As I opined to a (very patient) young woman tonight, I’ve often wondered why there’s never been an equivalent version of The Right Stuff for the Russian space program. In a lot of ways it was the more interesting half of the race: as well as all of their firsts, there’s controversy, romance and intrigue, the threat of war, and action, specifically the amazing fact that cosmonauts ejected from their capsules after re-entry and parachuted to the ground.
Upon reflection, though, I can think of two reasons it hasn’t been done: secrecy, in that (as I understand it) most of the Russian records from that time remain confidential; and pride, mainly from Hollywood, which wouldn’t want to risk appearing anti-American by showing an enemy state (even a former one) in a positive light. Then again, I know NASA has had a presence at Star City for some time now, and we’ve recently seen the release of Letters from Iwo Jima, a movie that wouldn’t have been greenlit five years ago let alone twenty-five, so perhaps there’s some hope after all.