Citizen X (1995) (TV)

Director:

Chris Gerolmo

Writers (WGA):

Robert Cullen (book)
Chris Gerolmo (teleplay)

Release Date:

25 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

You don't want to know what he does... You just want to know when he's caught.

Plot:

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people...

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Bureaucracy | Detective | Investigation | Train

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Stephen Rea	...	Lt. Viktor Burakov
Donald Sutherland	...	Col. Mikhail Fetisov
Max von Sydow	...	Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Andrei Chikatilo
Joss Ackland	...	Bondarchuk
John Wood	...	Gorbunov
Radu Amzulescu	...	Federenko
Imelda Staunton	...	Mrs. Burakova
András Bálint	...	Ignatiev
Géza Balkay	...	Procurator
László Váradi Balogh	...	Peasant
Zsolt Biro	...	Older Gay Man
Ion Caramitru	...	Tatevsky
Balázs Csapo	...	Gayy Partner
Imre Csuja	...	Front Detective
Zoltán Dózsa	...	Execution Guard
Jozsa Elek	...	Burakov's Daughter
Marton Elek	...	Burakov's Son
Murray Ewan	...	Office Manager
Klára Falvay	...	Peasant
Erika Fenyes	...	Vague Looking Girl
Zoltan Galbacs	...	Train Track Boy
Balázs Galkó	...	Station Drunk
Zoltán Gera	...	Doctor
Jono Gero	...	Plainclothesman
Chris Gerolmo	...	Militiaman
Simon Gévai	...	Hanging Boy
Czeslaw Grocholski	...	Ivanov
István Hunyadkürthy	...	Drunk Father
Attila Király	...	Wall Eyed Boy
Károly Korognai	...	Desk Cop (as Karoly Korognai)
Kati Kóti	...	Peasant Mother
Ferenc Lengyel	...	Young Announcer
Katalin Lestyan	...	Peasant
György Miklósy	...	Constable
Ralph Nossek	...	Dunenkov
Anna Orosz	...	Announcer
Wojciech Piekarski	...	Strutty Man
Tamás Puskás	...	Young Attendant
Mari Rajna	...	Slow Woman
Tusse Silberg	...	Mrs. Chikatilo
Eva Toth Siman	...	Drunken Woman
Laszlo Stier	...	Man in Robe
Mihály Szabados	...	Kid Militiaman
Petra Szabo	...	Beautiful Blonde Girl
Miklós Székely B.	...	Older Partner
Tibor Szervét	...	Detective
Balázs Tardy	...	Eating Soldier #1
Sándor Téri	...	Gypsy
Dénes Ujlaky	...	Farmer
Katalin Várnagy	...	Wizened Peasant Woman
Zoltán Vekony	...	Eating Soldier #2

Directed by
Chris Gerolmo

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert Cullen		(book "The Killer Department")
Chris Gerolmo		(teleplay)

Produced by
Laura Bickford	....	executive producer
Matthew Chapman	....	executive producer
David R. Ginsburg	....	executive producer
Timothy Marx	....	producer
Robert Stone	....	co-producer
Webster Stone	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Randy Edelman

Cinematography by
Robert Fraisse

Film Editing by
William Goldenberg

Casting by
Joyce Nettles

Production Design by
József Romvári

Art Direction by
Lóránt Jávor

Costume Design by
Maria Hruby

Makeup Department
Karoly Balazs	....	makeup artist
Edit Basilides	....	makeup artist

Production Management
József Cirkó	....	production manager
Adrianna A.J. Cohen	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrea Albert	....	third assistant director
Éva Bognár	....	second assistant director
Michelangelo Csaba Bolla	....	first assistant director
Jono Gero	....	second second assistant director
Gyorgy Herczeg	....	third assistant director
Csilla Szigeti	....	key assistant director

Art Department
József Kiss	....	construction assistant
Lajos E. Szabó	....	stand-by painter

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Brendan Donnison	....	adr supervisor: London
William Dotson	....	supervising sound editor
William Freesh	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jason King	....	dialogue editor
Mike Moser	....	sound effects editor
George Nemzer	....	sound editor
Vince Nicastro	....	foley artist
Cathie Speakman	....	supervising sound editor
Pál Szûrös	....	boom operator
Ken Teaney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eric Thompson	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Furedi Csaba	....	special effects technician
Ferenc Deák	....	special effects technician
Katalin Jakots	....	special effects makeup
Gregory Nicotero	....	special effects makeup
László Pintér	....	pyrotechnician
Evan Campbell	....	sculptor: children's corpses (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Csaba Bankhardt	....	grip
Egon Endrényi	....	still photographer
Tamas Nyerges	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Éva Bognár	....	casting: Budapest
László Sipos	....	Hungarian Casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
János Papp	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Richard Byard	....	first assistant editor
Mark V. Phillips	....	assistant editor
Lisa Romaniw	....	assistant editor (as Lisa Mozden)

Music Department
Elton Ahi	....	score mixer
Elton Ahi	....	score recordist
Sandy DeCrescent	....	orchestra contractor
Ralph Ferraro	....	orchestrator
Laura Perlman	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Csaba Annus	....	driver

Other crew
Hans Berggren	....	production accountant
Andrew Jack	....	dialogue coach
Peter Seres	....	location manager
John V. Stuckmeyer	....	production executive
Béla Vaszary	....	medical coordinator
Brenda K. Wachel	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Asylum Films
• Citadel Entertainment
• Home Box Office (HBO)

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO) (1995) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Scanbox Entertainment (1996) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1995) (Greece) (VHS)
• Líder Films (Spain)
• Top Tape (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• VCL Communications (????) (Germany) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Elizabeth Bardsley & Associates  script annotation

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong, graphic violence and related language

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Spain:18 | USA:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 (video premiere) (cut) | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Asylum Films

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Burakov has the microscope facing the wrong way while looking through it in the lab when arguing to Fetisov when he declares that "Bondarchuk is a stupid man".

Quotes:

Burakov:You think that a man is what he says.
Fetisov:He is, if he talks for a living.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemania: Oi pio diavoitoi dolofonoi: Alithines istories!" (2009)

Too Good For A TV Release

I remember following the case of Andre Chicatillo in the newspapers while I was living in South Africa. They had photos of him sitting in his cage while being prosecuted in court. Not, as it turned out, to protect the court members, but to protect him from the public. This was fascinating, albeit morbid, reading. I later heard that a film had been made by HBO about the case, but it was made for American TV. Bummed! Strangely, CITIZEN X got a limited cinematic release in South Africa. I charged down to the local Ster Kinekor complex and duly bought a ticket (I was alone; my girlfriend at the time was only interested in the likes of STEEL MAGNOLIAS and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES). Wow! What a brilliant film. Why wasn't it released to a wider audience? Had it not been made for TV, it could have got an Oscar nomination or 2. There is no way to spoil the ending; who the killer is is never kept from the audience. Jeffrey DeMunn portrays a truly terrifying psycho. He is calm, downtrodden, considered a failure by his wife and subjected to constant ridicule and humiliation by his superiors at work. By committing these horrendous acts, he gets to feel strong, powerful.

Fighting to catch him against all odds is a pathologist, played to excellent turn by Stephen Rea, in one of his strongest performances. He must battle the snail-pace of Russian bureaucracy, the primitive resources he has at his disposal and (above all) the refusal by his superiors to acknowledge that the USSR even has a serial killer. The general in charge (Joss Ackland) says that serial killers are "a decadent, Western phenomenon". Only Donald Sutherland is willing to help, but his help must be under the counter. The ever-brilliant Max Von Sydow plays a Russian psychiatrist who breaks protocol and decides to help the investigators in their quest. It is the first time in Russian history that a shrink is used to build a profile of a serial killer still on the loose, and he has everything to lose if his involvement is made public.

CITIZEN X is brilliantly acted, well written and the music and editing only add to the tension and theme of the film. Excellent support from a horribly underused Imelda Staunton and a real sense of impending doom make CITIZEN X a film worth seeing. This was too good to be made for TV