The film caused me both positive and negative emotions, which I managed to deal with at once. But gradually came the realization that he was not good, not bad, but terrible. Sounds like a dynamic story. It seems that the creators managed to convey excitement, enthusiasm, anticipation of victory. It seems to make a sports drama about what you have to sacrifice to win. Why not enjoy such a movie? One can even close one’s eyes to a dose of self-glorification – in the way we previously could, let these little Canadians down. This is because we are the best in the world. But the film has a dark, motherfucker (not to say otherwise) side.
Even while watching, I noticed an unobtrusive, but well-thought-out subtext: to succeed and even become great, you must endure and humiliate yourself. And why did Kharlamov become a great legend? Maybe he was talented, maybe he trained a lot, maybe it was family. No, because I let myself be treated like shit, and I believed that was the way to win. It’s not really about a champion or a human being. This is a film about a man and a boss. The creators tell us that the boss always knows better. And if you think that the authorities are cruel to you and make you suffer, you just do not understand why this is all. The boss beats you, does not hold you for a person, humiliates you - so it is necessary, everything is in order, everything goes according to plan. You'll jump on your boss' neck and thank him for everything. The film essentially instills a slavish psychology. There's no exaggeration. Why do you need to beat up athletes to convey to them the simple idea of what team they are now playing for? Have you ever tried to speak her mouth? Nothing complicated, and the athletes will understand. No, according to the logic of the creators, athletes can become the best if they are treated as serfs – they need to be explained by violence. There is no personality, no heroes, no overcoming, no growth, no will. There are serfs who have understood what the superiors want and that the superiors are leading them in the right way. Beautiful. And the public is happy to eat such propaganda and ask for supplements. The film was criticized from various angles, but almost no one paid attention to the propaganda of a slavish way of thinking. But maybe this subtext arose by accident. This happens in poorly written stories. No, the corresponding semantic line is quite clear.
Similarly, why and why war should be a metaphor for aspirations. Why Do Hockey Gates Need to Be Protected as a Homeland? The significance of events is clearly incomparable. Why should we assume that on the ice is a battle, not a game. War is a bad metaphor for peaceful life, but Russian official cinema simply cannot offer anything else.
I will not make any claims about rewriting the biography. This is common practice in biopics. If you like, it's a common disease. I don’t care about sports and I don’t like sports dramas. The worst part of the film is creating a positive image of slavery for a great purpose.