Chernobyl

This is an event. The initial puzzlement has a quick half-life, as those disembodied moments eventually stand out more than the tangible pressure. It’s a screenwriting university on how to handle the "based on a true story" license while staying in observation mode. It’s a perfect study of human arrogance, lack of humility, and unwillingness to face the truth. A live broadcast of lies that has been coming to us for over thirty years. With all due respect to all the criticisms, the hype is well deserved. (06/05/2019)

Human memory is set up in such a way that the major events around us are similar for most people; we remember exactly what we were doing that day. I have that with 11 September, 2001, and with Chernobyl. The day it went up, we had beautiful, cloudless, sunny weather and half the town was catching rays by the dam, myself included. A light rain fell in the evening, although according to the forecast it was not supposed to rain. And I believe that it’s not just my imagination, because it’s said by more witnesses, but the next weeks the milk tasted differently, probably the comrades put iodine in it or something. The comrades covered up and covered up, and then when it blew up, what I found terribly funny was that the first mention of the catastrophe was only on the third or fourth page of the newspaper, a little footnote. And about the series: excellent stuff, no-nonsense, heading straight for the chamber, without carrying any unnecessary plot ballast. That’s how it should be. (12/30/2019)

Chernobyl is not a series, but rather a gripping five-hour film that pays tribute to everyone involved in preventing a potentially even bigger environmental disaster than the one that actually occurred. It fantastically examines the various stages after the explosion, enabling us to experience the human tragedy and the national disaster from multiple perspectives (from firefighters to President Gorbachev). The shooting of contaminated dogs. Miners and their leaders helping out. The gradually emerging understanding and respect between the main male characters (the scientist played by Harris and Skarsgård’s politician). Decomposing bodies of irradiated people in hospitals. The casting and acting of the KGB chief and his appalling attitude… This film contains so many strong story elements that it is practically unbelievable. It is also a chillingly accurate reflection of the shoddy, dishonest and unscrupulous political system on which the Soviet Union built its “glory”, only to later rot away from the inside. (07/29/2020)

I was going to write the event of the year, but this is the event of the century, because no series or movie has ever gotten more than 97% on FilmBooster, IMDB and similar ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and the hype is well deserved. In five episodes, HBO serves us in detail the worst man-made disaster of 1986, and the series is a clear proof that the best screenplay is reality itself. The series features plenty of chilling, atmospheric and dense scenes (divers, disposal of infected animals, decomposing bodies in a hospital and self-sacrifice for humanity). Each episode is 100% and in each episode the series focuses on something different, all culminating in a tense trial where I forgot to breathe. The duo of Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård steal the show for themselves with their performances, and I really enjoyed the political meetings where the Soviet Union is shown in its true light. A proper piece of filmmaking and probably the most chilling, depressing and uncomfortable spectacle ever. A must see for all and I would make it mandatory at schools. 100% (06/06/2019)

Once again, HBO gave us their absolute best and introduced the viewers to an elaborate adaptation of the most significant nuclear catastrophe to ever happen on Earth. And even though they didn’t cover everything they could have in 5 episodes, they covered everything they needed so they could sell the idea and pass something on at the same time – the repulsiveness of the Soviet regime but also the proof that humanity and heroism exist everywhere. The first two episodes were probably the most important for me, the creators shocked me with the exteriors, which gave me the impression that the crew actually left for Pripyat and filmed theseries about the catastrophe there. The finale is very crucial as well; it shows what the Soviet regime was capable of doing to not only ordinary people but also intellectuals. After all of that, I am not at all surprised that Gorbachev said in the 1990s that Chernobyl was the fatal consequence of the fall of the Soviet Union. What they did there only underscores the whole effect of communism in Russia of the period, where the local “elite” thought they could do whatever they wanted and God in turn showed them that it wasn’t entirely true. Thankfully this didn’t mean the demise of all of us, it was “only” a warning concerning what we are doing wrong in the world. The fact that we are unable to learn our lessonis another matter. However, this is one of the reasons why the series is so important, which is why it is good to see, perceive, and experience it until the very end. The absolute best of this year’s series and in terms of the HBO production, it is the best that could have been created. Precise, accurate, and apt. (06/11/2019)