Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Aleksandr Fokin | ... | Lev Yashin |
Yuliya Khlynina | ... | Yashin's wife | |
Aleksey Guskov | ... | Michail Yakushin | |
Aleksey Kravchenko | ... | Aleksey Khomich | |
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Evgeniy Dyatlov | ... | Arkadiy Chernyshov |
Yan Tsapnik | ... | TASS journalist | |
Galina Belyaeva | ... | Mature Yashin's wife | |
Aleksandr Ermakov | ... | Mature Yashin | |
Aleksandr Bukharov | ... | Konstantin Beskov | |
Vitaliy Khaev | ... | Aleksandr Ponomarev | |
Anastasiya Vedenskaya | ... | Lida | |
Yaroslav Zhalnin | ... | Vladimir Shabrov | |
Evgeniy Antropov | ... | Mikhail Galunov | |
Andrey Leonov | ... | Nikolay Ozerov | |
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Stanislav Kontsevich | ... | Vadim Sinyavskiy |
Lev Ivanovich Yashin (22 October 1929 - 20 March 1990), nicknamed as "The Black Spider" or "The Black Panther", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his athleticism in goal, imposing stature and reflex saves. He was also deputy chairman of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. Yashin earned iconic status for revolutionizing the goalkeeping position by stamping his authority on the entire defense. He shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses and also ran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action. His performances made an indelible impression on a global audience at the 1958 World Cup, the first to be broadcast internationally, and dressed head to toe in black his nickname the "Black Spider" enhanced his popularity.
A well-paced and engaging biopic. Very enjoyable, even for viewers like myself that aren't die-hard football fans.
Admittedly, the audio equalisation was amateurish in places. Also, a few extras looked a little too eager to be reading their lines.
Nevertheless, the main characters played their parts excellently. Soviet-era culture was very well captured, too.