There’s no arms smuggler quite like Viktor Bout. Part fame-chasing gangster – his New York Times profile makes him seem like the Russian Tony Soprano – part shrewd and calculating businessman, Bout did everything under a spotlight. And yet, questions remain. Is Bout a ‘Lord of War’, as declared in the 2005 Nicolas Cage flick based on his life? Or is he simply a government scapegoat? Directors Tony Gerber (Full Battle Rattle) and Maxim Pozdorovkin (Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer) explore both sides in the entertaining The Notorious Mr. Bout.

As a businessman, Bout’s a contradiction of genius and naïveté. He documents everything in home videos, from his meetings with dictators to training African soldiers. It’s amazing to think anyone would commit such damning evidence to tape, but this only adds to Bout’s charm: he’s a criminal and he doesn’t know it. No matter how egregious the crime or how shady the customer, Bout embraces every deal with total innocence. It’d be endearing, if it weren’t so deplorable.

The Notorious Mr. Bout isn’t a cautionary tale, but rather, a head-shaking study of power and delusion. His crimes are too outrageous, too brazen, too unbelievable to be mimicked. And while the man is finished, the myth of Viktor Bout is sure to fuel Hollywood for decades. The Notorious Mr Bout, showing at HotDocs14 is a movie we recommend. It is great to see director Maxim Pozdorovkin back with another timely doc.

Nimy Leshinski