‘Red Army' about more than hockey

Gabe Polsky's 'Red Army' is a documentary about hockey. But this madly entertaining account of the Soviets' historic domination of the game — repeatedly winning Olympic gold, then famously losing it to the upstart Americans at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid — is much more than a sports movie. It's about Cold War politics, about national pride, about how we affix our hopes and dreams to athletes and athletic competitions, how we identify with sports and sports identifies us.

It is about one charismatic Russian, Vyacheslav Fetisov, whose skating and shooting — and diplomatic — skills have proved remarkable. Polsky, a Chicagoan who grew up playing ice hockey and studied politics and history at Yale before turning to moviemaking, begins and ends 'Red Army' with his camera trained on Fetisov.

By way of introduction, the director runs a ridiculous crawl of the kudos accorded the Soviet player during his career. First behind the Iron Curtain, and then in the days of glasnost, playing with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League.

In 2002, Vladimir Putin offered Fetisov the post of Russia's minister of sport, which he held until 2008. He is still a busy guy, and one of the running jokes in Polsky's deft, funny, heartfelt film is the dismissive manner in which Fetisov, seated for his on-camera interviews, stops Polsky in midsentence to field phone calls and texts.

'Red Army' intercuts archival Soviet propaganda footage with visual elements inspired by Stalin-era poster art; interviews with Fetisov's teammates; film of the beloved Anatoly Tarasov, the innovative coach who incorporated techniques and philosophies gleaned from ballet dancers and chess masters; and clips of Tarasov's stone-faced successor, Viktor Tikhonov.

Tikhonov is decidedly the villain of the tale, a grim taskmaster loathed by the players who trained under him, including Fetisov.

'Red Army' presents a stark contrast in East-West cultures past and present. It also demonstrates how the philosophical ideals of communism — working as a collective — translated so successfully to a team sport like ice hockey, and what happens when lucre (NHL team owners waving million-dollar checks!) proves too tempting to ignore.

It's a story of global consequences and historic proportions, and of astounding athleticism and synchronicity —and filmmaker Polsky ices it.