Chernobyl by HBO
Chernobyl or art itself?
Shall I talk about it’s all-time high rating of 9.7/10 in IMDB? Or Shall I draw comparisons with Game of Thrones just because it’s produced by HBO? Or maybe talk about the massive craze it created in the last month by surpassing GOT in IMDB as the most popular TV Series in June(GOT usually stayed on top for at least 3 months after each season finale)? So how shall I begin?
Chernobyl as art.
It’s a fuckin’ marvel. Mind that Chernobyl is not an actual TV Show. It won’t span for seasons, it won’t create a fandom, you won’t sympathise with a specific character for years or buy clothes with its logos. It’s a 5-part-movie. An incredible movie. But yet there are two sides to it, two perspectives. Chernobyl as an art and Chernobyl as pseudo-documental film. The tension, the music, the acting, the cinematography, the script is so good you can barely digest it. Honestly I’ve never seen anything done this professionally. You can feel how they calculated every move, glance, clothes, words, sighs, color, animals, walls. It’s a beautifully choreographed dance. I know their production budget was almost $100M but it was worth it. I thought they forgot how to make such beautiful creations. It’s top notch.
*There’s a scene in first episode where you just sense how radiation hits people in the air. It was the most tensed I’ve ever been watching a movie. That’s awesometacular.
Chernobyl as pseudo-documental film.
I’m 100% pro-American and anti-Soviet, anti-Russian and never hid that. But.
Vietnam war was won by Americans. Not because they actually won it but because they control the history. They create immensely beautiful films and culture. The hero-Rambo warrior of Vietnam war is engraved in younger generation’s mind. You can always alter history if you have enough power. We can never be sure about history and it’s not just about Americans. Whoever controls culture implementation, controls the past. Maybe Romans didn’t win those wars or the Spartans or whomever. You can never be sure. As long as people lie and people DO lie, you can never be sure about the history. It’s like religion — another means to control. And I’m not against it. I know it. I accept it. But I’m not sure about the integrity of Chernobyl. In the last episode Legasov says “We don’t make reactors like they do in WEST. We have design flaws and the tips of smth are made of graphite just because it’s cheaper.” Hadn’t he told the word “WEST” I would’ve never written this second part of my review and just considered it as the beautiful art it is. “WEST” changed everything. It’s a too obvious propaganda. I don’t believe he ever said that.
Propaganda or not, Chernobyl sheds light to one of the craziest, most terrible events in human history and tells tales about its heroes and people who sacrificed themselves to help millions. People legitimately went on suicide missions and none of us know their names.
Go See Chernobyl!!!