If further proof was needed that studios that make movies with streaming as their main distribution method can also produce remarkable productions, then this is the mini-series ‘Chernobyl‘ produced in 2019 by HBO. Craig Mazin is the author of a script that combines excellent documentation with a gallery of very well-defined characters – most of them real -, a series of stories of heroism and cowardice, of terror and compassion, in the conditions of a real crisis of great proportions during the last years of the Soviet system and state. For those who lived the events as residents of the Soviet Union and the surrounding countries, the Chernobyl accident was one of those moments that marked their lives. The effects could have been planetary. In the optimal dimensions of five series of approximately one hour each, ‘Chernobyl‘ combines historical docu-drama with political criticism, the horror genre and apocalyptic films. However, the horror was than clear and real, and the entire planet was close to the Apocalypse. The HBO miniseries brings that drama to life in all its intensity.
The series follows three main characters. Valery Legasov (played by Jared Harris) was a Soviet chemist who became famous worldwide for coordinating efforts to limit the effects of the Chernobyl accident and then participated as a witness in the investigations, presenting the results to the world at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Boris Shcherbina (played by Stellan Skarsgård in one of the best roles of his career) was a Soviet politician of Ukrainian origin and his role was to coordinate the rescue activities, the evacuation of the population, but also to cover up the gravity of the situation on behalf of the leadership. A typical communist bureaucrat, he is depicted in the film as waking up late and understanding towards the end the human cost and especially the consequences of institutionalized lying. Unlike the characters of the two men, that of the nuclear scientist Ulana Khomyuk is a fictional one, whose role is to symbolize all those who fought (and many of them sacrificed themselves) to reveal the truth. Emily Watson does not disappoint here either in a formidable role.
‘Chernobyl‘ impresses with the authenticity of the production, the realistic story-telling, the impressive fictional stories around. In addition to the three main characters, a whole gallery of characters were brought back to life or imagined: a young firefighter sent to fight what seemed like a routine fire and his wife who accompanies him in the terrible days after exposure to radiation, the nuclear power plant workers who try in vain to oppose the orders of the arivist bureaucrats that lead to catastrophe, heroic soldiers and miners who risked their lives and health to limit the damage of the accident, the military sent to evacuate the civilian population and kill the animals left behind, which had become contamination hazards. The script is based on public information and documents kept secret by a system that was living out its last years and was trying to survive through internal terror and false propaganda. Although spoken in English, the series are authentic and realistic. The lesson that remains for history is that truth cannot be buried. The price of revealing it may be very high for those brave enough to confront the system, but the price of lying is even higher for society as a whole.