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Storyline
Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed over 50 victims, mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a Communist 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.
Written by
Rob Hartill
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Taglines:
You don't want to know what he does... You just want to know when he's caught.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The characters of Fetisov and Burakov were both real people who investigated the actual Chikatilo killings, yet their ranks and positions were changed in the movie. Historically, Major Mikhail Fetisov was sent from Moscow in order to investigate the killings (in the film he is already in Rostov as a Colonel heading the militia) while Victor Burakov was a civilian forensic expert (in the film he is a Police Lieutenant) assigned by Fetisov to head the investigation. There was no Central Committee comprised of Communist Party and KGB men above the two (this was a plot device created for the film to show Soviet bureaucratic methods) and the main reason why the case took so long was that the investigators interviewed over 150,000 people trying to narrow down who the killer could be. The mistaken release of Chikatilo, and the botched blood-semen test, was accurate as it occurred in the investigation.
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Goofs
When Chikatilo is being berated in the factory, behind him is a red sign designating "Heros of Labor this month." This sign is misspelled. The first character on the bottom should be a Cyrillic "E" (which looks like a backwards 3) instead of a "Ye" (which looks like a Latin "E").
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Quotes
Burakov:
[
addressing Bukhanovsky, about Fetisov]
He'd say something witty but he's overcome with emotion right now.
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Alternate Versions
The 1995 UK video release was cut by 37 secs by the BBFC to reduce stabbings during the murder scenes.
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Connections
Features
The French Connection (1971)
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This is very hooking movie,but you can immediately tell that it is straight to DVD or made-for-TV. If you are not familiar with the story of Andrey Chikatillo,you better read a few articles about this event.For unfamiliar minds this movie might get choppy,because there is not enough explanation or motives and also to define dramatization from reality. In reality,citizen X actually was more brutal then depicted in the movie,dramatization again maybe,but you must know the truth. Also movie needs to be focused on Chikatillo a little bit more,because we don't really understand his motives.He has them,except then sexual,his origins are also pretty important. Also,if you live outside former USSR (i was born here),you shouldn't take the depiction of USSR as real.Because this more looks like Hungara,where it was shot.In real 80s,we already had culture,hippies,disco and other stuff.No grannies and mustached farmers like there. I am not very old,but i remember those times,and documentaries made about it.It was far more dirtier,then in the movie. But overall,it is VERY enjoyable movie.I recommend it as one of the few dramatic movies about USSSR without matreshkas,vodkas,balalaikas,snow and bears.In fact,i never seen any of those.