Absolutely great, far from being ordinary

Rodrigo_Amaro

On the hands of a amateur director and given a theatrical release by a major studio this would be a ordinary film filled with gory parts. But on the hands of HBO and directed by Chris Gerolmo they made miracles with this TV movie that doesn't have anything of ordinary or excessively gory.

In "Citizen X", we have the real story of the hunt for a serial killer who murdered children and teenagers in URSS in the 1980's and 1990's, the now famous Andrei Chikatilo (efficientely played by Jeffrey DeMunn). What makes this story more fascinating is the detective behind the case, an forensic specialist (Stephen Rea) dealing with an enormous bureaucracy coming from the Communist Party to make his way in trying to solve the murders (the Communists can't admit to the people that there's a killer out there and they haven't arrested this guy yet!). His only assistance comes from his superior, Colonel Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland), but even that guy seems to slow his progress in a hunt that took seven years to end and more than 50 victims to be found.

Everything is convincible, greatly played and the story is far more interesting because of the social and historical background behind the investigation than the investigation itself. It never deals with excess or highly disturbing scenes to present the crime scenes which is quite a relief sometimes, and if you like real stories but can't stand too much violence this is a film to not be dismissed. And the great performances of Rea, Sutherland (awarded with the Emmy and Golden Globe for this role), DeMunn, Joss Ackland (playing the bureaucratic Soviet commander) and special appearances from Imelda Staunton, John Wood, Max von Sydow make the view worthwhile.

Despite some minor clichés, "Citizen X" presents a rare developed concept in films (serial killer investigations   real historical/political background) that manages to be brilliant, perfectly made and outstanding. Unforgettable! 10/10

score 10/10

Rodrigo_Amaro 26 September 2011

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2494550/