Chernobyl
I've gone down the Chernobyl rabbit hole many, many times over the years.
I thought I'd seen and read everything, but I was wrong. I was on HBO Max looking for something to watch and stumbled onto Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes, a documentary consisting almost entirely of video footage taken from Soviet archives. No matter what you've read or seen before, the footage is both shattering and haunting.
In particular, the footage of the men who were responsible for removing 200 tons of radioactive fuel and debris is unforgettable. The degree to which they were unprotected was stunning, as they tied wafer-thin sheets of lead to their clothing. This was the protection they were offered.
What this footage does is make Chernobyl an incredibly personal event, both with the footage and interviews with survivors. It's an hour and forty minutes long, and not a single minute was wasted.
<< Home