Russian people: We can’t make a movie like Chernobyl ourselves

The HBO series "Chernobyl" has become a hit. This five-episode series has become the highest-rated series in IMDb's history in just one month - more than 150,000 viewers gave it a high score of 9.7.

The producers of the series also said that they were more concerned with history than with the story, and they did a lot of preliminary work, including books written by former Soviet scientists, reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Association, eyewitness accounts, architectural blueprints, etc., all of which became their reference materials.

Douban author "八千夜" translated some Russian people's (including Chernobyl survivors) comments on this drama:

“On April 26, the anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, not a single Russian channel, not a single Russian newspaper mentioned the disaster. Not a single word of thanks to those who put out the Chernobyl fire. The Americans did what we had to do for a long time. Thank them. ”

"I haven't seen the TV series yet, but where I live in Kantemirovskaya (a military district in Moscow), there is a granite monument with a black plaque for the Chernobyl liquidators. It has always been standing alone on the side of the road, which is why I have read works about the accident. Today, for the first time since I lived here, the monument was filled with flowers. "

"No one said how dangerous it was at that time. That's why no one was afraid. After we arrived at Chernobyl, we heard the Voice of America in our tent and learned what was happening. We went outside and looked in the direction of the nuclear power plant and saw the bright lights... Later, I watched many documentaries about Chernobyl, but none of them captured what people felt when the accident happened. I was surprised that we didn't succeed, but the Americans did.

I never considered myself or my friends who worked with us at the accident site as heroes. We were responsible for military service, we performed special missions. This was our war. But after I watched this drama, I think that each of us contributed to a great cause. I even increased my self-esteem.

I don’t think this series could have been made in Russia. We wouldn’t have shown the authorities so frankly in action, it would have been a farcical police drama. I want this film to be seen by people all over the world. And most importantly – believe in it.”

(Thoughts from Soviet cleanup workers after watching the HBO TV series "Chernobyl")