Geoff Titchener

Some appalling and very unfair reviews here. This is not a documentary about the disaster, although it follows the events after the explosion well. It’s viewed from a very different perspective, and reminds us that many people continued to struggle with normal lives, both before during and for a considerably long time after the initial explosion. Yes it has a running love story (but like the Titanic movie you can almost ignore that if you wish) but it is, as suggested, mostly a story about people set against the background of the disaster, and actually a pretty good one. Factually the timeline mostly matches up with the mini-series (which I concur is excellent, and if you’ve seen the mini-series you have a greater understanding of what is happening), but it superbly shows off the fears of people, the poor quality outdated medical and protective equipment, the embedded bureaucratic power-plays that hindered action, the pressure and promises used to force people to go into deadly situations, and the lack of understanding (or lack of care) by those high up as to the danger to those exposed. There’s some superb cinematography, a good sense of tension and, for a Russian film, is surprisingly quite critical of the Soviet Union of the time. The acting is fine and there’s a concern that other reviewers here seem to be marking it down on the basis of a very different perspective, because it’s Russian made, and in some cases clearly haven’t even watched this (stating ‘facts’ that never happened)…