I have a mild obsession with the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. I have seen the movie Miracle about a hundred times. The book The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey is one of my favorite sports books. I have quotes by Coach Herb Brooks strewn everywhere. And the irony of all of this is...I hate hockey. There’s not enough scoring, it’s too hard to follow the puck, and I only vaguely understand the rules. But the legend of the young men at Lake Placid, American college kids who valiantly stared down Soviet professionals (and the greatest hockey team in history) in a morality play on ice, is about so much more.
Red Army—a powerful documentary that actually debuted last year to widespread acclaim, but has only now received national release—is about hockey as much as Hoop Dreams (perhaps the best documentary ever) is about basketball. Rather, it’s about history, politics, and economics. It’s about friendship and brotherhood. It’s about men trapped in a system, yearning for escape. And it’s about the rebuilding of a nation. Red Army is the story of the Soviet Union’s hockey powerhouse through the words of the men themselves. And it’s a version of the tale of 1980 that most have never bothered to hear.
Red Army is very similar to a film that aired on ESPN a few weeks ago, Of Miracles and Men. The ESPN version actually goes into a bit more depth, but Red Army is more slickly produced. The primary figure in this film is hockey legend Slava Fetisov. With authority, introspection, and wit, Fetisov leads us through the evolution of Soviet hockey from the birth of the sport following the brutality of WWII, to the country’s rise to prominence in the 1970s, and through the players’ integration into North American hockey in the 1990s. He describes intimate relationships with teammates, positive and negative mentoring from coaches, and the militarized system of hockey players as acting soldiers.
As the story of the 1980 Winter Olympics has been endlessly retold, it is almost always presented as an “us against them” narrative. The American golden boys from sleepy Midwestern towns facing the evil empire from distant and desolate lands. Capitalism and blue jeans versus communism and bread lines. From Fetisov and other interviewees, however, we see the men as, well, men. They were not agents of communist ideology or international enemies. They were simply hockey players, enslaved by a socioeconomic structure they simultaneously respected out of tradition, but intuitively could not fully embrace. They wanted to be free to travel, to earn a living, to be praised as athletes instead of symbols of the state.
As the Soviet players became more respected as some of the world’s best, offers from the National Hockey League began coming their way. But as indentured soldiers, serving a required commitment of 25 years to the Soviet state, the athletes were unable to leave, unable to pursue their dreams. Red Army gives us a glimpse into the hopelessness of citizens that are not fortunate to have been born in Western democracies. But for those that were able to finally break free, as the Soviet Union dissolved, a passion for their homeland remained, and a desire to improve the lives of Russians in a new way—shedding the authoritarianism of the past—burned in the hearts of these renowned athletic ambassadors. Fetisov and others, the film ultimately shows us, have returned to Russia to become leaders in their own right.
They say that the winners get to write the history, and we often forget that losing sides have stories, too. If all you know of the “Miracle on Ice” is Al Michaels and Mike Eruzione and “USA, USA” chants, you only know half the story. Red Army shows us that beneath the pads and away from the ice, those we think of as opponents and enemies can also be teammates and friends. And while most of us will only remember 1980 because of America’s win, for one group of men, their famous loss led to a victory more precious than gold.
Grade: A
Red Army—a powerful documentary that actually debuted last year to widespread acclaim, but has only now received national release—is about hockey as much as Hoop Dreams (perhaps the best documentary ever) is about basketball. Rather, it’s about history, politics, and economics. It’s about friendship and brotherhood. It’s about men trapped in a system, yearning for escape. And it’s about the rebuilding of a nation. Red Army is the story of the Soviet Union’s hockey powerhouse through the words of the men themselves. And it’s a version of the tale of 1980 that most have never bothered to hear.
Red Army is very similar to a film that aired on ESPN a few weeks ago, Of Miracles and Men. The ESPN version actually goes into a bit more depth, but Red Army is more slickly produced. The primary figure in this film is hockey legend Slava Fetisov. With authority, introspection, and wit, Fetisov leads us through the evolution of Soviet hockey from the birth of the sport following the brutality of WWII, to the country’s rise to prominence in the 1970s, and through the players’ integration into North American hockey in the 1990s. He describes intimate relationships with teammates, positive and negative mentoring from coaches, and the militarized system of hockey players as acting soldiers.
As the story of the 1980 Winter Olympics has been endlessly retold, it is almost always presented as an “us against them” narrative. The American golden boys from sleepy Midwestern towns facing the evil empire from distant and desolate lands. Capitalism and blue jeans versus communism and bread lines. From Fetisov and other interviewees, however, we see the men as, well, men. They were not agents of communist ideology or international enemies. They were simply hockey players, enslaved by a socioeconomic structure they simultaneously respected out of tradition, but intuitively could not fully embrace. They wanted to be free to travel, to earn a living, to be praised as athletes instead of symbols of the state.
As the Soviet players became more respected as some of the world’s best, offers from the National Hockey League began coming their way. But as indentured soldiers, serving a required commitment of 25 years to the Soviet state, the athletes were unable to leave, unable to pursue their dreams. Red Army gives us a glimpse into the hopelessness of citizens that are not fortunate to have been born in Western democracies. But for those that were able to finally break free, as the Soviet Union dissolved, a passion for their homeland remained, and a desire to improve the lives of Russians in a new way—shedding the authoritarianism of the past—burned in the hearts of these renowned athletic ambassadors. Fetisov and others, the film ultimately shows us, have returned to Russia to become leaders in their own right.
They say that the winners get to write the history, and we often forget that losing sides have stories, too. If all you know of the “Miracle on Ice” is Al Michaels and Mike Eruzione and “USA, USA” chants, you only know half the story. Red Army shows us that beneath the pads and away from the ice, those we think of as opponents and enemies can also be teammates and friends. And while most of us will only remember 1980 because of America’s win, for one group of men, their famous loss led to a victory more precious than gold.
Grade: A