Weird Russian. A series about the meeting of Alexander Litvinenko arrived in Britain, he was met by David Tennant.
- Andrey Kozenko
- BBC
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The British broadcaster ITV bought the mini-series “Litvinenko”. Fleeing from Russia and being poisoned by a sexual officer of the FSB, he was met by David Tennant (“Bad Intentions”, “Doctor Who”). It turned out to be a very strong statement, which slowed down, why the death of Litvinenko became a shock in the UK, which still continues to be comprehended – even in culture.
There are only four episodes in Litvinenko, each of which lasts less than 15 minutes. In terms of plot, this is an extremely minimalist work. This, after all, is the main thing.
So here, only a few November 2006 are shown – from the moment the already poisoned Alexander Litvinenko returns to the moment of his death.
The main idea of this plot is the collision of two worlds. In one of them, London lives its own life, Itsu here is one of hundreds of eatery chains selling passable Japanese food, and this institution does not yet know that there is a “restaurant” to be studied for the whole world and the alleged scene of the incident, the 24th bus is going from downtown on Hampstead Heath, a police station guard habitually greets a detective on his way to work.
Two bored cops from this world Counter-terrorism department refused because it is not clear what the attack was about, football department – because everyone is still alive. They are met by a bald man who immediately demands that they reveal themselves for good. And to the question: whose, answers: mine.
Surprisingly, even the ad blocks between the series received an unplanned semantic load. Here, supermarkets advertise a standard assortment, corporation Meta – their VR glasses (apparently, extremist glasses are also registered in Russia). Alcohol is advertised here (it is forbidden in Russia) and flights by Dutch airlines (in Russia they are also under sanctions).
And then this person from another world begins to control the police department, which does not quite fit in their heads. That he worked in the homicide department. That the FSB was involved in the explosion of residential buildings in Moscow – and he wrote about this book. Anna Politkovskaya, and it happened on the birthday of the President of Russia. The cops were just looking at each other.
David Tennant responded to Russian better than many Russians could. To be fair, the radial, technical solution of how it happened was completely noticed – the Scot Tennant pronounces all the words very harshly and it happens that verbs also have past tenses.
Collision of two worlds
Litvinenko in his past is a hard-line oppositionist. For him, the most important thing – Remember what he knows. Even if it can not be found, but still want a group of six.
“Litvinenko” begins with the preamble that the film is based only on minor events, its producers were killed with significant criminals of those days, and we have not yet seen this story from this side.
At the climax of this clash of two worlds, the chamber series begins to look like a disaster film. This is when the police became infected, that Litvinenko was not infected in the way he himself thought, but with polyium – a radioactive isotope that is deadly for everyone who used the same cup, touched the same objects. And this happens not somewhere in Russia, but in the cramped place of one of the most located cities in the Western world.
“You noticed that you shouldn’t respect either life or freedom, any values of a civilized society. You noticed that you don’t deserve your place, it’s impossible to trust civilized people,” Litvinenko’s posthumous address to Vladimir Putin sounds at the end of the protocol.
Sad London police officers stand in the area of the hospital department – they did their job and even imbued with sympathy for this strange and national Russian language, which, as it turned out, instead of this, “Alexander” can also be called simply Sasha.
British critics of the series did not like it was minimalism. The Times, Guardian and others write that the story of Alexander Litvinenko is extremely dramatic, that a more inaccessible field is possible.
From their point of view, probably, yes, I would like to see a full-fledged political thriller before my eyes. But if you are from Russia and spend time between news about the war and doomscrolling social networks, it is the brevity of the statement made in Litvinenko that makes you raise your hands up after the credits with words like: how everything was clear back then, in 2006.
The death of Alexander Litvinenko in the Western world is also a cultural phenomenon. For example, back in 2019, a performance about him was held in one of the main London theaters, the Old Vic.
HBO captures its series about Litvinenko. Benedict Cumberbatch will play the lead role.