Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.
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This is one of the best murder mysteries that I've ever seen. If you're drawn to the macabre in films, you must see this one. Its pacing feels very slow, reflecting the tragic nature of the true story. Still, inside that apparent slowness much action occurs. Never energetic action like chase scenes, but the actions taken to solve the case. The film seems to crawl, but you're not bored.The depiction of the 1980s Soviet system is interesting and there are a couple of scenes that deal with the emotional pain experienced by the main investigator (Rea) that are very moving.How this wonderful film has never gotten significant adulation is beyond me. I guess that is because it was a made-for-TV movie.
At the heart of this movie is the 'odd couple' of Stephen Rhea as a forensic coroner and Donald Sutherland as a Soviet military officer teaming up to catch one of the worst serial killers of all time. There's a scene in which we hear Rhea speaking into a tape recorder describing horrendous wounds to children's bodies that have been found. He has been examining body after body, it is very late at night. The camera goes up to his face and as his voice describes, objectively, the wounds we see tears falling from his eyes. WHAT a powerful moment and just one of many. Sutherland is wonderful with Stephen Rhea and as Max von Sydow in a small but powerful role comments, "The two of you together would make one great man!". The violence is at times harrowing but never 'crosses the line' into gratuitous violence. As I said, this is intrinsically a 'buddy' movie and as such it is one of the best ever. Last I heard you can see this movie for free on Youtube.
Such terrible detective work resulted in so many dead who should not have died if the search for the serial killer was even competent, let alone good. The killer could have been caught so much earlier than the 11 years it finally took due to awful detective work that did not even consider two key tactics not used early on....those of surveillance and decoys. Once the killer's MO was discovered and his identity was suspected early on, he should have been placed under close surveillance 24/7, with special attention given to RR stations after those locations were determined to be the ones most likely to expose the suspect in the act of enticing his next victim. Also, using a decoy would have supplemented the first tactic and may have been even more immediately successful. Absolutely the worst police work I have ever seen in a modern film story, and totally embarrassing to anyone who has ever been on the the job, but may have been somewhat realistic considering that it happened in Russia in the 80s.That said, the movie was a pretty slow slog with little progress through the years, albeit massively hindered by many total political incompetents with their communist militaristic mindset and rigidity. Only by the persistence of the impassioned doctor(Rea)leading the case and the understanding and supportive colonel(Sutherland)in charge of it all was this case finally solved after too many years, all the while using archaic medical tech and police work that allowed so many killings to occur that never should have happened. Without those two dedicated men to find the killer eventually, it surely would never have been solved. A slowly involving story, but maddening for all the incompetence and posturing instead of good police work.
Very well presented in a believable way is this story of a serial killer in Russia. It probably could be happening anywhere one might find high ranking officials who refuse to allow a low level investigator the freedom and resources he needs to quickly find the murderer.Donald Sutherland is brilliant as a Russian Colonel who sidesteps and outwits some of his superiors in order to give his team a chance to succeed. The direction is straight forward. No special effects. Some make up and a bit of gore but just enough to make it real.I wonder how many times in history these kinds of political characters have let murders take place rather than admit to their own incompetence. Also the blaming of a particular sexual orientation for something unrelated.Highly recommended. I watched it at Amazon Prime but it might be at NetFlix or elsewhere. There might be a DVD.
