'Red Army', playing ice-Cold War

Red Army

Still "happily abducted" by sports documentaries, here's a quick shift from basketball (more to come very soon) to hockey. But it would be a major mistake to consider 'Red Army' just a film about sports. On the contrary, it's an original, very powerful look at history and politics. A simple yet quite deep and sounding insight on the recent past and the dramatic transformations of the Soviet Union/Russia. And a captivating tale on talented individuals being part of the strict and gigantic machinery of a system in the verge of collapse. All on ice!

'Red Army' goes down with the chronicle of the Soviet Union's most successful national team on sports (easily comparable with an almost unbeatable dynasty: the team won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament between 1954 and 1991, never failed to medal in any International Ice Hockey Federation tournament they competed in): the Red Army hockey team. But forget about epic games, memorable situations and bombastic plays. The legendary team was, of course, a joy to see, with hall of fame players arguably among the best that sport has ever seen... but the film puts the focus on what was behind that USSR dream team. And what the viewer see is equally thrilling and scary. 

Director Gabe Poslky shows us how the soviet national hockey team was a propaganda instrument, one that served the purpose of creating heroes within the country and built an image of being indestructible to rivals. It didn't have much to do with sports. It was a matter of politics in the late Cold War days. The squad dominating world hockey, for USSR leaders at least, meant communism exhibiting its power and glory to the whole planet. Cold War was also a culture war that played in many different venues. Also on ice.

To achieve that goal, the players needed to commit themselves to an incredible amount of effort, with methods and attitudes that crossed the line between what was sport obsession, extreme determination of elite sports, and demented practices. 'Red Army' explains how the national players went from tough but beloved and respected coach Anatoli Tarasov, who emphasized skills and personal abilities to help the team (probably a romanticised, even poetic look) to the dictatorial regime of General /coach Viktor Tikhonov. A tyrant who had nearly absolute control over his players' lives (there's a horrific scene regarding the serious illness of one player's father who says everything), making his players practice for 10/11 months a year, isolating them from their families and friends. Followed everywhere by KGB. Punishing them to after the 'Miracle on Ice' happened (the defeat on 1980'S Olympics against the US). And the nightmares just begun...

The previous lines on Tikhonov are not my opinion, but national team captain's Viacheslav 'Slava' Fetisov (considered one of the best players ever). He is the main character of the film, along with other legendary players and hockey-related journalist, directives and analysts. And the story he reveals, somehow reluctantly (adding poignancy and depth to the film) is the crude tale of a country dealing with a crisis and serious internal conflicts, and how sport mirrored social evolution, announcing the fall of the communist system...  a transformation full of struggles, suffering, injustices and dubious results. Polsky, in an extremely wise movement, is capable of encapsulating such a big and complex topic, the decline and transformation of an empire through the words and expressions of someone whose past and present is so intrinsec of the country. Fetisov, once an indisputable national hero became a country's traitor once he expressed his desire to play in the American NHL, tired of inhuman practices, over-strict regulations and low incomes. His fight against USSR authorities was titanic and appalling, as he obviously risked his life (not to miss the meeting with Soviet Minister of Defence), and sacrificed a couple of years of his extremely successful career, before he could play at the States, thanks to Gorbachev's glasnost policies and, eventually, the collapse of the socialist republic, leading a bunch of Russian colleagues. 

But, as I said, Fetisov is an incredibly interesting character, and that's what makes 'Red Army' stunning. Because he gets mad at the director when he asks him about the Cold War (it was about money). Because he's a tough guy trying so hard not to break in front of the camera, even when he is admitting he was betrayed by his friends, his country. And because the whole picture doesn't end at the States. He struggled at his first American team, the New Jersey Devils (as well as his fellow red army colleagues playing in America). He wasn't really appreciated by fans either (after all, the fear of communism existed)... He missed the game as it was played back home (again, Tarasov's school). Until he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, where he reunited with some Russian up-and-coming stars to won back-to-back titles... that he took to Moscow. Somehow, he was still playing for his country, although his country was completely different then (chills to see/hear him and some other players talking about the new, capitalist Russia). He then became Russia Minister of Sport under President Vladimir Putin government (until 2008). He was still on a mission. What a mind blowing look into a human being in all his contradictions, idiosyncrasy, virtues and wonders. What a refreshing take on a country experimenting one of its crucial periods in history. Great documentary. 

SCORE: 7,75/10

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", frozen Cold War film

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I'm starting to get a bit annoyed to this sort of tendency in cinema of recreating a movie genre, being it from the 60s, the 70s or the 80s, where the only concern seems to be the style. I was expecting quite a lot from "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", but honestly, this is just a mimicking recreation of the 70s spy-thriller genre, too focused in looking perfect on screen, and not caring of what really matters, the content.

I'm sorry, but if a spy-game film works its mainly because of the story. Sadly, that's the weakest point of "Tinker...". I've read some reviews where critics use expressions as "for mature audiences", "classy", "brainy", "adult viewing drama", etc. Elitist arguments anticipating the sense of confusion/boredom audience can have watching it. Or euphemisms to defend the indefensible.

This is a film portraying the small world of powerful men fighting, conspiring to be number one, with their personal world of traumas, relations, loyalties and sex. Its also a tale of the Cold War, and I use the word "tale" on purpose, because on the film (I don't know about John Le Carré's books) it looks like a separate, mythical, fantasy dimension. And finally, is a very British story, a grey Britain that seems slowly moving from past times into an uncertain future. Believe me: we get the idea. Can we include these interesting elements on an attractive story then?

Unfortunately, not. The problem with "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is not that is developed in a way that can only please "older generations". The problem is that for almost two slow paced hours, we are asked to assume something is actually going on, and that matters, at least to keep you watching. But at the same time we must believe all the "misteries" proposed, and all the inexplicable cuts on the key scenes. The result is a very high effort to get into the film for a very little reward in return. Director Tomas Alfredson pose a blurred bunch of ideas and situations without exploring any, offering zero suspense, in my opinion, and a serious problem of fluidity, the result of a very questionable editing. Its worse at the end (side note: what an unfortunate choice for the music, by the way), where everything is resolved in a matter of seconds, crossing the line of being ridicule.

But it is not just a matter of a confusing and unattractive plot. I simply didn't care. There is no emotional development of the characters. Gary Oldman, a terrific actor, is confined into a exaggeratedly still, pensive, underplaying role as Mr. Smiley. His forced retirement, his past and personal story, and his involvement with the characters he must investigate had a lot of potential, but  Alfredson didn't care about acting, reducing Oldman's work to a silent mannequin. The rest of a very impressive cast, including John Hurt, Toby Jones and Colin Firth is also wasted. Only Benedict Cumberbatch, who partners Smiley in his investigation, is able to bring some valuable emotions to his role. Some secondary actors, in particular Tom Hardy and Stephen Graham offer some very remarkable moments too. Them, the oppresive and bleak atmosphere and the aesthetics are the highlights of an unremarkable, extremely cold film. A huge dissapointment.

SCORE: 4,5/10

"American Adulterer", JFK, a sick, sex addict, president?

American Adulterer- Jed Mercurio

That's what British doctor-turned-novelist Jed Mercurio proposes in this original novel: a unique take on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th American President, and quite probably the most loved one. A take that, without excluding his political achievements (Bahia Cochinos, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Berlin Wall, his fight for civil rights), deals basically with two not very pleasant sides of his presidency: his health, and his sex addiction. Kennedy fans, you have been warned. 

Mercurio builds the novel, that we can define as historical fiction, upon two pillars. First, a detailed (too clinically detailed for my taste, making it a bit annoying) and never-ending list of afflictions. From Addison's disease to thyroid, from ulcers to osteoporosis, JFK was a medical "goldmine", and a men condemned to a short life in constant pain. And second, Kennedy was a "fornicator". True, he famously told British Prime Minister Harold McMillan: "If I don't have a woman for three days, I get terrible headaches." But in "American Adulterer", the amount of  women that the "great man" uses makes it the most impressive achievement of his administration. 

"American Adulterer" is episodically structured. There's the real account of political issues that Kennedy had to dealt with, but mixed with a constant need to be medicated, in order to keep the illusion "America the strongest" has the most vital and healthier of presidents, and a countless string of concubines (from Marilyn Monroe to White House interns and professional prostitutes) to solve the different nature of his "other issue". It's a quite engaging cocktail, addictive for the reader too. 

Many questions arise while you read. Do we really have to believe he loves Jackie Kennedy? The book never questions it, but he's incapable to remain monogamous, tracing an interesting inner debate between love and sex. The first lady, at the same time, is a misterious passive-aggressive figure (obvious she knows about it, but she never shows). Personalities like British PM McMillan, Nikita Khrushchev, the aforementioned Marylin, Mary Meyer,  Frank Sinatra, the FBI that towards the end of the novel starts instigating him, while there's a White House network built to provide him the needed safeguards for his sexual adventures... There's plenty to get you going on this novel.

At the same time, there's a sense of dispersion throughout the book, as if Mercurio couldn't combine all the elements he has, leaving some secondary characters as sketches (women are particularly neglected as developed characters here). That feeling, and the clash between the huge, real problems JFK faced during his mandate and the infidelities gives "American Adulterer" a ligthweight tone that in too many occasions becames a farce. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the best example.

Overall, a risky, quite engaging and original book on one of the most popular politicians of modern history.

SCORE: 6,25/10