knigaworm

The HBO mini-series paints a vivid picture of the reactor explosion and the aftermath. The show is based on documents, testimony of the participants, and memoirs of Valery Legasov, head scientist in charge of dealing with the aftermath. Still, this is not a documentary and shouldn't be viewed as such. No matter how realistic the show seems, the creators did take certain liberties for narrative impact.

For instance, one of the most gruesome sights - the effects of radiation poisoning visible on those plant workers and firefighters who came into direct contact with the reactor debris - is an exaggerated effect, no doubt used to strengthen the impact on the audience. And boy, does the impact linger. The sight of young men who were full of life just a couple of days ago disintegrating into a pile of radioactive jelly is not for the faint of heart.

At the same time, the creators went to great lengths to recreate not just the reactor and the explosion, but the realities of Soviet daily life. The actors look so authentically Soviet, it's like they've been cloned from the Russian film stars of the 1960s and 1970s. All the other attributes are very realistic as well - clothes, furniture, interiors, cars, buildings, you name it.

One aspect that is decidedly not Soviet is the accents. Luckily for us (and for them) the creators decided to forgo the imitation of Soviet accents, opting for the cast's native British accents. This doesn't take the focus away from acting and you forget about the accents within the first ten minutes. Whereas if the creators opted for imitating (and no doubt butchering) Soviet accents, the majority of the audience would not have been able to take the show seriously.

Special effects are used to the maximum effect. True, I have no idea what an actual nuclear reactor explosion looks like (nor do I wish to ever see that with my own eyes) but I imagine that the show's recreation is as close to reality as it could get. You can feel the impact of the explosion through the screen. The giant beam of radioactive gas that shoots through the air and proceeds to spread its deadly poison for days on end looks at once magnificent and utterly terrifying. Plant workers forced to inspect the core that could not have possibly been exposed to the world and having their faces and bodies burned off by radiation is worse than any torture porn horror movie. Helicopters falling from the sky, crumbling under the impact of radiation is a surreal, unbelievable sight. The show is full of these images that stay with you long after the final credits roll.

I'm saving the best for last. THE ACTING! Like I already mentioned, the entire cast looks like they've walked out of an actual Soviet movie - but that's not why the actors make an impression. Each actor, no matter how lengthy their part is, is completely committed to their character and the whole show. Everyone knows why they're there, what they're trying to convey, how important their work is. Dyatlov, the Big Bad who's mostly blamed for pushing the reactor to the breaking point, is utterly contemptible, even when he himself experiences the effects of his disastrous decisions. His complete denial of the disaster, up to the point where he starts vomiting toxic bile, is fascinating in its evil neglect. His superiors aren't much better, but their roles aren't that significant. The young plant workers forced into the situation, and what's worse, forced to feel like they've caused the explosion, are tragic heroes of the story. In fact, every rescue worker, miner and scientist working to reduce the Chernobyl aftermath is a tragic hero. According to official statistics, only a few dozen people died as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, but it's painfully obvious that the number of casualties can be calculated in hundreds of thousands. Let's not forget that the victims are not only those who died shortly after the explosion, but also those who acquired a doze of radiation and unknowingly went on to spread the poison to nearby towns.

The show has its subtle tragic love story of one of the firefighters sent to put out "a fire on the reactor roof" and his pregnant wife, who follows him to a burn unit in Moscow and foregoing doctors' warnings spends his final painful days by his side, being exposed to radiation and losing her unborn child in the end. This love reminds me of the best examples of devotion that Russian women are famous for (Decembrists' wives come to mind).

And the acting duo at the center of the relief mission - Jared Harris as Valery Legasov and Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina... I'm partial to both these terrific actors, but I doubt anyone can deny how brilliant their performances are. Especially Skarsgård who creates a complex portrait of Shcherbina, a party head who at first resents Legasov for meddling in his business and comes to realize the magnitude of the disaster and how vital their work truly is. His final conversation with Legasov - where Shcherbina shows vulnerability, calling himself an "insignificant man" and Legasov refutes his claim, saying that in fact Shcherbina was the most essential part of the rescue effort - brings me to tears every time.

We are finally getting somewhere with the Terrifier franchise! I keep waiting for them to give Art the movie that would match his awesomeness and this still ain't it, but it's much better than the first movie and definitely the second. The acting is still terrible (except Sienna and, surprisingly Gabbie), the plot is still non-existent, the dialogue is still bad... And unfortunately Victoria is featured more prominently here but it turns out that when we can't see or hear her, she's not such a terrible actress.

I've given the previous movies half-stars because you can't just make up a great horror movie villain like Art and place him in two terrible movies, but this movie is getting a star-and-a-half cause we're making progress. The best scene of the movie is, without a doubt, Art's meeting with Santa, him fangirling and Santa actually humouring him until everything goes horribly wrong, like it should. I now have hopes for the sequel, or rather quadriquel? Whatever, the next movie in the series.

Oh, and the gore that everyone keeps being shocked and disgusted by - come on, people, it looks so fake that it can't possibly scare anyone! Not only do all the bodies and body parts that are being assaulted look like they're obviously made out of rubber, but the blood looks nothing like real blood, and the people still stay alive for far too long while being slaughtered for any of it to be believable. I don't know, maybe it's me who has a problem, and not these movies, but I can't take anything seriously when people are getting tortured to this extent and are somehow still functioning. And if I can't take it seriously, I can't get grossed out or disturbed by it.

Hence why the only saving grace of this franchise is Art and I will patiently wait for Damien Leone to deliver at least one movie worthy of Art's potential.