10s Movie Review - Icarus

Director: Bryan Fogel
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Bryan Fogel, Grigory Rodchenkov, Dave Zabrinskie, Don Catlin, Scott Brandt, Ben Stone, Richard Pound

Description: When Bryan Fogel sets to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 3: A DOCUMENTARY

Review: It is, of course, the dream of every documentary filmmaker, that something happens during the production of your documentary that suddenly gives you a truly remarkable story to tell. The Oscar-winning Netflix documentary “Icarus” is the epitome of this type of documentary. Beginning as a story about an amateur athlete who wants to find out through self-examination whether people perform better because of doping, the entire tone of the documentary changes when it suddenly finds itself at the heart of the biggest doping scandal in sports history.
Bryan Fogel has been a top amateur cyclist all his life. Just like many others he was a big fan of Lance Armstrong and you feel immediately that this documentary is made from wanting to understand the betrayal of Armstrong and others. Fogel was particularly curious to investigate the influence of doping on sports performance, and because he had just finished a surprisingly 14^th place in the toughest multi-day amateur cycling race in the world, the Haute Route, he decided to try to finish even higher the following year with the use of doping. The top 10 was incredibly good, and something in the documentary insinuates that this could never have happened ‘cleanly’.
Because he wants to do it all very neatly and safe, he decides to approach American anti-doping doctors, as well as WADA (the worldwide anti-doping agency). Because it is a rather tricky subject, one of the most prominent doctors rather quickly does not dare to help him anymore, but he has a friendly colleague from Moscow who will probably dare. And during the first Skype conversation with Grigory Rodchenkov you immediately notice a joviality and genuine interest that Bryan probably didn’t expect either. Their collaboration goes smoothly from the start, no matter how weird Bryan finds it how easily testosterone and other doping products are discussed. He submits to Gigory’s firm doping regime, gets to know tricks to avoid doping controls in the process, and then it’s time for the new Haute Route. Seven days later, when the race is over and Bryan, with his 32^nd place finish, is just about to conclude that doping therefore not made him perform better, Grigory’s name suddenly appears in the international press as the head of the corrupt Moscow anti-doping laboratory, which, especially around the Sochi Games, did everything that everyone outside Russia had forbidden. Grigory’s initial reaction is one of “Oh well, it’s just a game”, but soon it appears safer for him to leave Moscow.
On the one hand it is a pity that Fogel’s conclusion about doping is logically pushed directly into the background by Grigory’s revelations, because that also seemed to become incredibly interesting. On the other hand, right after the first year, Grigory tells us they’ve only been busy on the second floor of the ‘doping house’ and that there’s a bit more possible on the second and third floors. But at that point the documentary literally turns into a geopolitical thriller of unprecedented proportions. Indeed, it is primarily Grigory’s hard drives that provide WADA with evidence of a 100% state-sponsored doping program, so the fact that Putin called him “an idiot” on national television, seems to proof Grigory really knew too much. But one of the striking things in this documentary is that Fogel just became friends with Grigory and he really wanted to help him get the information out, but also to be able to live safely somewhere in America, despite the fact that his wife and children had to stay behind in Moscow. And at one point Fogel himself is the one who gives the doping authorities Grigory’s information.
Even though Fogel obviously plays with your emotions by cutting revelations in voiceover with images of Putin in such a way that only the cinematic sound design is missing to bring the film to a climax. This works very well, because it gives an even more untrustworthy image than he already has. To what extent this is closer to the truth I do not knowl the documentary does fit in our Western view of Russia of course. But because former President of Sports, Moetko, is also allowed to tell his story, I get the feeling that Fogel wanted to paint as broad a picture as possible, given the public distance that the government has had to take with respect to Rodchenkov.
“Icarus” is a very good documentary and I really understand why it won and Oscar.

Rating: 4/ 5