Ciudadano X

Citizen X is one of those films where you don't just wait to see who the killer finally was the enjoy the rolling end credits. This movie is a very taut and tense affair. It has minimal dialogue, less locations and that's what makes it almost theatrical. The story is about the serial killer manhunt in Communist Russia in the 1980s. Stephen Rea, his is a master subdued performance, is the main intelligence incharge, who is helped in his search by a Colonel, played by Donald Sutherland. The movie takes its time to unfold the sequences. there is no rush of fast editing, loud action sequences or shouting dialogue. It's an underplay all the away, and the performances, and setting encourages that. An unforgettable Docu-drama, i would recommend CITIZEN X to everyone who like drama movies.

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.

In Russian the bodies of children begin to get uncovered to reveal what appears to be a Russian serial killer. Due to the nature of the case it is given to a young forensics expert who will be blamed should the case fail. Over 8 years Burakov hunts the killer using methods that are seen as unusual at best and fighting with the internal politics that surround him. This is based on a true story.

HBO TV movies are often a mixed bunch – but I had heard good things about this. The story is immediately engaging as young faces are uncovered beneath shallow soil graves to horrible effect. The fact that it at heart, a true story makes it all the more compelling. The story mixes not only the hunt for this man but also the effect on the perserving Burakov. We see his desperation and the pressure he is under to catch the killer, in particular the political forces who do little to help him in his job. The focus on Burakov makes it more interesting as the human side is well done.

The facts of the case make the man hunt less interesting – however the political action is interesting. For example members of the communist party were not looked at and homosexuals in particular were targeted – often as a fall back method. It's one of the best repeated shots in the film where Burakov has to several time accompay a group of men to kick in doors and arrest homosexuals – he simply stays outside with a resigned look on his face.

Rea is excellent as Burakov and brings the man to life – I'm not sure how true to fact his portrayal is, but you get the impression of a man pushed to his limits by all around him. Sutherland is also very good for different reasons – he has the same passion but it is beneath a smooth political operator. Ackland is good but is really only there to make noise. Von Sydow is good despite his short screen time.

Overall this uses human interest to drive the film, rather than gore or violence. This is well made and manages to be interesting and involving despite not being flashy.

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

There are some excellent comments and observations on this film. I was pleased to note the comparisons to Fritz Lang's "M" (forget the 50's abortive remake with lightweight David Wayne). The real villain is not the tortured murderer (extraordinarily fine performance by Jeffery DeMunn), taking out his sexually frustrated anger on his victims-- mostly children. He is the objective. The real villain is the stifling bureaucratic Soviet system, drowning in its own corrupted incompetence. The frustration of an uncompromisingly dedicated man (Rea in his best role since "The Crying Game"), a facile pragmatist who's willing to use the system to his advantage (Sutherland always successful in this kind of role), a hesitant, frightened but determined psychiatrist (the incomparable Max Sydow), the bumbling, boopous bureaucrat of a prosecutor (brilliant Brit actor John Wood) and the quiet, supporting wife of the driven investigator (delightful supporter, Imelda Staunton). This is one damn fine film. Its darkness and bleakness are supported by the portrayal of a corrupt, incompetent system which works against success. The is no need to dip into gore-laden slice 'n dice sensationalism that has characterized so many recent films. Gore is present-- it's a ghastly story-- but it adds to the depicting of a pathologically twisted human being. The success of the story is precisely that: these were acts perpetrated by a person, a human like you or I. Where you and I choose to vent our frustration by reasonable means, Chikatilo took his anger out on the most innocent and vulnerable of us, our children. The superb premise of this story is made manifest by an equally superb cast of excellent actors. --sadly, I note that our Australian friend didn't like the speech and no doubt would have preferred to hear them speaking in Aussie dialect. Well, too bad. This fine film sure worked for me and everyone else I've talked with who has seen it.