ICARUS: a look into the athletic world of doping

 ICARUS (Netflix)

From the unassuming title, and preview that potentially misleads viewers on the bulk of this documentary, Icarus is incredible. The film is both directed by and stars Bryan Fogel, a cyclist, whose original intent was to document doping in professional sports, which is how the focus of the first part of the documentary. Fogel uses himself as the film's guinea pig, taking us through the process where he takes steroids and then attempts to bypass the testing required of the cycling competitions he enters. I enjoyed the back-and-forth nature of the documentary between Fogel's personal journey and background information about doping in sports. The documentary paints a clear picture of the people who have been exposed for doping and simultaneously helps you understand the people caught are only a fraction of the athletes using. 

In the second stage of the film, Bryan Fogel discovers Grigory Rodchenkov, a man who we later find out operated the entire doping system for Russian athletes. This is where the film takes a much more high-stakes turn and carries that energy throughout the rest of the documentary. This was perfect for the film because at this point I believe it could have taken two directions. Either, we could have seen Fogel try more methods of doping, or go into more of the history of doping within cycling. Or, if could have gone where it did. The path of zero-in on the Russian government and the involvement of Russian athletes doping specifically in the Sochi Olympics, was luck. Fogel coming across Rodchenkov forming a trusting enough bond for Fogel to be allowed to document and expose Rodchenkov's entire system, is not something that was a given when the documentary began filming. This layer of unpredictability gives the film the suspense that is part of its success. 

FAVORITE ELEMENTS:

I liked the graphics used throughout to develop the storytelling of the documentary. Specifically, once the film focuses more on Grigory Rodchenkov, the Russian government, and the underground network of pee-switching. If you think about it, the entire process needed to cheat the system involved pee, but the film did a tasteful job of showing bottles of urine and how they switched them in an appropriate way. The graphics were also very helpful to understand connections between people in the Russian government, which are most likely confusing to people who aren't Russian or don't live in Russia. The graphics also help translate the emotions of the film. For example, when telling Rodchenkovs backstory, there are beautiful illustrations of facial expressions, to depict pain. The graphics elevate the film to such a higher caliber, and the professionalism involved is clearly shown. 

The honesty with which the Russian doping master, Grigory Rodchenkov, carries himself throughout the film, is refreshing. For many, the negative effects of being honest would deter them from cooperating, but not for Rodchekov. Rodchenkov appears to be accutly aware of the stakes of his involvement. His engagements with government agencies and even Putin's public dismissal of him show how dangerous the entire storytelling process was. The documentary ends in a way that illustrates the consequences of exposing this scandal, especially for Rodchenkov. 

Stars: 5/5

Recommend: YES