Citizen X
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Citizen X |
| Original title | Citizen X |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1995 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Chris Gerolmo |
| script |
Robert Cullen Chris Gerolmo |
| production | Timothy Marx |
| music | Randy Edelman |
| camera | Robert Fraisse |
| cut | William Goldenberg |
| occupation | |
| |
Citizen X is an American drama film directed by Chris Gerolmo in 1995 . The film describes the search for a serial killer in Russia during the communist era and is based on real events.
action
Several mutilated bodies and body parts are found near the Russian city of Rostov . Due to the state of decay, it is assumed that the victims were not killed together but at different times. Since there is no separate police unit available for such a case, the forensic doctor Burakow is commissioned with the investigation. He quickly realizes that he has to stop a serial killer. This thesis, however, is not supported by his superiors, since in communist Russia serial killers are considered a purely “decadent western phenomenon”. So Burakov does not get the support he needs, on the contrary - his work is constantly being hindered and he is also being forced to investigate in the wrong direction. So he has to look for the perpetrator in the "perverse" gay milieu. The only supervisor from whom he receives some assistance is Colonel Fetisov, but his options are also limited.
Burakov's investigations drag on for several years. Meanwhile, the killer keeps killing, mostly women and children. By chance, the perpetrator Andrei Tschikatilo is arrested in the meantime, but a comparison with the sperm traces found on some of the victims does not show a match. Therefore - and because Tschikatilo is a party member - he is released again under pressure from the upper leadership.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union , Burakov finally got the opportunities he needed. Now there is no one left to hinder his work, and the systematic hunt for the murderer can begin. Shortly after a murder, Tschikatilo was seen leaving the wooded area in which the corpse was later found, completely contaminated, and then arrested. According to the then applicable law, he could be interrogated for 10 days, but Tschikatilo remained silent, and without his confession he could not be unequivocally connected to all murders. Shortly before the 10-day period expired, the investigators decided to take a step that was unusual at the time: the psychiatrist Alexander Buchanowski was turned on and spoke to Tschikatilo. Buchanowski created a profile of the perpetrators based on the bodies found, which he now reads out to Tschikatilo. Impressed by the accuracy of the perpetrator profile, Tschikatilo loses his temper and confesses all of his deeds. Then he leads the investigators to corpses that have not yet been found - a total of 53 murders can be proven to him.
Reviews
- Prisma wrote that the film was exciting and depressing at the same time.
Awards
- Donald Sutherland won the Emmy Award in 1995 . The film received six other nominations for that award.
- Donald Sutherland won the Golden Globe Award in 1996 . The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best television film.
- Chris Gerolmo won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1996 .
- In addition to two CableACE Awards in 1995, the film received four other nominations, including for Max von Sydow.
backgrounds
The film was shot in Hungary . It is based on the true story of the serial killer Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo .
The Russian forensic medicine explained the lack of blood group match between Chikatilo's blood and the traces of sperm found with the fact that this can occur in one person out of 1 million. Experts have doubts about this, although the phenomenon of chimeric DNA has already been described and recognized. Tschikatilo actually confessed after consulting a psychiatrist and was shot on the neck on February 14, 1994.
In 2015, the thriller Kind 44 was created , which has a similar plot.
Web links
- Citizen X in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Citizen X at Rotten Tomatoes (English)