Le pic-vert russe

I have seen this documentary twice, and I'd love to watch it again and again. It's a mesmerizing, full of details, thought provoking film. The director managed to incorporate important background historical information and did so in the most skillful way.

"The Russian woodpecker" is an example of a masterful documentary: it's a true investigation (with interviews, work in the archives, site visits, etc), incorporation of real-time events (revolution in Ukraine broke out during work on this film), and addition of artistic details that better convey the personality of the main character Fedor.

After participating in several Q&A sessions with the director and the crew I learned a lot of interesting information. I saw for myself how genuine they were about making a high quality documentary, and how surprised they were to see it morph into this almost incredible theory about Chornobyl disaster as they researched more and more.

The most important to me is that they are themselves skeptical of the theory as the lack of official documents (a lot of them still being in secret archives in Moscow) prevents them from making definite conclusions. On the other hand, they invite the international community to continue the investigation and finally find the truth behind this terrible catastrophe.

I really hope that this great documentary will inspire new official international investigation so the world will know the truth. Watch this film if you get a chance - you'll learn so much and you'll be inspired to question the world around you! Bravo!

Something feels inauthentic in how this is presented. Many scenes are set up in a way where information they receive seems too convenient. There are a lot of cuts, a lot of things that are said to have happened but weren't caught on camera, but we are expected to believe.

That said, I don't doubt how corrupt and disgusting the soviet system was and how that has in some ways continued to exist into the current day. This documentary just feels a bit unfocused and really tries to rely on a conspiracy theory for which not enough evidence is provided (though it is reasonable to assume that this evidence has been thoroughly covered up by the powers that be). There could be truth to it, or it could all be made up for sensationalism. It's hard to say.

The film could have benefited from focusing more on the details of the presenter's family history where his grandparents were sent to the gulags, the terrible things that happened to them and the various mass starvations caused by the soviet regime. It's in the film, but I feel it should have been elaborated upon much more. This could have then been shown in parallel to the fairly recent 2014 protests in Ukraine that resulted in deaths of hundreds of those protesters (which is really the most impactful element of the film, other than a few suspicious answers given during some of the interviews). The idea in the film that remnants of the Soviet Union are still alive and well and continue to be responsible for ongoing atrocities is a valid and important one to get across. I just don't think it was handled particularly well.

Even the official story of what happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, acknowledged by the Russian government, shows how incompetent and reprehensible the government was in their handling of the disaster. The film probably would have been taken more seriously and overall been more effective if they looked at things from this angle.

The Soviet Union and any government today, really, are without a doubt unworthy of trust. But I'm just not entirely convinced that I should trust the makers of this film, either.

5/10.

I saw this documentary at the Washington DC film festival, and loved it! It is an investigation into the Chernobyl disaster, along with ongoing issues between Russia and Ukraine. It is a suspenseful documentary that draws you in from the first minutes. Fedor, the protagonist, is a very artistic and unique person; he acts heroically in the face of true danger. Fedor is both an artist and an investigator in this film.

The story of how he came to investigate the "Russian Woodpecker," is told thoughtfully by the film makers. I highly recommend seeing this true life, and very relevant, documentary. The cinematography is wonderful as well. I loved this documentary!!!

This documentary presents numerous speculations about the Chernobyl disaster (most notably alleging that it may have been an 'inside job' done to cover up a costly failed Soviet intelligence project).

The film clearly doesn't seem to know whether to back these wild notions and thus 'expose the conspiracy', or to let them represent the troubled/visionary mind of the artist-protagonist Fedor Alexandrovich. It hedges its bets, rather like a horoscope its meaning is largely down to you.

This leaves the film with a conspicuous absence in the place where its core integrity should be. I saw this at a festival with filmmaker present and he gave open-ended answers regarding to the conspiracy angle when questioned by the audience. This leaves the film with an artificial range of interpretation, because it lacks any real conviction of its own. It should be noted that some of the footage is great, but unfortunately the whole is less than the sum of the parts.

The premise of this movie made in a documentary format is intriguing, and it is interesting to watch as the theory about the catastrophe at Chernobyl unfolds.

But that's it - interesting theory, no real facts, no reliable sources, no real technical or physical evidence. Not very convincing.

The "genius artist", who came up with the whole idea takes away a lot of the credibility with his artistic nonsensical performance as well.

So yeah, I'm not convinced.