I am no kind of ice hockey fan, which should be evident from the fact I refer to it as “ice hockey”. But Legend No.17 was the opening film at Hong Kong’s inaugural Russian Film Festival, and I felt duty bound to show my support and go check it out. AS I was enthusiastically reassured by more knowledgable Canadian friends, the film charts the rise of Soviet hockey champion Valeri Kharlamov (here played by Danila Kozlovsky), who rose through the minor leagues to play for CSKA Moscow and went from unknown to household name with North American audiences during the 1972 Summit Series against the Canadians. At times the direction veers into melodrama, emotions are painted in broad strokes and the staging can be somewhat televisual, but Kozlovsky strikes a commanding presence as the heroic Kharlamov and whenever the action takes to the ice the film more than delivers. It was a great help that I didn’t know the outcome of the series – and truth be told, the film only includes the first encounter of the 8-game contest (look up what happened and you’ll see why) – but the result was a riveting sports drama that build confidently to an edge-of-your-seat showdown.
Legend No.17
