During the opening credits of Gabe Polsky’s debut documentary – and only his sophomore endeavour following on from The Motel Life – we notice a couple of recognisable names appear, as not only was the late, influential producer Jerry Weintraub involved, but he was joined by master documentarian Werner Herzog. As the title progresses, it becomes clear why two such distinctive names in the industry attached themselves to this compelling, insightful project.

Polsky chronicles the story of the Soviet Union’s renowned Red Army hockey team, through the eyes, predominantly, of their star player and captain, Viacheslav Fetisov. In the opening scene, Polsky directs a couple of questions at the aforementioned subject, but he refuses to answer, starring blankly at his mobile phone instead. But still the filmmaker probes, only to be on the receiving end of an abrupt middle finger from the former player.

The story of this team is a remarkable one – during a time when the state was governed by a Communist Party, there was a certain pride surrounding the hockey side, famed for playing such an intelligent game, that was so easy on the eye. Rigorously training children from a young age, it was a dynasty they sought to uphold, but was broken from the inside with the introduction of the tyrannical head coach Viktor Tikhonov.

His regime was a tough one, with the players having to train 11 months a year at a camp, sometimes refused the chance to return back to their family. So one day Fetisov decides he’s had enough and quits – with the intention of moving across to the States and signing up for the NHL, in spite of the ongoing Cold War. Suddenly this national treasure has become a political enemy. One commentator describes the Red Army as propaganda, convincing everybody that the reason they were so good at the sport, was because of the way they operate as a nation – but both sides were guilty of that, as the US coach Herb Brooks, just after defeating the Red Army in the Olympic Games, said, “this proves our way of life is the way to carry on”.

Polsky manages to find intriguing parallels between the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, with the Red Army, using sport as a means of exploring the socio-political issues, working as a way of comprehending the context of the era – proving that sometimes studiously examining something so complex from a very particular angle can end up breeding the very best results.