"Chernobyl" killing the viewer

The Russian blockbuster “Chernobyl” is on the screens. Its director was Danila Kozlovsky. He also played the main role. More Danila, more! I admit that I have some prejudice towards Kozlovsky. He plays consistently boring and insignificant characters. However, for me there is only one Danila in cinema - Bagrov.

 Kozlovsky's Chernobyl is a collection of Russian cinema's Achilles heels. Do you want bloopers? Please: the heroes easily take off and put on chemical protective equipment. It’s as if they’re not going into a burning reactor, but into a store. Do you want weird music? Suspense is pumped up with a rattling violin. Well, what about the acting? Oksana Akinshina, who played the main female role, is beautiful, no doubt about it, but here is Mr. Kozlovsky himself. Hmm, in tragic moments he plays something like this. Or like this. There's still tension! And endless narcissism. There are charred people nearby, but Kozlovsky’s hero, at best, is stained with soot. And keep your hairstyle.

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There are, however, some nice things in the feed. Like an apocalyptic scene with birds falling from the sky. A reference to the Revelation of John the Theologian. But in the film “Magnolia”, since we are referred to biblical stories, the rain of frogs looked much more powerful. Great movie, by the way – I recommend it; I'm talking about Magnolia.

The best thing about Kozlovsky's Chernobyl is its borrowing. Including from the HBO series of the same name. But the Americans were able to convey the atmosphere of post-apocalypse and fear, in which, meanwhile, there is a place for true heroism of people. The stronger the effect of what was seen, and the better the Chernobyl series fulfilled its propaganda task. And he acted, of course, for her sake. Why did the aspiring director Kozlovsky and the prominent producer Rodnyansky make their films?

Until the reactor exploded, the film looked like a relatively high-quality melodrama. But then Kozlovsky decided to save Kyiv, the USSR, the planet... And it became a farce, in which everything was false and vulgar. Well, a hero in 1986 cannot use the expressions “exclusive test” and “panic attack.” He cannot go through the entire film with the same face, without changing either externally or internally. Where's the motivation, huh? Where are the transformations?

Ideologically, “Chernobyl” is concentrated in the moment when a big official tells the liquidators: they have promised cash bonuses, apartments in the capital and a special flight for the victims to Switzerland. “Isn’t it enough for you?” But there was no flight to Switzerland, and, for example, the real divers who opened the fatal valve did not die. However, Rodnyansky and Kozlovsky are silent about this. And they show the viewer the Cult of the Saving West. It's strange that Batman and Superman haven't been shown yet.

This approach excludes both from the cinema and from the lives of the heroes. Like, they weren’t there. Yes, I understand, there were enough of those who took risks for the sake of material benefits. But many went to great lengths, sacrificing themselves for the sake of a higher idea, for the sake of other people, in the end. Why didn't you show this? Take a look at the faces from the archival footage - they show composure and confidence, and not cowardice and doom, as in Kozlovsky’s film. And what kind of a hypocrite do you have to be to dedicate a film to the liquidators...

Here we come to the main thing. This is why I started talking about Chernobyl. How many feature films have we made about that tragedy? The only thing that comes to mind is “On Saturday” by Alexander Mindadze, but this movie is more of an art-house movie. How about making big films about Chernobyl? Zero. And this is about one of the greatest tragedies of the 700th century. Our tragedy. So who is filling the Chernobyl gaps today? The outstanding director Kozlovsky, who directed the outstanding film “Coach”? Who was the screenwriter of Chernobyl? Alexey Kazakov is the author of the outstanding comedy “SuperBeavers”. Are these titans creating a big movie about the Chernobyl tragedy for XNUMX million rubles? Oh well.

Such self-flagellation on the big screen, bizarre masochism. Or something like cultural genocide. There was a Chernobyl disaster. There is a catastrophe of Russian cinema. It is also very toxic and radioactive. It influences hearts and minds and ultimately fools people. No taste, no knowledge, no common sense. So what is all this for? Well, except for the money.