Hot Docs Review: 'Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer'

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

(UK, 86 min.)

Dir. Maxim Pozdorovkin, Mike Lerner

Programme: Special Presentations (Canadian Premiere)

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer had the audience rocking with grrrrl power at the Bloor Cinema during the film’s first screening at Hot Docs. Applause and woohoos! erupted from the audience a few times during the screening. The vibe in the room echoed the fallout of the Russian feminist punk band’s arrest and the waves of support they have received from the international community.

As someone who mostly followed the case as it erupted in bursts of 140 characters, I found that this documentary by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Mike Lerner outlines the circumstances of the Pussy Riot trial quite clearly for any viwers ignorant of the facts. The film shows the group’s performance at St. Christ Church in Moscow, where they donned balaclavas and voiced their disdain for Vladimir Putin and the interconnectedness of church and state between Russian politics and the Orthodox Church. Three members of the group were then charged with hooliganism as the courts made an example of them.

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer doesn’t get a chance to interview the women themselves, but the filmmakers show archival footage of their performances and rehearsals prior to the St. Christ Church incident, which elaborate on the band’s philosophy that Russia’s old patriarchal ways need to go. The parents of the Pussy Rioters join in to explain their girls’ upbringing and reflect on the currents of rebellion, activism, and artistry that fuelled their daughters before their public protest. It seemed that the “Punk Prayer” was a long time coming, and it just happened to be their daughters who stood up and demanded change.

As the film follows the court case and the international sensation it caused, Pozdorovkin and Lerner give ample time to Christian Russians who felt that the concert was an act of blasphemy and far too offensive to ignore. The scenes with the Orthodox leaders and followers, however, seem like inadvertent justification of Pussy Riot’s protest. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer depicts a kind of religious fanaticism in Russia of which I was ignorant. Likewise, the film shows that the protest might have been necessary, but that such a sacred place might not have been the best venue to inspire change.

It's only a story that's partway told, though, so this timely doc almost feels too premature, too ripped from the headlines to allow the impact of Pussy Riot to reach its full potential. There isn't much of an argument to take away, since the case is still ongoing. It's half a movie, really, so Pussy Riot needs the other half of the drama (and a little time to marinate in subconcious) for the band's legal battle to leave much of legacy outside of the present tense. 

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer is a lot like punk music itself. It’s rough, inelegant, coarse, and gritty, but it has an energy and a counter-cultural vibe that outweighs the roughness of the craft. Punk music isn’t so much about the chords as it is about the mood. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, which ends with Peaches’ “Free Pussy Riot” atop its credits, captures the urgency of the band’s cause and the greater significance of their punk anthem of protest.

Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★) 

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer screens:

Sunday, April 28 – 4:30 pm at the Isabel Bader

Saturday, May 4 – 7:00 pm at the Cineplex Scotiabank.

UPDATE: 17/3/2014: Pussy Riot... is now playing in Ottaw at The ByTowne.