Chernobyl (mini-series)

Chernobyl
Chernobyl
Russian poster of the mini-series
Genre	historical drama
Creator	Craig Meyzin
Screenwriter	Craig Meyzin
Producer	Johan Renk
Cast	Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard Paul Ritter Jessie Buckley Adam Nagaytis Con O'Neill Adrian Rawlins Sam Troughton , Robert Emms Emily Watson , David Densik Mark Lewis Jones Alan Williams Alex Ferns Ralph Aineson Barry Keogan Fares Fares Michael McElhatton
Composer	Hildur Goodnadouttir
Country	USA UK
Tongue	English
Seasons	1
Series	5 ( series list )
Production
Executive producer	Craig Meyzin Carolyn Strauss Jane Featherstone Johan Renk Chris Fry
Producer	Zanne Volenberg
Operator	Jacob Ire
Location	Lithuania Ukraine
Series length	60-72 minutes
Studio	Sister Pictures The Might Mint Word Games
Broadcast
Tv channel	HBO (USA) Sky Atlantic (Great Britain) 1 + 1 (Ukraine)
On the screens	May 6, 2019  - June 3, 2019
Video format	2: 1 (18: 9)
References
Official site
IMDb

“Chernobyl” ( English  Chernobyl ) is a television mini-series in the genre of historical drama , created by the American television channel HBO in conjunction with the British television network Sky . "Chernobyl" consists of five series devoted to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, the elimination of the consequences of this accident and the investigation of its causes . The creator and screenwriter of the mini-series was Craig Meisin , and the director was Johan Renk . The main roles were played by Jared Harris , Stellan Skarsgard andEmily Watson . The premiere of the mini-series took place in 2019 .

Before writing the script for Chernobyl, Craig Meisin collected archival materials for two and a half years. He wanted to use a mini-series to tell a wide audience about the Chernobyl disaster and highlight such pressing issues as lies and propaganda. So that the mini-series would not be a dry retelling of historical events, Meisin made artistic assumptions - along with real historical figures, fictional and collective characters act in the series, personifying many participants in the liquidation of the accident.

In addition to documentary sources, Meisin was inspired by literary works, one of which was the Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Aleksievich . The mini-series was launched into production in 2017; 16 weeks of shooting took place in 2018 in Lithuania and Ukraine . The location for the filming of the Chernobyl NPP was the Ignalina NPP in Lithuania; the creators of the series also visited the exclusion zone , where the material for the epilogue was filmed .

Chernobyl has received wide acclaim from critics and has been nominated for numerous awards, including ten Emmy Awards. Reviewers praised the mini-series for its authentic depiction of the Soviet era of the 1980s , the details of which the creators paid due attention to, directing, acting and soundtrack ; Critics considered the lack of stereotypes about the USSR, cliches and fiction shortcomings .

The foreign press reacted positively to Chernobyl, many journalists compared the mini-series with the current environmental and political situation in the world. In Russia , they reacted differently to Chernobyl: some publications considered it propaganda and stated that the creators deliberately distorted the events and put the USSR in a bad light, while others approved it for authenticity and respect for the liquidators .

The mini-series has gained popularity among viewers, on IMDb it has a rating of 9.5 and for some time took first place in the ranking. Chernobyl had an impact on industrial tourism in Pripyat - the influx of foreign tourists into the city increased five-fold; on the basis of the success of the mini-series, the Ukrainian government made the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant an open zone and declassified part of the KGB archives related to the disaster .

Cast

The basic composition

• Jared Harris  - Valery Legasov , deputy director of the Institute of Atomic Energy Kurchatov and a member of the government commission on the elimination of the Chernobyl disaster .
• Stellan Skarsgard  - Boris Scherbina , deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and head of the Committee on Fuel and Energy under the Council of Ministers, head of the government commission for the elimination of the consequences of the accident.
• Emily Watson  - Ulyana Khomyuk (a fictional character, a collective image of scientists who struggled with the consequences of the disaster) , a scientist from the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the Belorussian SSR Academy of Sciences , a member of the government commission for the elimination of the consequences of the accident.
• Paul Ritter  - Anatoly Dyatlov , deputy chief engineer for the operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant .
• Jesse Buckley  - Lyudmila Ignatenko, wife of Vasily Ignatenko.
• Adam Nagaytis  - Vasily Ignatenko , 25-year-old firefighter, commander of the SVPCH-6 unit, living in Pripyat .
• Con O'Neill  - Victor Bryukhanov , director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
• Adrian Rawlins  - Nikolai Fomin, chief engineer of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
• Sam Troton  - Alexander Akimov , night shift supervisor at power unit No. 4.
• Robert Emms  - Leonid Toptunov , Senior Reactor Control Engineer (SIUR).
• David Densik  - Mikhail Gorbachev , Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee .
• Mark Lewis Jones  - Colonel General Vladimir Pikalov , commander of the chemical forces of the USSR Armed Forces .
• Alan Williams  - Charkov ^[1] , a fictional character , first deputy ^{[2] of the} chairman of the KGB of the USSR
• Alex Ferns  - Andrey Glukhov, miners' foreman
• Ralph Aineson  - Major General Nikolai Tarakanov , commander of the military units of the liquidators .
• Barry Keogan  - Pavel Gremov, a civilian, called to serve as a liquidator.
• Fares Fares  - Bacho, a Georgian soldier who trains Paul.
• Michael Makelhatton  - Andrey Stepashin, prosecutor in the case of Dyatlov, Bruchanov and Fomin.

Background Composition

• Adam Lundgren  - Vyacheslav Brazhnik, turbine engineer.
• Karl Davis  - Victor Proskuryakov, SIUR intern.
• Donald Sumpter  - Zharkov, member of the Pripyat City Executive Committee.
• Nadia Clifford - Svetlana Zinchenko, a doctor treating Vasily Ignatenko and other patients exposed to radiation.
• Jamie Sives  - Anatoly Sitnikov , deputy chief engineer for the operation of the first stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant , sent to the roof to inspect the exploding power unit.
• Billy Postletway - Boris Stolyarchuk, Senior Engineer of Block Management (SIUB).
• Joshua Lee - Igor Kirshenbaum, Senior Turbine Control Engineer (SIUT).
• Breck Baltasar Samper  - Alexey Ananenko , one of the volunteers who volunteered to go to the flooded basement to open the gates.
• Philip Barantini - Valery Bespalov , one of the volunteers who volunteered to go to the flooded basement to open the valves.
• Oscar Guise - Boris Baranov , one of the volunteers who volunteered to go to the flooded basement to open the gates.

Guest Actors

• Natasha Radsky  is a television news presenter who announced the accident ^[3] .
• Jay Simpson - Valery Perevozchenko, shift supervisor, reactor shop.
• Michael Colgan  - Mikhail Shchadov , Minister of Coal Industry of the USSR.
• James Cosmo  is a miner.
• Hiltoy MacRae  - Milan Kadnikov, judge, presiding over the court of Dyatlov, Bryukhanov and Fomin.
• Kieran O'Brien  - Valery Hodemchuk, operator of the main circular pumps (MCP) at the fourth Chernobyl NPP unit.
• Alexey Manvelov  - Garo, an Armenian soldier who helps Bacho and Paul.

Episodes

No.	Name	Producer	written by	Premiere date	Spectators (million)
1	"1:23:45"  "1:23:45"	Johan Renk	Craig Meyzin	May 6, 2019 (2019-05-06)	0.756 (USA) [4] 0.861 (GBR) [5]
On the night of April 26, 1988, Valery Legasov dictated a tape recorder in Moscow , claiming that the station’s deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov , who was found guilty of the Chernobyl accident and received ten years in prison, deserves to die. Having hidden the cassettes in the ventilation near his house, Legasov returns to the apartment and commits suicide. Two years earlier in Pripyat, firefighter Vasily Ignatenko and his wife Lyudmila became witnesses of an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant . Vasily is preparing to take part in the fire extinguishing and assures Lyudmila that he will return home soon. In the control room at the power plant, Dyatlov, Akimov, Toptunov and other employees of the nuclear power plant recover from the explosion that thundered during the turbine test. The frightened Perevozchenko tells his colleagues that the reactor exploded and the core has been destroyed. However, Dyatlov is convinced that the core of the RBMK reactor cannot explode, and only the tank of the control and protection system (CPS) was damaged. When fire brigades arrive at the power plant, Vasily witnesses how his colleague picks up a piece of graphite from the ground and later sees that he received severe radiation burns to his palm from ionizing radiation . Kudryavtsev and Proskuryakov, accompanied by Yuvchenko, get to the turbine hall and understand that the active zone burns with an open flame. Viktor Bryukhanov and Nikolai Fomin listen to Dyatlov's report on the current situation and at the meeting they assure the members of the Pripyat City Executive Committee that the situation is under full control. After the meeting, Sitnikov comes to Brukhanov, Fomin and Dyatlov and reports that the radiation level is off scale, and most likely the reactor exploded. Dyatlova is struck by an attack of acute radiation sickness , and Fomin sends Sitnikov to the roof of a building adjacent to the site of the explosion. Sitnikov sees that the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant is completely destroyed, and receives a lethal dose of radiation . Boris Shcherbina calls Legasov , who informs about the Chernobyl incident, and on behalf of the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev orders him, as a specialist in RBMK, to join the government commission to deal with the consequences of the disaster.
2	Please Keep Calm  Please Remain Calm	Johan Renk	Craig Meyzin	May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13)	1.004 (United States) [6] 0.891 (GBR) [5]
Seven hours after the incident, a scientist from the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the Belorussian SSR Academy of Sciences Ulyana Khomyuk and her assistant record an increase in radiation levels in Minsk ( Belarus ) and quickly come to the conclusion that the incident occurred at the Ignalina or Chernobyl nuclear power plants . Ignalina station confirms that it is operating normally, but Ulyana fails to contact Chernobyl employees. Ulyana reports on radiation hazard to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, but the secretary of the Central Committee, Garanin, refuses to listen to her, and then the scientist independently leaves for Pripyat. Meanwhile, Lyudmila manages to break through the police cordon to the hospital of Pripyat and find out that Vasily, along with other patients with acute radiation sickness, was evacuated to Moscow. In Moscow, Legasov explains to Gorbachev and the skeptic Shcherbin that the situation is much more serious than the Pripyat city executive committee reports, and Gorbachev sends Shcherbin and Legasov to Pripyat to clarify the circumstances of what happened. During a helicopter flight over the NPP, Legasov points to fragments of graphite on the roof and a blue ionizing glow, convincing Shcherbin that the reactor core is really naked. Shcherbina listens to the director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Bryukhanov and the chief engineer of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Fomin, who accuse Legasov of misinformation. To confirm one point of view, General PikalovUsing a dosimeter with an extended measuring range, she drives a truck close to the Chernobyl NPP and proves that the radiation level is extremely high. By order of Shcherbina, Bruchanov and Fomin were taken into custody. Legasov instructs the military to put out the fire with sand and boron , but the task is very risky. After Shcherbina was informed that the international community had learned about this incident, an immediate evacuation of the population of Pripyat began. On arrival in Pripyat, Khomyuk warns Legasov and Shcherbina about the danger of a new catastrophe - a steam explosion that will occur when molten nuclear fuel flows into the bubbler tanks under the reactor filled with water after putting out the fire. In Moscow, Legasov asks Gorbachev for permission to send three people on a suicide mission in order to open the lock valve and begin pumping water from the tanks. Alexey Ananenko, Valery Bespalov and Boris Baranov volunteered and went down to the basement with radioactive water.
3	“Open wide, O Earth!”   "Open Wide, O Earth"	Johan Renk	Craig Meyzin	May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20)	1,063 (USA) [7] 1,100 (GBR) [5]
Ananenko, Bespalov and Baranov successfully complete the mission, and the bubblers can be drained. However, after reconnaissance in the area, Pikalov warns that core melting has begun. Shcherbina and Legasov explain to Gorbachev that soon nuclear fuel will leak through a concrete pad and pollute groundwater . They propose installing a liquid nitrogen cooler under the nuclear power plant in order to lower the temperature and prevent melting. During the walk Shcherbina and Legasov see that they are immediately followed by KGB officers . Coal Industry Minister Mikhail Shchadov appeals for help to Tulaminers led by shift supervisor Glukhov. Legasov explains to Glukhov the task - it is necessary to manually dig a tunnel and dig a pit to install a cooler. Miners begin to work in extremely adverse conditions. Legasov sends Khomyuk to a Moscow hospital to talk with Dyatlov, Akimov and Toptunov about what exactly happened on that fateful night of April 26. Dyatlov refuses to cooperate with Khomyuk, but she manages to learn from the dying Toptunov and Akimov that the explosion rang out after Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button AZ-5. Khomyuk considers this option impossible. In the same hospital, a nurse agrees to let Lyudmila go to Vasily for half an hour, but forbids touching him. Lyudmila does not obey the orders of the nurse and remains in the hospital, becoming a witness to the rapid deterioration of her husband's health. Khomyuk notices Lyudmila at Vasily’s bed and realizes that she is pregnant. Khomyuk threatens to make a fuss, but she is arrested by KGB officers. Legasov is seeking her release by promising the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Charkov, to take responsibility for Khomyuk’s actions. Shcherbina and Legasov report to Gorbachev that it would take at least three years and 750 thousand people to liquidate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. Lyudmila, next to the relatives of other victims of the accident, watches as the bodies of the dead, placed in zinc coffins, are poured with concrete in a mass grave.
4	"The happiness of all mankind»  «of The Happiness of the All Mankind»	Johan Renk	Craig Meyzin	May 27, 2019 (2019-05-27)	1,193 (USA) [8] 1,311 (GBR) [5]
In a village located in the exclusion zone , an elderly woman who milks a cow refuses to evacuate, saying that she did not leave during the revolution , the famine or the German invasion . However, the soldier makes her leave, killing the cow. Shcherbina, Legasov and General Nikolai Tarakanov are watching how the “ moon rover ” begins to work , which cleans the roof of radioactive fragments before the construction of the sarcophagus begins . At the site with the maximum radiation background, it was decided to use a police robot from West Germany , but it instantly fails, as the Soviet government intentionally provided underestimated data on the level of radiation to German colleagues. Tarakanov is forced to send his people to the roof to clean it of graphite manually. Civilian draftee Pavel, paired with a veteran of the Afghan war, Bacho patrols the exclusion zone, shooting abandoned animals exposed to radioactive contamination. Finding a dog with puppies in one of the houses, Bacho sends Paul to the street and kills them himself. At the Moscow State University Scientific Library in Moscow, Khomyuk studies archives, trying to understand what caused the accident. She again visits Dyatlov in the hospital, but he does not want to talk about the Chernobyl incident, as she realizes that the Soviet government is not interested in revealing the truth. At a meeting in an abandoned building in Pripyat, where there is no wiretapping of the KGB, Shcherbin and Legasov told Khomyuk that they were to act as experts at the upcoming trial of Dyatlov, Bryukhanov and Fomin. Legasov intends to go to Vienna to speak to the IAEA . Khomyuk shows them an article about a similar incident at the Leningrad NPPin 1975, which was hidden by the KGB. She also says that Lyudmila gave birth to a girl who soon died from radiation exposure. Khomyuk calls on Legasov to tell the IAEA the whole truth, but Shcherbin calls on him to be careful to avoid revenge on the part of the government.
five	“Eternal memory”  “Vichnaya Pamyat”	Johan Renk	Craig Meyzin	June 3, 2019 (2019-06-03)	1,089 (USA) [9] 2,112 (GBR) [5]
KGB officer stops Legasov in Moscow and escorts to the KGB first deputy chairman Charkov, who praises Legasov for his excellent speech at the IAEA conference in Vienna and promises that if he supports the version of the state prosecution as a witness, he will be awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and promotion to the director of the Kurchatov Institute . Khomyuk arrives at Legasov’s home and convinces him to tell the truth that the RBMKs in their current design pose a threat. Dyatlov, Bruchanov and Fomin appear in court in the abandoned city of Chernobyl . Shcherbin gives the first testimony, which explains the general principles of the operation of a nuclear power plant. Khomyuk and Legasov testify about the events that led to the accident, based on conversations with Chernobyl employees who were present in the control room on the night of the incident. The health of Shcherbina worsens right during the meeting. Coughing, he leaves the hall, and the judge announces a break. Legasov follows Shcherbina, who tells him that he feels himself to be an insignificant person who has not done anything useful in his life. The academician encourages him, saying that it was thanks to his work that he managed to mobilize funds and people to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Legasov says that because of the ten-hour delay in the safety test and Dyatlov’s desire to conduct the test at any cost, the reactor was poisoned by xenon , and then an uncontrolled power surge occurred during its launch. Akimov activated emergency shutdown using the AZ-5 button , but due to the end effect, due to a design flaw in the control rods, the reactor power exceeded the planned one tenfold, and the core exploded. The judge notes that this information contradicts the testimony that Legasov gave to the IAEA, and Legasov admits that he lied to the IAEA and the whole world. After the speech, he is arrested by the KGB. Charkov reports that his testimony will not be taken into account by the court and will not receive publicity in the state media. In addition, he will be banned from talking to anyone about Chernobyl and will not be given any reward for his role in containing the disaster. He is left with a nominal position at the institute, but is deprived of actual work. The finale shows photos and videos of the real Legasov, Shcherbina and other major figures who participated in those events. Their further destinies are revealed, as well as the ongoing consequences of the accident to this day are described.

Creation

Script

According to the script writer “Chernobyl” Craig Meisin , he became interested in the Chernobyl accident in 2014 or 2015. He had previously known about the disaster in the most general terms - Meisin was 15 years old when the accident occurred; but the scriptwriter realized that he did not know anything about how it happened - this gap seemed to Meizin an “abnormal gap” in his picture of the world ^[10] .

Meyzin began to study scientific literature, government reports, documentaries and much more ^{[10] [11]} and was amazed at how tragic this catastrophe is ^[12] ; at first it seemed to Meisin that he was discovering the story of a certain unknown war about which no one had written a word, but soon the scriptwriter was convinced that more than enough had been written about her. Prior to the beginning of his research, he did not know what efforts the liquidators put in, or that the explosion occurred due to the tests ^[10] . Meisin decided to create a mini-series, tell a wide audience about that period and bring little-known facts from scientists whose work went unnoticed to the public.

Before directly writing the script, Meisin collected materials on the Chernobyl disaster for two and a half years ^{[10] [13]} . To learn more about the operation of a nuclear reactor and to tell the audience in plain language, Meisin talked with nuclear scientists ^[11] . He knew how in those years the Soviet government hid the causes and extent of the disaster, so it was important for him to tell in a mini-series what happens when people take away the truth. According to Meyzin, he wanted to touch upon such topical issues as lies and propaganda in the mini-series ^{[10] [14]} .

By 2016, Meisin had collected material and started writing the script. Meisin tried so that the mini-series was not a dry retelling of that period, so he distorted some facts for the sake of drama. According to Meisin, he did not want to dramatically dramatize events or think out something in the mini-series, it was important for him to write the script as truthfully as possible. Meisin was also inspired by fiction, including the “ Chernobyl Prayer ” by Svetlana Aleksievich , a Nobel laureate in literature ^[15] . Meisin worked with consultants to ensure that there were no factual errors in the mini-series, and tried to make the mini-series with respect to the people who survived this disaster ^{[10] [11]} .

Preparing for the shoot

July 26, 2017, it was announced that HBO ordered the Chernobyl series, which was its first joint production with Sky Television. The script for the five-episode mini-series was supposed to be written by Craig Meisin, and Johan Renk was to become the director of the mini-series . Meyzin also had to act as an executive producer along with Carolyn Strauss and Jane Featherstone, while Chris Fry and Renk acted as co-executive producers ^{[16] [17]} .

In preparation for filming the series, Meyzin visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone ^[18] . To give the authentic spirit of the Soviet 80s, the creators collected props in the markets of Kiev, in the funds of Belarusfilm, Russian second-hand clothes stores, in particular in St. Petersburg , and also made purchases on the sites of Avito and Yul ^[19] . In addition, the creators decided to entrust the visual design to the natives of the USSR themselves ^[20] . According to Meisin, the creators were obsessed with authenticity - they tried to make Chernobyl authentic to the drawstring, watches, glasses, hats and hairstyles worn by the main characters ^[21] .

Casting and characters

When HBO approved the creation of Chernobyl, it was announced that Jared Harris would play a major role in the mini-series ^[22] . According to Craig Meisin, this actor had a difficult task - it was necessary to play the role of Valery Legasov, a scientist who was faced with a difficult choice between truth and falsehood. To reproduce the image of Legasov, Meisin worked with his notes, also studied other aspects of his work and life. Meisin stated that there are no ideal characters in Chernobyl, because no one is perfect - Legasov was part of the Soviet political system and ideology, but while working in Chernobyl he began to doubt and change his beliefs ^[21] .

On March 19, 2018, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson joined the main cast ^[23] . Skarsgård played Boris Shcherbin, a Soviet official who directed the aftermath of the accident in a brutal political system ^{[21] [23]} . For Watson, the task was to play the role of the fictional character Ulyana Khomyuk - a nuclear physicist from the USSR who risks his freedom and life in order to find out the cause of the accident. The image of Khomyuk represents many scientists who were investigating the Chernobyl disaster ^{[21] [24]} . In May 2018, Paul Ritter , Jesse Buckley , Adrian Rawlins andCon O'Neill became actors of "Chernobyl" ^[25] . One of the main lines of the mini-series is the love story of Lyudmila and Vasily Ignatenko, who received a large dose of radiation when fighting a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ludmila was played by Jesse Buckley, and Vasily - Adam Nagaitis ^{[20] [26]}

Meisin decided to abandon the idea of ​​using Russian or Ukrainian accents in the English speech of the characters, although it is customary in English-language cinema to depict the speech of foreigners with one or another emphasis reflecting the origin of the hero ^[27] . According to Meisin, the creators of the series did not intend to use a strong Russian accent like the speech of Boris and Natasha, the caricature spies from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show - it was originally a light “Eastern European” accent; nevertheless, after one or two first auditions, the creators of the series became convinced that even such a simulated accent prevents actors from expressing emotions and revealing the characters' personalities as needed ^[28]. For the same reason, there are no American actors in the series - the presence of a character with a noticeable American accent in a predominantly British environment would be too alien; British actors with a pronounced reprimand were asked to "reduce" the features of pronunciation ^[27] .

Filming

The filming of "Chernobyl" was originally planned on the territory of Ukraine, but the producers chose Lithuania because of the tax benefits that are provided to the film crews, and filmed there the main material ^{[13] [20] [29]} . Craig Meisin also stated that he would have shot several scenes in Pripyat , but this city was so damaged and overgrown that it lost its 1986 surroundings ^[30] .

For the filming of Pripyat, the mini-series first considered the Lithuanian city of Visaginas , which is located near the Ignalina NPP . This city is located on the lake in the middle of the forest and is lined with 5- and 9-story Soviet apartment buildings - these attributes Visaginas interested the creators. However, they decided that Visaginas was not suitable for filming, because this city could not fully convey the atmosphere of Pripyat ^{[31] [32]} .

The most suitable location was the Fabieniškės sleeping area - this area has mostly 9-story apartment buildings and a genuine Soviet atmosphere, however, Johan Renk criticized the presence of plastic windows with double-glazed windows ^{[31] [33] [34]} . In April 2018, the filming period began, on May 13, 2018, the creators began filming in Fabieniškės ^{[33] [35]} . Also, in gratitude to the locals, they planted roses in the alley, washed graffiti and built a playground ^{[31] [32]} .

In addition to Vilnius, the mini-series was also filmed in another Lithuanian city - Kaunas . The producers found in this city unique locations for filming the main scenes of the film: for example, shots of Moscow in Chernobyl were shot in Kaunas ^{[29] [32] [36]} . In addition, the beginning of episode 1, where Valery Legasov dictates a tape recorder in an apartment, was also shot in Kaunas - in an Art Deco house on 58 Vytauto Avenue ^{[29] [36] [37]} . The creators visited other Lithuanian locations: for example, in Kedainiai , on Hemiku Street, a scene of 4 episodes was shot in which firefighters treat the house with chemicals ^{[36] [37]} .

To show the Chernobyl nuclear power plant , the creators used Ignalina in Chernobyl as a location for filming ^{[30] [38]} . Ignalina NPP looks like Chernobyl and has similar nuclear reactors like RBMK-1500 , therefore it is sometimes called the “Chernobyl sister” ^{[11] [39] [40]} . It was difficult to conduct surveys at the station, since work is underway to decommission the Ignalina NPP, which is planned to be completed by 2038 ^{[29] [37]} . According to Meisin, when the film crew came to the station, she constantly had to show her documents ^[37] .

The appearance of the Ignalina NPP and the area around it were filmed using computer graphics, which was engaged in Kiev studio Postmodern digital ^{[31] [38]} . The studio made a computer model in 2013 for another mini-series “ Moths ”, also dedicated to the Chernobyl disaster - HBO used this model and finalized it. According to Yegor Borschevsky, the head of Postmodern digital, in order to reproduce the model of the station for real, it was necessary to study archive photos, calculate the scale of the station and understand the operation of the reactor. Also in 2014, “Moths” for special effects were nominated for the VES Awards ^[38] .

Luke Hall said that the interiors at the Ignalina NPP were similar to the Chernobyl, but many other locations were built to take pictures of the station: for example, the control center, which was made in the studio, looks exactly the same in the mini-series ^{[29] [39] [41]} . The graphite blocks shown in Chernobyl are real - they were taken from the Ignalina NPP, although they were not in operation and were not radioactive ^{[30] [41]} . Also, the creators tried to avoid similarities with other films about the 1980s, so that there were no sparking wires and fires ^[41] . When Renk began filming in Lithuania, he stated that he considered nuclear power a relatively clean source of energy, but then changed his mind ^[36] .

When the filming of Chernobyl was agreed, there was no plan to shoot in Ukraine. Radioaktive Film, a Kiev production company, wrote a letter to HBO at the pre-production stage to convince it to shoot some of the material in Ukraine - according to Radioaktive Film, Ukrainian locations will improve authenticity in the mini-series ^{[11] [42]} . HBO agreed: in June, Ukraine began filming Chernobyl, in particular in Kiev ^{[11] [32] [36]} . About 30% of the mini-series were shot in Ukraine, which took about 20 days ^{[11] [32] [42]} . During the filming, the names of institutions and shops changed: for example, the news agency Ukrinform became Music School No. 132, andboxes on the streets was replaced by Soviet-era propaganda posters and stands with the newspaper " Pravda " ^{[11] [38] [42]} .

Many buildings in Ukraine are similar to Pripyat, so the creators used them to shoot some episodes: for example, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was removed as hospital MSC No. 126 ^{[31] [32] [42]} . To recreate Kiev in the 1980s, producers used clothes, cars and styles of those times ^{[32] [42]} . For example, when part of the shooting was carried out on the streets of Khreschatyk , Tereshchenkovskaya and Bogdan Khmelnitsky , the creators deliberately blocked the movement of cars and other vehicles, and only allowed the one that was in the 1980s ^{[37] [38] [42]}. The evacuation of the inhabitants of Pripyat was filmed in Podil near the Oktyabr movie theater, Kiev and suburban residents took part in the crowd ^[42] . Also, the Ukrainian actor Vladimir Pantelyuk played an episodic role of the Russian officer - according to Pantelyuk, the episode, which lasted 5-7 seconds in Chernobyl, was shot for 7 hours, and the crowd did not know that HBO was shooting ^{[11] [38]} .

However, the creators did not bypass the Exclusion Zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in order to shoot material, most of which went into the final part of episode 5, and to interview local residents. According to Renk, at the end of episode 5 they wanted to show the audience the current ChZO ^[32] . To shoot scenes with helicopters, the creators went to Borispol at the base of the transport aviation brigade of the Armed Forces . The creators tried to make the scenes authentic, so they consulted with Ukrainian military pilots, including Oleg Mikhailenko, deputy commander of the air brigade. “Chernobyl” was filmed here during the week, from morning to evening, and some scenes - at night ^{[43] [44] [45]} .

The creators used aircraft similar to that used in Soviet times. To achieve authenticity, the artists not only changed the color of the helicopter, but also achieved the effect of "antiquity" ^{[43] [44]} . According to Mikhailenko, at the helm of the helicopter was the squadron commander of the military unit. The creators had certain requirements for the quality of these scenes, often they had to be re-shot, so the helicopter took off every time, flew in a circle and landed. It took 10-30 takes to shoot each scene. Mikhailenko also stated that the scenes where scientists were on board the helicopter were shot in a helicopter, which was put on special vibrating pillows to simulate a flight ^[44] . In Ukraine, the shooting was carried out by 2 teams of Radioaktive Film ^{[42] [46]}. The first worked in Kiev, the second - was engaged in complex technical tasks. In addition, the second team filmed a mini-series outside of Kiev, including in the ChZO for 2 days. In total, the first team took 8 days, the second - 9 ^[46] . The entire filming period of Chernobyl took 16 weeks ^[47] .

Premiere

[ hide ]Ratings
Edition	Rating
Cinema Search	9.0 / 10
IMDb [48]	9.5 / 10

March 11, 2019 it became known that the premiere of the mini-series will be held May 6, 2019 ^[49] . On June 4, 2019, the creator and screenwriter of the series Craig Meisin posted on the Internet the original scripts of all the episodes, available for download in PDF format (see links ) ^[50] .

Simultaneously with the show on television episodes of the new "Chernobyl" on YouTube went releases podcast The Chernobyl Podcast. In them, Craig Meisin and NPR radio host Peter Sagal discussed in detail the details of the Chernobyl disaster, as well as talked about real people who were affected by the accident and how they were portrayed in the series. Some characters represented a collective image or were fiction . Among other things, Meisin shared interesting details of the production of the show and told how exactly the creators managed to reliably transfer historical events to the screen ^[51] .

No.	Name	Delivery Date	Rating (18–49)	Spectators (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	" 1:23:45 "	May 6, 2019	0.2	0.756 [52]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	" Please keep calm. "	May 13, 2019	0.3	1.004 [53]	0.2	0.716	0.5	1,721 [54]
3	" Open wide, O Earth! "	May 20, 2019	0.3	1,063 [55]	0.2	0.727	0.5	1,791 [56]
4	"The happiness of all mankind "	May 27, 2019	0.3	1,193 [57]	0.3	0.809	0.6	2,003 [58]
five	" Eternal memory "	June 3, 2019	0.3	1,089 [59]	0.3	0.974	0.6	2,064 [60]

Soundtrack

Chernobyl
Soundtrack Hildur Goodnadouttir
Date of issue	May 31, 2019
Genres	soundtrack
Duration	39:53
Producer	Chris Watson
Country	USA

On May 31, 2019, HBO released a music album on Apple Music of 13 tracks ^{[61] [62] [63]} , which was mainly written by Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadouttir and produced by Chris Watson ^{[30] [62] [64]} . Before creating the soundtrack, they arrived in advance together on the set at the Ignalina NPP in protective suits and listened to the sounds of the station. At the same time, no musical instruments were used - Guadnadautoutr and Watson only recorded what they heard on the premises, and made a creepy and ominous soundtrack from these details.

According to Gvudnadautouttir, they tried to convey the sounds of the disaster, how it is felt and what it was like in the situation when the explosion occurred ^{[30] [64]} . Gvudnadautouttir also stated that the soundtrack contains not only the sound of a dosimeter - she spent hours listening to the sounds of the door to the pumping station and composing a melody from these sounds ^[30] . However, not only Gwudnadouttir and Watson made tracks in this album.

The song “Vichnaya Pamyat” ( Ukrainian language : “ Eternal memory ” , that is, “ Eternal memory ”) was performed by the Lviv municipal choir “Gomin” - Andrei Yaskov, artistic director of the Lviv Philharmonic ensemble, contacted by the creators when the mini-series was at the production stage. According to Ruslan Lyashenko, the artistic director of the choir, they only had an hour to sing a song in the church of St. Lazarus ^{[65] [66]} .

Chernobyl
No.	Name	Duration
1.	"The Door"	2:43
2.	"Bridge Of Death"	4:44
3.	Turbine Hall	2:36
4.	"Vichnaya Pamyat"	4:07
five.	"Living Mice"	2:57
6.	"Pump Room"	3:43
7.	"Dealing With Destruction"	1:54
8.	"Waiting For The Engineer"	1:31
nine.	"Gallery"	2:23
ten.	"12 Hours Before"	2:31
eleven.	Corridors	3:13
12.	“Líður (Chernobyl Version)”	2:48
13.	"Evacuation"	4:43

Historical accuracy

Craig Meisin emphasized that it was important for him to reproduce historical events as accurately as possible - this is especially appropriate in the series, where one of the central themes is the importance of truth; Meisin considered himself obligated "to those who are no longer, and those who are still with us, to do everything as correctly as possible" ^[67] .

However, the series contains simplifications and departures from historical reality, often made for artistic purposes. So, Ulyana Khomyuk, one of the main characters in the series, is a fictional character - this is a collective image of dozens of Soviet scientists who worked in Chernobyl after the accident and warned about the danger from such reactors. The epilogue of the series, accompanied by shots of documentary chronicles, emphasizes that “the character of Ulyana Khomyuk was created to embody them all and to honor their dedication and service to the truth and humanity” ^[68] .

In the same way, Boris Shcherbina was shown to be the only and permanent leader of the government commission, although the composition of the commission changed periodically and the leadership passed from one member of the government to another - the commissions of Ivan Silaev , Lev Voronin and other deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers replaced the committee of Shcherbina ^[69] .

Neither Valery Legasov nor Boris Shcherbina actually attended the trial shown in the final series; Meisin, in a podcast dedicated to the series, explained that he had taken artistic liberty - if characters unfamiliar to the audience spoke at the trial, the viewer would not have to worry about them; moreover, the real trial lasted several weeks and, according to Meisin, was rather boring ^[70] .

In the series, Valery Legasov lives in a typical Soviet apartment with a modest decor. In fact, he lived in a luxurious cottage for those times in the village of the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, which corresponded to his status as an academician and deputy director of the country's leading nuclear institute ^{[71] [72]} . Legasov did not hide audio recordings in the gateway of his house. The cartridges that Legasov allegedly took out in the bin, trying to protect them from the KGB, were actually in the apartment and were addressed to the scientist’s friend, writer Vladimir Gubarev , who worked in Chernobyl in 1986 as a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda"(On the cassettes there was an inscription:" Volodya Gubarev "). Legasov’s transcript fragments were published in Pravda two days after his suicide ^[73] .

The scene with the "bridge of death", when residents of Pripyat go out on a railway bridge in large numbers to see the glow above the reactor, is more likely to be in the realm of myths ^[74]  - the disaster occurred late at night when the city was asleep. Most residents learned about the fire in the morning or during the day, and many did not attach any importance to this. ^[75] . Senior engineer at the fourth power unit, Aleksey Breus, claimed to be in a hospital with two townspeople who actually received radiation doses after reaching the bridge, but on the night of April 26 there was not a large crowd of people on the bridge ^[76] . The crash shown in the series over the reactor of a helicopter that caught a blade on a crane cable really happened, but not in April, but in October 1986 ^[74].

Coal Minister Mikhail Shchadov is featured in the series as a young, uncertain, but elaborately dressed official guarded by soldiers with Kalashnikovs. In fact, Minister Shchadov was 58 years old at the time of the accident, and he worked in mines from the age of 15 ^[77] . The miners who dug the pit were volunteers, and the task and location were not hidden, while in the film the miners ordered the miners to go to Pripyat under the guns of guards. High-ranking officials did not even have protection ^[78] . In addition, the miners did not work round the clock, as stated in the series, but in shifts of 3 hours a day ^[79] . Also, the miners did not work naked, as demonstrated in one of the scenes ^[75]. According to the participant in the events, Tula miner Vladimir Naumov, they wore white clothes, like the workers of the station, but did not wear respirators, because it was impossible to work in them ^[80] .

One of the episodes of the series - the story of three “diver” engineers Ananenko, Baranov and Bespalov, who went down to the flooded cellars to save the station from a thermal explosion - is very dramatic: in fact, the engineers were not volunteers, but did their work on the orders of the commission - just an order came precisely to replace them ^[77] . The myth of the feat of volunteers was created by the publication of the Soviet newspaper Trud in 1986 ^[81] . The equipment of the "divers" also looks more cumbersome in the series than it was in reality - they did not wear diving masks, but respiratory masks of “Petal” , and could talk to each other ^[81]. The mission of the “divers” is shown in the series as almost suicidal - scientists ask Gorbachev for permission to “kill three people” and say that they will not live after this week — however, the “divers” survived: for 2019, Ananenko and Bespalov were still alive, and Baranov worked for another 19 years at the station and died in 2005 ^[77] .

Colonel-General Vladimir Pikalov , commander of the chemical forces of the USSR Armed Forces , did not measure radiation levels on April 26 alone. At the time of the disaster, he was at a military training camp in the Carpathian military district. After the call of Marshal Akhromeev, Pikalov immediately arrived at the scene of the disaster, but the reconnaissance was carried out by a whole calculation of armored chemical reconnaissance vehicles of the 122 mobile emergency response squad, while Pikalov did personally personally examine and evaluate the current radiation situation ^{[82] [83] [84]} .

Criticism

Abroad

[hide ]Aggregate Sites
Edition	Rating
Metacritic [85]	83/100 (26 reviews)
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer) [86]	96% (80 reviews)
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score) [86]	8.85 / 10 (80 reviews)

[hide ]Reviews
Edition	Rating
Slant Magazine [87]
IndieWIRE [88]
Los Angeles Times [89]
Variety [90]
The New York Times [91]
The Hollywood Reporter [92]
Time [93]
The Washington Post [94]
Boston Globe [95]
Rolling Stone [96]
Entertainment Weekly [97]

Chernobyl was universally recognized among foreign critics ^{[85] [86]} . Steven Scaife of Slant Magazine praised mini-series, and called him "a bright historical drama" ^[87] . According to Skeif, “Chernobyl” manages to arouse sympathy from the viewer for the affected characters and hatred for those involved in the accident. Scafe also said that the viewer will see shocking shots, given the topic raised in the mini-series, whether it be irradiated firefighters or a fatal explosion ^{[21] [87]} .

Bains Travers, reviewer of IndieWire , approved "Chernobyl" and wrote that the gloomy mini-series is not for everyone. According to Travers, Craig Meisin and Johan Renk made "Chernobyl", which impresses the viewer and draws him into a story riddled with horror ^{[21] [88] [98]} .

Reviewer Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times also praised the mini-series and wrote that based on the worst nuclear disaster in history, they shot a powerful and frightening drama. Ali stated that Chernobyl is not a horror show, but an alarming, tragic and outstanding drama about corruption among incompetent officials and the strong desire of people to save their country, as it was before during the coups, wars, the fall of regimes, invasions, hunger and so on. further ^{[21] [89]} .

Reviewer Carolina Framke from Variety endorsed Chernobyl and wrote that Meisin decided on an unusual step, dividing the story of the accident into several parts. According to Framke, all the episodes are not only built around the main characters, but also serve different purposes: episodes 1 and 2 are devoted to the exploded reactor, episodes 3 and 4 talk about eliminating the consequences of the disaster, and 5 is the ending in which key characters testify in court ^{[21] [90]} .

Mike Hale of The New York Times criticized Chernobyl and wrote that the Hollywood approach was used to create the mini-series. For example, according to him, Valery Legasov makes a speech in the spirit of “ To Kill a Mockingbird ”, volunteer divers speak with the pathos of the Spartans, and Boris Shcherbina does not know how a nuclear reactor works ^{[77] [91]} .

Tim Goodman, a reviewer at The Hollywood Reporter , also criticized Chernobyl and considered the mini-series based on a well-known dramatic story, so the viewer will know in advance how things are going ^{[92] [99]} . Nevertheless, Goodman noted that the interest in Chernobyl was caused by visual effects and the message that people should not avoid another such incident, but that they should be wary of a rogue country that could repeat these terrible events. but on a larger scale ^{[92] [99] [100]} .

Time reviewer Judy Berman praised the mini-series and wrote that the “Chernobyl” shows the struggle of scientists not for life but for death with officials for whom warning is an uncomfortable truth. According to Berman, the mini-series shows what happens when society stops listening to science, and in the current environmental crisis, which continues to worsen, this is an important message ^{[21] [93]} .

Hank Stewover of The Washington Post praised the cast of actors. According to him, despite the English language, in the mini-series, one can still feel Soviet despair. Styuver also said that something was fictitious and simplified in Chernobyl, but the mini-series perfectly shows how easily it is possible to use lies at the legal level in a country where the media and the scientific community are severely restricted ^{[94] [98] [101]} .

In Russia

Alikhan Israpilov from Film.ru praised the mini-series and praised the direction, thanks to which all the scenes look intense and exciting. According to him, the main success of Chernobyl is that he devotes time to all participants in the events - from miners to Gorbachev. Israpilov said that he recreated the atmosphere of those times to the smallest detail and perfectly conveyed the negligence of the Soviet government. Nevertheless, according to him, English speech, accent and Khomyuk spoil the impression. Israpilov said that even though Watson played an excellent role, this character spoils the authenticity of the mini-series. According to him, Khomyuk is everywhere - a typical savior, who appeared out of nowhere, points out the mistakes of Valery Legasov and investigates the causes of the accident ^[102] .

Alexander Tokarev, a reviewer of the newspaper Zavtra , approved Chernobyl and wrote that the creators made the mini-series spectacular, tense and deeply tragic, despite the abundance of blunders, stamps and stereotypes. According to him, the atmosphere of "Chernobyl" so terrifies the viewer, as if he is receiving a dose of radiation and is waiting for the next accident. Tokarev also said that there are scenes in the mini-series because of which he risks turning into a “cranberry” - for example, a scene where Shcherbina tells Legasov that he will be thrown out of a helicopter if he does not explain the operation of the nuclear reactor, or a scene with miners who are represented as a gang of anarchists ^[103] .

Reviewer Yevgenia Safonova from Igromania also criticized Chernobyl for stereotypes, but praised him for the authentic Soviet atmosphere and scenery. According to her, the art and technical parts in the mini-series are impeccable. Safonova also praised the acting and soundtrack ^[104] .

Nikita Lavretsky from The Village wrote that it is impossible to combine genre cinema and maximum authenticity, so there are dramatic assumptions in Chernobyl: for example, the fictional Khomyuk, the Tula miners poking fun at the Minister of Coal Industry, and a reproduction of a painting by Ilya Repin in the Kremlin. Nevertheless, according to Lavretsky, this does not make the mini-series worse - it has genuine and good drama. As Lavretsky stated, many viewers argue about the presence of cranberries in Chernobyl, which is not the most important thing in the mini-series. He called it the disaster of the information era - now everyone has access to open data to determine the authenticity of the movie, and some do not even hesitate to apply this analysis to fiction and mythological works^[105] .

Stanislav Zelvensky , Afisha reviewer , praised Chernobyl and expressed regret that such an excellent mini-series was not shot in Russia. Seen in "Chernobyl", according to him, is not only a chronicle of those events, but also a political statement on relevant topics. The mini-series, as Zelvensky stated, is an example of how the habit of manipulating information and using power leads to terrible consequences. He also praised the recreated Soviet period and the play of actors who, with their appearance and manner of behavior, give authenticity to Chernobyl ^[106] .

Reviewer Yegor Moskvitin from Medusa wrote that Soviet life was accurately conveyed in the mini-series, but it is not completely reliable. According to him, many of the assumptions were made by the creators for the sake of drama, and not because of negligence: for example, there was no such black smoke above the station, and people did not die from radiation on the first day. Moskvitin wrote that “Chernobyl” is trying to be a disaster film - and he does it ^[107] .

Accident participant, scientific supervisor of the Shelter project , one of the authors of the report at the IAEA, Vladimir Asmolov, in an article in Forbes magazine ^[108] , in the live nail program of Echo of Moscow radio ^[109] and in the program “ Intelligence Interrogation ” on YouTube -channel Dmitry Puchkov phased told what happened at Chernobyl and the cause of the accident on the night of April 26, 1986 ^[110] . Asmolov accused the series and its creators of lying and manipulating historical facts for the sake of their goals - “to discredit the USSR as a state as much as possible, to discredit the atomic energy program of the USSR and its heiress Rosatom .”

Reaction

The reaction of the Western media was mostly positive. At the same time, they drew parallels with the current environmental and political situation in the world, seeing in the Chernobyl series the script’s hidden manifesto that humanity in the face of change will invariably face catastrophic consequences and the inability of today's world powers to cope with the problem. In addition, Western critics saw parallels between the Soviet regime and the current American leadership of the presidency of Donald Trump ^{[111] [112] [113]} , with regard to “obscuring the truth” and controlling the scientific leadership ^[114] .

At the same time, the series and the reaction of the media to it provoked protests from certain ideological groups, both among leftists and conservatives. The former insisted that the series discredited the very idea of ​​socialism, which modern America needs more than ever ^[115] , while conservatives were dissatisfied with the liberal public’s comparison of the Soviet leadership with Donald Trump, insisting that the Soviet regime was a demonstration of the collapse of socialism and therefore it is inappropriate to compare Trump with him, representing the opposite wing of the conservative capitalists ^{[116] [117]} .

Russian media

The Russian media reacted differently to Chernobyl. Nikolai Dolgopolov , a journalist for Rossiyskaya Gazeta , said that in the series people were allegedly shown as a drunken herd, which can be regarded as Russophobic propaganda, but approved the authentic atmosphere and play of the actors ^[118] .

Alexander Kots from Komsomolskaya Pravda considered that the heroism of the liquidators was not highlighted in the mini-series, but the disregard of Soviet officials who save themselves at the cost of the lives of citizens ^[119] . Dmitry Steshin , a special correspondent for the political department of the same newspaper, said the series was filmed as propaganda against " Rosatom , as the “bad Russians” are considered to be the culprits of the ecological catastrophe in Europe, and the target audience of the series is opponents of nuclear energy ^[120] . At the same time, the head of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev said that there was no negative influence on Rosatom in the series ^[121] .

In the evening issue of the program ^[[122] Vesti program on Rossiya-24 TV channel , host Stanislav Natanzon and a participant in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident, scientific director of the Shelter facility project , one of the authors of the IAEA report, Vladimir Asmolov accused Chernobyl of intentionally misrepresenting the facts. So, Asmolov’s article “My duty to tell about it ...” was supposed to be published in 1987, it was supposedly sent to the newspaper “Pravda” by a journalist well known to Legasov Vladimir Gubarev,however, it was published only on May 22, 1988, after the suicide of Legasov, with the subtitle “From notes of academician V. Legasov”. Later, Natanzon admitted the error and stated that he had not verified the information and will then take this error into account when discussing the Chernobyl issue ^{[123] [124]} .

Prior to the broadcast of Vesti, Asmolov wrote an article in “ Forbes about errors in Chernobyl. The work of the creators on the reconstruction of the Soviet era, he recognized as worthy of compliments, in addition, they belong to a different generation and culture. At the same time, Asmolov called it unfair the fact that viewers learn about the disaster only from the mini-series, which needs a lot of amendments and reservations ^[125] .

Egor Kholmogorov from " Tsargrad wrote that Chernobyl is a retelling of near Chernobyl tales, which are seasoned with racist judgments about the people and the state: the creators of the mini-series identified only Shcherbin, Legasov and Khomyuk from the liquidators, and showed officials to be incompetent in their work; but Kholmogorov approved Chernobyl for the surroundings of those times ^[126] .

At the Red Square Book Festival, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky , speaking with a lecture on Myths and the Reality of Historical Cinema, praised Chernobyl, which, in his words, was made vividly, interestingly, with love and sympathy for the audience ^{[127] [ 128] [129]} . Medinsky said that in the mini-series there are factual errors, as in any movie ^[127] .

TV channel "NTV reported that Chernobyl has not only artistic, but also ideological fabrications: from treating firefighters in a concrete bunker to forcing employees to work in the infected area under gunpoints. However, he noted that the mini-series accurately conveys Soviet life, details and atmosphere ^[130] .

After that, they announced the eponymous 12-episode film “Chernobyl” by Alexei Muradov , which he planned to shoot 5 years ago ^{[131] [132] [133]} : Muradov, who watched one episode, praised the authors for their audiovisual work, but noted the presence of cliches that used during the cold war in relation to the USSR ^[134] . Similar statements about the readiness to make a film about the accident were made by Danila Kozlovsky ^{[135] [136] [137]} , who praised the authors of the mini-series for his great work and said that he was not afraid of comparisons of his future film with Chernobyl ^[136] .

Nuria Ziganshina from RT wrote that the mini-series deserves approval, despite the “cranberries” ^[138] . Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview with reporters that he had not yet watched the series, but said that the episode refusing to assign Legasov the title because his version of the accident contradicted the official one was a lie ^{[139] [140] [141]} .

Film writer and translator Dmitry Puchkov also criticized the film for its undisguised propaganda ^{[142] [143] [144]} .

The party “ Communists of Russia ” expressed its indignation in the person of the executive secretary of the Central Committee of the party, Sergei Malinkovich, who accused the authors of demonizing the Soviet period of history and, despite the plausibility of the events shown, distorting the actions of the heroes and the whole society. Malinkovich demanded to restrict access to the series in the country, as well as take administrative measures against the authors of the series ^{[145] [146] [147]} . In response to this, Roskomnadzor reported that it had “accepted for consideration” the statement of Malinkovich ^[148] .

On the other hand, Mikhail Shvydkoy , special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for international cultural cooperation, said that the creators of Chernobyl had noble motivations, and their mini-series was shot professionally and touchingly, without any anti-Soviet connotation ^{[149] [150]} .

The journalist and political scientist Anatoly Wasserman wrote on the REN TV website that the authors of the series represented the USSR as “disgusting evil” ^[151] .

Vladimir Pozner said that viewers from the post-Soviet countries are taking Chernobyl to heart because they have something to compare with what they saw on the screen ^{[152] [153] [154]} .

TV presenter and actor Ivan Urgant praised the mini-series and stated that he respected the work of the creators, since they first showed the country as he knows it, and also expressed regret that the series was not shot in Russia ^{[155] [156] [157]} .

Vladimir Tolstoy , cultural adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, watched 2 episodes and said that the mini-series was filmed respectfully towards the liquidators ^{[158] [159] [160]} . The historian and Orthodox priest Georgy Orekhanov called the film interesting: “I started to watch and could not come off. A lot of cranberries, there are Hollywood stamps, yes ... But we didn’t even do anything nearby! And the Americans actually indirectly showed the feat of the Soviet people " ^[161] .

Russian military historian - medievalist , historic reconstructor , writer - science fiction , publicist and videobloger Klim Zhukov on his YouTube -channel negatively said about the show because of the "anti-Soviet propaganda and Russophobian" ^[162] , together with Dmitry Puchkov they took each series ^{[ 163]} , evaluating the historical certainty between the series and the documented facts.

Witnesses to the Disaster

Assessment of the series among the witnesses of the accident and the liquidators was the most diverse. Major General Nikolai Tarakanov , who led the operation to remove highly radioactive elements from the especially dangerous areas of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, praised the series, calling it “brilliant work” ^[164] ; Tarakanov also praised the game of the British actor Ralph Aineson , who embodied his own image on the screen: “I even fell in love with him. Directly one to one general, there’s nothing to complain about ” ^{[164] [165]} .

Vyacheslav Grishin, president of the Chernobyl Union of Russia, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda , spoke about the series in mixed colors. He called it “professionally shot drama” and spoke positively about the reflection of Soviet life in Chernobyl, although he considered some interiors too poor and meager. At the same time, he noted an obvious ideological background in the series: in his opinion, the series shows the USSR a totalitarian country in which people are not spared. Grishin also said that he lacked the “victory” in the series, regretting that it was not the main thing for the creators of the series ^[166] .

Alexander Filipenko, the chairman of the same union in the Southern Federal District and also one of the liquidators, called the series “American propaganda”, but at the same time noted that “everyday relations” between people are correctly shown in “Chernobyl” and that the series tells about the liquidators as the heroes who saved the whole world deserve to be seen and “should be shown to the whole world” ^[167] .

Lev Bocharov, the chief engineer of US-605, who supervised the construction of the Shelter object in the fall of 1986, in an interview with Sputnik talked about the series “there is little truth,” but he considered the horror component of the series justified and useful: “what they wanted to show that fear, horror - it really had to be done ... the film will give a push, an idea of ​​what the accident was ” ^[168] .

The newspaper Argumenty i Fakty published an interview with the liquidators Valentin Danilov and Gennady Zatsepin - they called scenes devoted to the work of the liquidators extremely plausible, and also considered that the political atmosphere of secrecy and inaction of higher authorities was accurately conveyed in the series. They were flattered that in the series the liquidators were called heroes who gave their lives to save the world from a nuclear threat. At the same time, they pointed out some unlikely, from their point of view, moments and historical inaccuracies ^[169] .

Elena Kozlova, one of the liquidators and author of books on the Chernobyl disaster, emphasized that, despite her artistic assumptions, no one made a movie about Chernobyl so that it managed to revive mass interest in the events of the disaster among young people ^[170] .

Awards and nominations

Year	Reward	Category	Nominee (s)	Result	Note
2019	Television Critics Association Award	Program of the year	Chernobyl	Nomination	[171]
		For outstanding achievements in film, TV series and special show		Victory
	Prime Time Emmy Award	Best mini-series	Chernobyl	Victory	[172] [173] [174]
		Best Actor in a Mini Series or Movie	Jared harris	Nomination
		Best Supporting Actor in a Mini Series or Movie	Stellan Skarsgård	Nomination
		Best Supporting Actress in a Mini Series or Movie	Emily Watson	Nomination
		Best Director of a Mini Series, Movie, or Drama Program	Johan Renk	Victory
		Best Screenplay for a Miniseries, Movie, or Drama Program	Craig Meyzin	Victory
	Prime-time creative award “Emmy”	The best casting in a mini-series, television movie or a special program	Nina Gold and Robert Stern	Nomination
		The best camera work in a mini-series or television movie	Jacob Ira (for "Please keep calm")	Victory
		Most historical costumes	Odile Dix-Miro, Holly Macklin, Daiva Petrulite, Anna Monroe and Sylvie Org (for “Please Keep Calm”)	Nomination
		The best hairstyle in a mini-series or television movie	Julio Parodi and Jovana Jovanavic	Nomination
		The best makeup for a mini-series or television movie	Daniel Parker and Natasha Nikolic-Danlop	Nomination
		The best prosthetic makeup for a mini-series, TV series, television movie or a special program	Barry Gower, Paul Spateri and Daniel Parker	Nomination
		The best musical composition for a mini-series, television movie or a special program	Hildur Goodnadouttir (for Please Keep Calm)	Victory
		Best Editing mini-series or TV movie, filmed with one camera	Jinx Godfrey (for "Open wide, O Earth!")	Nomination
			Simon Smith (for Please Keep Calm)	Victory
		Best Art Direction-chamber or contemporary fantasy series	Luke Hull, Karen Wakefield and Claire Levinson-Gendler	Victory
		The best sound editing for a mini-series, television movie or a special program	Stefan Henricks, Joe Beale, Michael Marussas, Harry Barnes, Eddie Wade, Anna Wright (for "1:23:45")	Victory
		The best mixing of sound in a mini-series or television movie	Stuart Hillicker and Vincent Piponnier (for "1:23:45")	Victory
		Best Visual Effects	Max Dennison, Lindsay MacFarlane, Claudius Christian Rauch, Claire Chatham, Laura Betencourt Montes, Stephen Godfrey, Luke Letky, Christian Waite, William Fowlser (for "1:23:45")	Victory
	The award "Gold Derby"	Best mini-series	Chernobyl	Victory	[175]
		The best ensemble of the year	Chernobyl	Nomination
		Best Actor from a TV Movie or Mini-Series	Stellan Skarsgård	Nomination
		Best actress from a television movie or mini-series	Emily Watson	Nomination
		Best Actor from a TV Movie or Mini-Series	Jared harris	Nomination
	Golden Trailer Award	Best horror / thriller	Chernobyl	Victory	[176]
	Award of the Guild of Managers of Filming Places	The best filming location in the historical series	Jonas Spokas	Victory	[177] [178]
2020	Golden globe	The best mini-series or television movie	Chernobyl	Victory	[179]
		Best Actor in a Mini Series or TV Movie	Jared harris	Nomination
		Best supporting actor in a television series, mini-series or television movie	Stellan Skarsgård	Victory
		Best supporting actress in a television series, mini-series or television movie	Emily Watson	Nomination
	U.S. Producers Guild Award	Prize to them. David L. Volper for producing the mini-series	Chernobyl	Victory	[180]
	US Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Actor in a TV Movie or Mini-Series	Jared harris	Nomination
		Best actress in a television movie or mini-series	Emily Watson	Nomination
	Directors Guild of America Award	Best TV / Movie Director	Johan Renk	Victory
	British Academy Television Award	Best mini-series	Chernobyl	Tba
		Best Actor in a Drama Series	Jared harris	Tba
		Best Supporting Actor	Stellan Skarsgård	Tba

Cultural Influence

The series, in the wake of great success and the recognition of critics, has also become an object of increased attention from viewers and Internet users from the post-Soviet space and Western countries. In particular, Internet memes began to appear on the Internet , such as jokes about the limiting radiation dose of 3.6 X-rays ^[181] . Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich said that after the series, the theme of Chernobyl and a man-made disaster became especially popular among young people ^[182] . After the series was released, in Moscow many of the youth organized a gathering to the grave of Academician Legasov; prior to the series, visits to the grave were single and consisted mainly of former acquaintances and relatives of the scientist ^[183] .

After the series, the number of tourists visiting the ghost town of Pripyat increased fivefold due to foreign tourists from Western countries, while the growth in tourist flow of residents of the CIS countries increased slightly ^[184] . Previously, tourists consisted mainly of fans of stalker games and topics of a man-made disaster, but "after the series" it was many foreign bloggers ^[185] . In July 2019, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on returning the status of an “open zone” of the territory around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to attract scientists and historians, as well as organizing a special green corridor for tourists ^[186] .

Mass disputes on the Internet caused the publication of naughty and erotic pictures of half-naked bloggers. Internet users, including the screenwriter of the series Craig Meisin himself, took this as disrespect for the tragedy and an attempt at unsuccessful self-promotion ^[187] . Some beauty bloggers have even become victims of mass online bullying ^[188] .

In the wake of discussions of the events of the Chernobyl disaster, the Ukrainian government decided to declassify the collection of archival documents of the KGB on the situation in the exclusion zone, the state of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the accident until 1991, the security measures taken and the minutes of meetings of city committees ^[189] .

A separate story happened with the British screenwriter Karla Mary ( English  Karla Marie ), who wrote on Twitter objection that there were no black actors in the series. The writer's tweet caused an Internet scandal; Russian media and Russian-speaking netizens reacted violently to her message, setting out to condemn the woman ^[190] . As a result, Karl Mary became a victim of mass online bullying and limited access to her page ^[191][192] . Soon, however, it became known that one of the liquidators who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident was really dark-skinned (Private Igor Khiryak, who served in the engineer troops building the pontoon crossing over the Pripyat River) . The Russian BBC service soon personally decided to interview Igor Khiryak ^[193] .

Notes

Literature

• Asmolov V. G. Boxes with vodka, biorobots and bare miners: 11 inconsistencies in the series “Chernobyl”  // Forbes . - 06/03/2019.
• Adam Higginbotham. Chernobyl Disaster History = Adam Higginbotham. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster. - M .: Alpina non-fiction, 2020 .-- ISBN 978-5-00139-269-9 .

Links

• - the official site of Chernobyl
• Episode scenarios
• The Chernobyl Podcast  - the official podcast of the mini-series