panic-34160 This is one of my all time favourite pictures. It tells several stories. First about the case of "The butcher of Rostov" who was one of the worst serial killers in the history of the world. Second about the complete and utter hopelessness of the soviet system and bureaucracy, and politicians' convenient ignorance. Third about a man with full intentions to do his job the best way he can, against the system, and against his superiors who should be aiding him but are instead much more concerned about trivialising and keeping the whole thing quiet. The scenes where Burakov walks by the placard of Lenin shows the passage of time, but also that not much is changing. Again depicting the hopelessness of his situation. The film is dark, depressing, serious, and you really feel for Burakov. You end it with a sigh of relief, satisfied that the killer is finally dealt with although his story is equally depressing. He's seen as a loser by his wife, his peers, his superiors, and himself most likely. The only time he succeeds with anything is when he kills. If you have the slightest interest in criminal or soviet history this picture is for you.

Lee Eisenberg Andrei Chikatilo was a serial killer in the Soviet Union. Over the course of twelve years, he murdered 52 women and children in the Russian, Ukrainian and Uzbek SSRs. Chris Gerolmo's "Citizen X" focuses on a coroner's investigation into the murders and the government's refusal to report on the murders, since they didn't want to have to admit that there was crime in the USSR (supposedly, such things only existed in the west). Stephen Rea plays the overworked coroner, and Donald Sutherland plays the head of a provincial committee charged with law enforcement, but the movie really belongs to Jeffrey DeMunn as the murderer. He portrays Chikatilo as a disturbed, lonely individual who just happened to be a remorseless killer. One could almost feel sorry for him, were he not a monster.I recommend the movie. It's a safe bet that everyone in the Soviet Union breathed a sigh of relief after that fiend got arrested. The rest of the cast includes Max von Sydow, Joss Ackland, John Wood (Prof. Falken in "WarGames") and Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies).Another movie about Andrei Chikatilo is 2004's "Evilenko", starring Malcolm McDowell as a fictionalized version of him.

boatista24 This serial killer actually ran amok in the Soviet Union for twenty years and was only caught after enough funds were finally available and public opinion was no longer swayed by politics due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Donald Sutherland probably had his greatest role in this movie, which was drastically underrated and overlooked. He plays a reasonable and practical military official/politician, not only devoted to keeping himself alive and employed, but attempting to get results, as well - not an easy task in a police state. This is a very good movie, which I wish had been made in wide-screen and distributed to theaters. It is also an accurate accounting of the true events. I remember this as it was actually happening. A tiny bit of it filtered out from month to month through news-feeds in Poland. Unfortunately, it's another "M" - some creep killing kids. I find these movies difficult to watch.

Malco Malco This is a compelling drama. I agree with comments praising Stephen Rae, Donald Sutherland and Geoffrey DeMunn for their performances. I would add further commend the atmospheric music by Randy Edelman. It is one of the few films I can watch repeatedly and not get tired of it.But, it is not the whole truth. Yes, there was a serial killer Chikatilo, and yes he was hunted down with a relentless determination by Burakov with the help of Fetisov. But these real men and their methods were not the characters portrayed by Rea and Sutherland. Burakov was a man of the Soviet system who believed in it and applied its methods in his work. These methods included "obtaining confessions from suspects". It was this fixation with obtaining confessions under duress that was one reason the police wasted years chasing false leads. It would not have generated sympathy in Western audiences to have shown this story - so the reality was changed to fit the fable of a lonely hero fighting a bungling system.Read Robert Cullen's "The Killer Departmen" for the full (real) story. Watch the film for a first-class detective yarn in exotic circumstance.