Red Machine
Red Army, a documentary that describes the story of the Soviet Union’s famed national team, debuted on January 22, 2015. Written and directed by Gabe Polsky, this movie includes interviews with Soviet hockey legends, such as Viachelsav Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, and Alexei Kasatonov. Fascinatingly, this movie is the first North American movie that chronicles the “Miracle on Ice” 1980 game as seen from the Soviets’ side; all previous movies showed the Americans’ feelings and emotions during the famed game. Best of all, this documentary is only seventy-six minutes long, and is rated PG, so it is a classic for the whole family. This movie is valuable because it shows how beautiful passionate, determined hockey can be: the beauty of its desperation, the beauty of its finesse, the beauty of its precision, the beauty of its brutality, the beauty of its ferocity, the beauty of its tenacity and the beauty of its heroics, things only true hockey people can understand. Three of the main components in this sports story that is more than a sports story are the fall of Anatoli Tarasov, the Soviet legendary coach, and his replacement with Viktor Tikhonov, Viacheslav Fetisov and his fight against the rigid system, and the 1980 Olympic loss to the United States.
Anatoli Tarasov, the “father” of Soviet hockey, is who gave them their unique, skilled style. Instead of dumping the puck in the corner like the unorganized North Americans did, Anatoli Tarasov taught his players to be creative and play their game at the same time. But one day, this ideal coach, demanding but nurturing, got into a fight with some officials – and the next day, he was gone. Replaced by Viktor Tikhonov, who is depicted as a villain in the movie, Anatoli Tarasov left his mark on Soviet hockey forever – and in the players’ hearts. Viktor Tikhonov, an assertive dictatorial Red Army officer, proved to be hard on the players. He wouldn’t let them go home; according to the wife of one of the players, who was interviewed in the movie, they practiced for eleven months, with no breaks at all, and had only one month off. Not just that, but when Igor Larionov’s was dying, he asked Tikhonov if he could go home – and his answer was no. Red Army illustrates the style of Soviet sport in the Soviet Union, and shows how hard the Soviet players had to work to become the best team in the world and the greatest sports dynasty in the history of sports until today.
Viacheslav Fetisov never was content under the severe standards the Soviet sport of hockey. Eventually defecting to the United States in 1990, he left Moscow for Detroit to play in the tolerant National Hockey League and live an ideal North American lifestyle. Fetisov was constantly fighting against his domineering egomaniac coach, Viktor Tikhonov, and the Soviet system. As a result, Tikhonov spoke to all the local rinks and told them that if they let Fetisov in to practice any kind of hockey during the month they had off. Not just that, but the movie also shows a frightening scene, where Fetisov talked about defecting to the United States, so Tikhonov called all his friends and told them not to let him out of the country. Wherever Fetisov went, h found closed doors. Then, he bumped into Tikhonov on his way home. He ended up tied to a car battery in Kiev, Ukraine, and beaten until 4 A.M. the next day. Although the players’ freedom and creativity was suppressed off the ice, the vision of hockey the Soviets had was the definition of independence in hockey.
On an eventful day in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, thousands of people gathered at the Field House to watch the United States play the Soviet Union. Red Army shows the experience through the eyes of the Soviet players, rather than showing the ecstasy of the North American players and leaving out the Soviet players’ perspective of the game. In a sense, Red Army compares and contrasts the feelings of the Soviet players from then and now, and weaves them into the intricate story of how the Soviets became the team that they were. In one scene, Fetisov and goaltender Vladislav Tretiak are watching a clip of the Americans celebrating, and when the clip ends, there are tears in Fetisov’s eyes. He explains that even though he was happy for the Americans, he was also distraught that the game ended in humiliation for the Soviets, and because of that, Tikhonov enforced even more rigid training schedules on his players, now having them take only twenty-five minute breaks at the end of the day to call their families or their wives. Only one phone was available. Red Army shows the other side of the Miracle on Ice, the side that most North Americans are not familiar with.
Three of the key ideas of this documentary are Viktor Tikhonov’s egomaniacal style of coaching, Viacheslav Fetisov’s resistance against the stiff Soviet style of hockey, and the 1980 Miracle on Ice game. Many people like that the movie shows that despite the conceptual philosophies of nations are different, the love of sport and the country come first, and the documentary makes viewers question: is there a medium between the lenient system of the National Hockey League and the rigid Soviet system? Also, Fetisov is portrayed as the “big brother” of the team, and the team is as close as people can be. Not just that, but Tarasov is a positive role model because he is the ideal coach: demanding, but also nurturing and encouraging. What parents may not like is the language used in the movie, as there are a few scenes where the Russian equivalents of what are considered swear words in English are used. This movie is entertaining to watch because it shows how much hockey has changed, and it contains a great deal of lessons learned from history. Red Army was definitely above acceptable standards, because both adults and children can learn much from a nonfiction movie, and carry away positive messages, such as working hard to achieve goals. Most children and adults over the age of six, even people who are not interested in sports, would enjoy this movie, because it has a historical and moral aspect to it, and is exciting; however, parents should not show this movie to younger children (five and under), as it contains scenes of blood on the ice and chronicles the hardships the Soviets had to go through, and can have traumatizing effects on them. Red Army is hands-down one of the best movies released in 2014.