YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE DOES… YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW WHEN HE’S CAUGHT.
A policeman in Soviet Russia (Stephen Rea) spends ten years hunting a serial killer while the authorities do nothing to help him crack the case. This TV movie not only shows us what the hunt for Russia’s most notorious serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, was like but also how it was affected by a society about to collapse as Mikhail Gorbachev dismantled the Soviet Union. Incompetence and a lack of resources helped the killer year after year. It is a fascinating, believable and emotional story with few sensationalist touches. Rea delivers an effectively understated performance as the investigator in charge, aided by Jeffrey DeMunn as the tragic “Citizen X”.
1995-U.S. Made for TV. 100 min. Color. Produced by Timothy Marx. Written and directed by Chris Gerolmo. Book: Robert Cullen (“The Killing Department”). Cast: Stephen Rea (Viktor Burakov), Donald Sutherland (Mikhail Fetisov), Jeffrey DeMunn (Andrei Chikatilo), Joss Ackland, John Wood, Max von Sydow… Imelda Staunton.
Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor (Sutherland). Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actor (Sutherland).
ABOVE AVERAGE