the silences of his subjects.  He also uses dynamic illustrations, artwork and a treasure trove of historical film clips to support his talking heads.  Yet the talking heads are the key: star Russian players Slava Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Vladislav Tretiak, and others.  People who found fame on the ice but who were still under direct control of Soviet coaches, political officers and even the KGB.

As great as the Russian team was, this was also the team that lost in the “Miracle on Ice” game in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, and that defeat is part of their story. But so are their unusual and highly effective training methods, their later Olympic glories, the defection of a young star, clashes with their second coach after the first one is removed, transitions to retirement or the NHL, and life after the games are gone. The film is as much about the political and social revolution that occurred in Russia when the Iron Curtain fell, but it is all told as it relates to the hockey team and its stars.

All in all it is a fascinating glimpse into a culture that is still attempting to stabilize itself between the old communistic ways and the realities of capitalistic democracy. The film is relatable because athletes are athletes, even as the Russians trained as if they were military men preparing for all out war.  Despite a few awkward moments and the filmmaker’s trouble with articulation, this film is a must-see for any sports fan, and worthwhile for everybody else.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  23 March 2015.