User Reviews

I'll begin by saying I genuinely enjoyed this film/mini-series. After visiting Chernobyl in the fall of 2021, I became a bit of a junkie on the subject matter, reading in detail exactly what caused the explosion, researching how the disaster was handled - or more accurately, mishandled - and seeking out factual as well as fictional adaptations based on the event. When it comes to telling the story about what actually happened, the 2019 HBO docudrama did a remarkable job. While there were, of course, instances where strict fact gave way to poetic license, the series, on the whole, offered a superlative and fairly truthful depiction of the events as they occurred. Vitaliy Vorobyov's 2013 film Inseparable (original title Moth) comes at the story from a different angle. While still following the general timeline of events, this film focuses more on how the disaster affects the chance romantic relationship between the two main protagonists, Alya and Pavel. Simply put, it's a love story that takes place during a catastrophe, much like James Cameron's 1997 Titanic.

Spoiler Alert: As in Titanic, things don't go smoothly for the lovers.

The film's main strength is its treatment of the central characters. The protagonists are attractive, relatable, likeable, and compelling, and more importantly, they evolve as the story unfolds. At the film's beginning, for example, Alya is a somewhat self-centered, bratty, boundary-testing adolescent whose biggest hurdle in life is how to borrow money for a pair of jeans. By film's end, however, she is willing to risk everything for the chance that her unborn child will have a normal life. One early scene I particularly appreciate centering on Pavel is when he shows himself to possess a much greater complexity than either Alya or the audience initially suspects. Alya is chatting with Pavel about what type of music he likes. While she obviously likes him, it's apparent that she figures his tastes will be those of a typical teenager from a small village. When he reveals that he not only knows the classical composer Grieg but also has some talent playing the piano, she is genuinely stunned, and in a good way. This was a nice, understated way to add unexpected depth to Pavel and to advance the nascent relationship.

Overall, the film was engaging enough to make its three hours go by more quickly than many other, more highly acclaimed films half the length. One thing I didn't realize until afterwards was the significance of the film's original Russian title, Moth. After sending soldiers off to act as so-called "bio-robots" to manually remove the highly radioactive material from the roof, two officers gaze out a window towards the smoldering reactor and notice dozens of dead moths on the window sill, a subtle, albeit poignant, indicator of the lethality of the unseen, radioactive danger.

Alas, the film does have its share of weaknesses.

One thing that bothered me was the film's slick, almost Hallmark movie style quality. Things were too clean and orderly. Even when someone was covered in blood and dirt, they were still somehow too tidy. For example, Alya's sister Maryana becomes ill after being exposed to a high dose of radiation from a glowing chunk of graphite blown from the reactor's core, but the viewer never sees much to suggest the severity of her illness apart from her becoming slightly nauseous off camera and a red blemish that eventually develops on her throat. Pavel also takes a lethal dose of radiation while removing radioactive graphite from the roof of the reactor; however, he remains quite buff and relatively symptom-free for a good amount of time after exposure. Even his shirt remains surprisingly clean while climbing through barbed wire and roaming all night through the forest. Bottom line, a little more grit and sweat would have given the film a more authentic look and feel.

I also found it regrettable that some secondary characters weren't more rounded out. We learn at the beginning that one reason Alya and Maryana traveled to Pripyat in the first place was so that Maryana could meet up with her boyfriend Igor, who, ironically, at the same time travels to Kyiv, thus missing her. This is pretty much the extent of what the audience sees of their relationship. We don't really learn too much about Maryana, and what we learn about Igor is that he is petrified of using his medical training on real-life cases. Their relationship could have been interesting in juxtaposition with Alya's and Pavel's. I also was disappointed that more wasn't done with the Lieutenant Strigunok character, who first appears in the film as a potential love interest for Alya. Apart from looking uncannily like Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter franchise, he seemed likeable enough to have warranted deeper exploration.

Then there are a couple of characters whom I found a bit baffling. What in the world happened with Ryskulov on the roof? Why did he go bonkers, and why did Pavel climb down into that radioactive cauldron to retrieve him? Maybe I can take the leap of faith and go along with Ryskulov's madness, but his rescue was unnecessary. I get that, plot wise, there had to be some way to subject Pavel to the deadly radiation, but that would have been achieved simply by his being exposed on the roof during the struggle with Ryskulov. Even with protective clothing and limiting the stay to a minute or so, rooftop liquidators were still exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation. It had to take several minutes for Pavel to climb down to reach Ryskulov, and the effects would have been devastating and apparent even at the time. So, this bit strained credulity too far.

Another character that I feel could have been slightly better handled was the hospital's chief doctor, Sofya Mikhailovna. At the audience's first introduction, she is shown as clever, tough and no-nonsense, and she does not take kindly to challenges to her authority. When a doctor speaks a little disparagingly about her, calling her "Iron Lady" in English, thinking she wouldn't understand, she thanks him, in English, to let him know she's totally in charge. It's a good scene. The director has a talent for using relatively small moments like this to flesh out his characters. Immediately prior to that scene, she gives a hint that she's not without compassion, though it comes out only grudgingly. When Maryana leaves her room, Sofya yells at her harshly and demands that she return to her bed. After Maryana explains she wanted to call her family to let them know where she was, Sofya softens a little, telling Maryana that she has already notified the family. This was a very good introduction for this character, making her someone the audience could both like and trust. Her first meeting with Alya, however, was odd. Waiting in the hallway, Alya greets Sofya, to which Sofya responds "You again? But how? Who let you in?" There must be some footage left on the cutting room floor. Unless the version of the film I saw was edited, this was the first time Alya and Sofya had met one another. Nevertheless, the Sofya character emerges as one of the strongest if not, in fact, the strongest secondary character in the film.

Overall, I give the film 8 out of 10.

Unfortunately I could not find this movie in English, or with English subtitles. However, its stunning imagery is just as effective no matter what language it is in. From what I could make out, it's a love story set during the year of the infamous Chernobyl disaster of 1986. This disaster happened when a nuclear plant suffered a deadly meltdown in the Ukrainian small town of Chernobyl. The real Chernobyl was evacuated in 1986 and is now open to tourists for small periods of time (it is not yet safe to live there).

Motylki is a very interesting and beautiful series; albeit not in English it has great soundtrack and shares the timeless message of this true disaster. I highly recommend it to anyone.