On February 21, 2012, a group of young Russian women entered into Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior Orthodox Church and staged a political protest and performance art piece. They danced and sang a punk song called “Mother of God, Drive Putin Away” in revolt to the re-election of the Russian President.
This femme group is Pussy Riot, and shortly after three of the girls were arrested for “hooliganism” in a sacred place, their iconography went viral and sparked international outrage among women, musicians and political activists everywhere.
The HBO documentary “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer” chronicles their preparation, their subsequent trial and the social unrest in Russia that surrounded the investigation. And yet the band isn’t famous because a few girls don’t like Vladimir Putin. The band is iconic because they have universal beliefs and values, but the documentary wants only to cover the circus.
Members of Pussy Riot don balaclavas on their heads like ski masks and neon colored leggings underneath short dresses in the cold. They stand for women’s rights and shout about LGBT politics in their performances. Pussy Riot isn’t quite a band either; they’re a political activist group first, performing short, poorly recorded songs in high traffic areas while someone records and posts their act of rebellion online.
Mike Lerner and Max Pozdorovkin’s film shoots their preparation for these guerrilla acts like a secretive heist movie, shooting from dark attics at low angles and shaky cam doc-realism to convey their urgency and the social unrest surrounding them. It’s compelling filmmaking, and when we see the fly on the wall conversations in the courtroom that one of the girl’s fathers might be beat up by Orthodox thugs leaving the trial, there’s a true sense of nervousness at stake. Continue reading “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer”