Posted on 06/13/2019 3:19:26 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Belarus's Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich rolled her eyes when the creators of Chernobyl approached her for permission to use material from her book "Voices From Chernobyl" for the hit HBO miniseries.
"I told my agent, 'Galya, they're going to make another film...' I was far from convinced. The only thing that convinced me, maybe, was the fee..."
However..."It really impressed me. It is a very strong film. There is something there in the aesthetics that touches the modern consciousness. There is a dose of fear. There is reasoning. There is beauty. That is something that has always worried me about evil, when it's not out in the open, when so much is confusing."
And she said that her fellow Belarusians, hard hit by the nuclear fallout scattered into the air when Reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, have now had their eyes pried open to the real scale of the tragedy...
"It's no accident that a lot of young people have watched this film. They say that they watch it together in clubs and discuss it. They are different. For them, questions about the environment, especially in the West, it is through that lens that they understand life."
Alexievich also praised the selection of Johan Renck as director.
"The director is a Swede by nationality. And in the Swedish consciousness there is a deep awareness of the environment," she said.
Craig Mazin, the writer and producer of Chernobyl, who tweeted on June 13: "I drew historical fact and scientific information from many sources, but Ms. Alexievich's Voices From Chernobyl was where I always turned to find beauty and sorrow."
In the film, there is a need for a leading figure, a woman -- maybe because they took from my view of life...
(Excerpt) Read more at rferl.org ...
I have to say, it was the best piece of television I have ever watched
I have watched it 4 times already, all 5 segments. Amazing. And I pick up something that I didn’t pick up before. A lot is in there
This disaster has always been a curiosity to me, and I have read before watching the mini series so I can pick out the “made for TeeVee drama” I have to say they got a lot of it correct.
Loved it to and it definitely is in my all time top 10...
It greatly exaggerated the potential enviro damage.
The reactor damage descriptions and sequence in the last episode were much better than i expected.
Some people have said it was exaggerated and others said it was pretty spot on. Sure the redness from exposure (instantly) probably was more dramatic then it was, but it was made for TV and had to speed it up for the timeline.
The reactor damage and sequence was pretty much spot on by the reports of events at the time.
I have to say, most of these “base on real events” tv series, usually are awful and 98% of it was made up to make it interesting for TV, I would have to say it was about 90% true, with some exceptions including Ulan’s (The lady Scientist) character was made up, and of course some the dialogue was made up or made more interesting.
Worst exaggeration was in describing the potential excess damage of the potential gas cloud of gasses and particles spreading across all of Europe and then back over Russia “killing everything for years” when even in the nearest 20 kilometers the local vegetation regrew rapidly and thoroughly.
Yes. Absolute horror right around the reactor, the roof, the cavity and underneath.
But all across Europe? “Detectable” and “alarming” is not “harmful”.
Very realistic on the Moscow reaction as they tried to respond the very, very wrong and uninformed tales they were told from the local administrators and managers.
Granted, the locals didn’t know either. But they screwed their country’s reaction by passing on conclusions and “hopes” and not “reality”. Like they never left the admin buildings and went and looked.
I do know, in high school, had a classmate who was a polish immigrant, he was like 6 when Chernobyl happened, he said all kids had to stay inside for 2 weeks, school was cancelled, etc because of the radiation.
Better safe then sorry I guess.
A family member of mine thought the scene where Jared Harris’ character demonstrates what happened with visual aids was brilliant.
“I have a high-school diploma, and after watching that, even I now understand how a nuclear reactor works.”
I thought it was well done, but I don’t think its the best thing I have ever seen... as some people do.
However, if it teaches younger kids who weren’t around during the days of the Soviet Union, just how dangerous and oppressive communism (state uber alles) is... then I am fine by that.
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