The story of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team's victory over Russia is told in "The Other Dream Team."
"The Other Dream Team" documents the Lithuanians' experiences behind the Iron Curtain for 50 years, where elite athletes were subjected to brutalities of Communist rule. ...
Rating: No Rating
Length: 87 minutes
Released: September 28, 2012 NY/LA
Cast: Jim Lampley, Bill Walton, Greg Speirs, Mickey Hart, Arvydas Sabonis
Director: Marius A. Markevicius
Writer: Jon Weinbach, Marius A. Markevicius
From a cinematic point of view, the story of the 1992 Lithuanian men's basketball team's bronze medal was already pretty close to perfect. Athletes free from Soviet rule join forces with the Grateful Dead to fund an Olympics run — ending with a showdown against the goliath Russians.
It would have been enough for "The Other Dream Team" to simply pay tribute to the tie-dyed underdogs, but the filmmakers strive for more. Adding detailed historical context, the quirky feel-good story becomes a tragedy and a lesson. And that makes the victories resonate even more.
Director Marius A. Markevicius sets a crowd-pleasing tone — is it possible not to smile when the Dead tune "Truckin' " is played as the Berlin Wall falls? After that quick intro, we go back to 1940, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Families were torn apart, but sporting excellence was an early refuge. "Basketball allowed us to have some dignity," one older interviewed subject explains, describing a regulation court that the Lithuanians built in Siberia.
Next we get mini-profiles of Lithuania's basketball prodigies, including future NBA stars Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis. They're a likable bunch, growing up poor but finding pleasure as traveling basketball players, packing their luggage with blue jeans and electronics to make a few dollars when they get home.
"The Other Dream Team" shows the risk Marciulionis took when he made a play for the NBA, signing with the Warriors in Oakland a year before Lithuania gained its independence in 1990. And the film makes sense of Marciulionis and assistant coach Donnie Nelson's strange alliance with the Dead — a band that for all of its hippie stereotypes, always loved sports and democracy.
Archive footage adds levity to the film. It's worth the price of admission to hear Marciulionis, with his gloriously square tucked-in Grateful Dead concert T-shirt, talk about his first experience smelling marijuana smoke.
Markevicius isn't an especially slick or stylish director, but he's thorough, and paces the documentary with skill. Interviews include sports stars (Bill Walton and Mitch Richmond are MVPs), Lithuanian politicians who lived the nightmare and some well-known sports writers and broadcasters to provide context.
It's a tribute to Markevicius' efforts that the movie would have worked without the sports heroics. "The Other Dream Team" never settles for nostalgia, and the film adjusts the prism from which basketball fans will absorb this feel-good moment in Olympics history. As a result, viewers who remember the 1992 bronze medal game get to experience it all over again.
By the third act, the Lithuanians stand out in sharp contrast to the U.S. Dream Team of 1992, widely regarded as the most talented basketball team in history. When the Lithuanian players committed to a life of basketball, before the fall of the USSR, none of them expected to become wealthy. Their subsequent successes left no doubt that they did it for love of their country, and love of the game.
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