You know when the Russian government is scrambling to deny your version of events that you have come startlingly close to the truth. And that is exactly what they are trying to do. Apart from calling the entire show a “caricature” soon after the release of the HBO mini-series Chernobyl, reports have surfaced that the Russian network NTV has been working on their own version of events. The NTV version will follow a group of KGB agents as they try to uncover a CIA agent stationed at Chernobyl, before he can sabotage the plant.
That being said, with its startling accuracy and realism, Chernobyl is a masterpiece. The series follows Jarred Harris as Valery Legasov, deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute (Russia’s leading nuclear research institute) and Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina, the council of ministers' deputy chairman, as they try to minimise the damage caused by the explosion of Reactor 4.
The series starts in 1998 in a tiny apartment, with a man speaking into a tape-recorder about the conclusion of the disastrous events at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. After he is done, he takes the tapes and stashes them in a vent. He comes back, smokes a cigarette, and hangs himself. This man is Valery Legasov, one of the people heading the damage control and clean-up operations at Chernobyl. The series is a starkly accurate portrayal of the events following the Chernobyl disaster and the efforts that went into controlling the damage, and in essence, saving Europe from being rendered uninhabitable for a long time.
Chernobyl is real. This point cannot be stressed enough. There is no censoring here, no sugar-coating. These events happened. They almost resulted in incalculable destruction. The only thing that prevented the disaster from killing millions of people and making parts of Europe unlivable was the sacrifice and the efforts of thousands of brave men and women, from fire-fighters to scientists. The series is aware of the momentous nature of the events it portrays, and renders them in a starkly beautiful style, sans dramatic instrumentals and muscular heroes.
The cinematography is excellent. The camera moves from claustrophobic interiors to expansive shots of the plant and areas surrounding it, and the subdued colour palette perfectly matches the tension being portrayed. The visuals are stark and unflinchingly real. The victims of radiation exposure are shown exactly as they would be—with seeping burns and open wounds caused by the decay of the skin. The sound track is perfect, because it is not there. The only sounds you will hear are the natural sounds of the scenes. A quiet room is a quiet room. The top of a roof near the destroyed reactor sounds exactly like it should. Silence. All these individually superb elements combine to form an excellent atmosphere. Though understated, the tension, the stakes and the gravity of the events are never in doubt. One mistake and millions of people could die.
Along with focussing on the broad decisions made by the scientists planning the operations, there is also a touching human perspective on the events that serves to ground these otherwise incomprehensible events with familiar emotions of fear, love and loss. The story of firefighter Vasily Ignatenko and his wife Lyudmila comes to mind. Singular acts of bravery are also portrayed excellently. The heroic actions of “those who saved the world” and the miners who had to work naked underneath Chernobyl to survive the 50 degrees Celsius heat are shown as they might have happened. No sugar-coating here. These men saved the world, and sacrificed a lot to do so, and you can feel it.
This doesn’t mean that the struggles faced by the people making the decisions are ignored. On the contrary, the fortitude, intelligence and the ability to make tough decisions, all while the knowledge that the fate of millions of people rested on their shoulders, are all characteristics that are duly highlighted.
The show does an excellent job in portraying every small moment of bureaucratic idiocy that caused the explosion in the first place. It unflinchingly shows the mistakes made by the people in-charge, and is not afraid to expose the flaws in the system.
The acting too is quite well done. Each member of the cast, with notable names like Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson steps up with impressive performances. Paul Ritter also does a good job portraying the unpleasant, abrasive Anatoly Dyatlov. The supporting cast too comes out with solid performances, and as such, add to the convincing portrayal of the events as they happened.
Chernobyl is not just a documentary mini-series. It is a tale of sacrifice and struggle. It is a story of heroes. Most of all, it’s an examination of the truth.
A quote from the show sums it up perfectly. “The truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants. It doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl.”
No wonder it’s IMDb’s highest rated show.
Series: Chernobyl
Actors: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson
Director: Johan Renck
Rating: 5/5