40 years ago, on April 26th, 1:23 the Nuclear Power Plant of V. I. Lenin caught fire and exploded. This event cost the lives of a large amount of men and women, even more who suffered long-term effects of it. But the biggest damage was the social and political impact it had on society. Because an event caused by negligence and to a lesser degree [engineering miscalculations and complete disregard of safety practices](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/books/l-the-truth-about-chernobyl-403191.html), lead to [de-atomization](https://commonslibrary.org/stepping-out-for-peace-a-history-of-cane-and-pnd-wa/). 

Today, at August 2nd I jumped over the fence and illegally trespassed at 6:15. My intention was to see the Borġ in-Nadur Prehistoric Complex. There I and my accomplice in crime looked at 5'000 old stones and left. 

As we were leaving, we were caught by the guard. My crafty colleague spun a lie about how we were lust and the guard took his word for it. I put my camera to my backpack and noticed that my wallet had been missing. 

A friend of mine, requested access to retrieve the ticket, but instead he was threatened to be shot. We apologized and went our way. The complex only opened after 3 hours. 

I came back and requested my wallet back, but was told it was not there. And when I asked to be able to look for the wallet, so I could pay for the tickets, the guard profusely refused. So I called my friend and convinced the guard to let us scout the area. And...

There was no wallet, just rocks left untouched for millennia. The wallet was lost in the bus, because I was rushing through the door. Yet this story was not about material loss, but about the way people speak to others. We got off fine by lying to save our arse, but when it was needed to resolve the problem, I panicked and was not able to correctly communicate with a person. It was panic, which was the reason I lost the wallet. It was panic that didn't allow me to relax and enjoy the ruins.

This is why I challenged myself to take things easier. If I can focus and understand something without rushing through it, then I can better control my jumpy nature.

This is why I'm going to speak about the Nuclear Power Plant of V. I. Lenin 2019 historical drama television miniseries called [Chernobyl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_(miniseries)). But It'll be done differently. There'll be no description of how the screenplay was adapted, only the plot and script itself.

Which is proven more difficult, when the big appeal is from the visual story telling and soaking in the gruesome sights. 

Say goodbye to the composer [Hildur Guðnadóttir]() (who worked on [Joker (2019)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(2019_film)), [Jared Harris] (who you may know as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant from [Steven Spielberg]()'s biopic [Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_(film)), director [Johan Renck]() (who was also the director and producer of [Superhero Movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceman_(2024_film)).

Let us indulge ourselves in the work of [Craig Mazin](), the man who's best known for directing, writing and producing [Superhero Movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero_Movie).

#  1:23:45

[You can read the screenplay here](https://archive.org/details/Chernobyl-TVShowScripts/Chernobyl%20%282019%29%20TV%20Show%20Scripts/Chernobyl%20Episode%201%20-%201%2023%2045/mode/2up)

The story opens up with a hook and thesis of the film: `What is the cost of lies? / It's not that we'll mistake them for / the truth. The real danger is that / if we hear enough lies, then we no / longer recognize the truth at all.`

The audience only sees parts of the room, they are familiarized with the environment but not the speaker. From just a short introduction, there is already the mystery of this person, of the events that are about to occur. The audience follows this figure delivering the audio cassette tapes that were being recorded. The mystery is set and is not resolved in this episode, requiring the audience to continue watching the series.

Afterwards you have more show-don't-tell story-telling, of the explosion of the power plant. Which is, interestingly enough, is shown from afar. This way, the focus is not on the spectacle of the event, but the way people perceived it. Throughout the script there is reinforcement of this casual approach to the fire. 

The same dismissal occurs in the hospital, whereby the doctor dismissed the need for iodine pills. 

The government officials echo the same sentiment, which is best explicated by the old man Zharkov, who is the representation of the Soviet conservatism and oppression. Within the plot, he serves as the antithesis to the well-meaning man we saw in the beginning of the film. Who we learn, by the end, to be the Firs Deputy Director of Atomic Energy, Lagasov. 

This juxtaposition is mainly described through suffering and agony the good-hearted men go through to stop the disaster. Which is, again, show-don't-tell. This make the subsequent analysis more difficult, as the end-result depends quite a lot on the director.

The dialogues in the burning power plant are straight to the point.

![Descriptive and not talkative](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/EKTL6AD5GFSOPHDI.png)
Image 1: *Descriptive and not talkative.*

Look at *Image 1* and you can see how the events are described to minute detail, whereas the dialogue on confirms the necessary action: Yuvchenko is searching for Victor, while others for someone else. 

Shortly after the audience is fulfilled by finding victor and a page long description of events that unfold. I note here, the screenplay follows the convention of 1 page = 1 minute.

It uses this time to build up the characters and the world. It ends it by having a bird falling down from the sky and dying. It ends on a sort of emotional cliff-hanger.

This will be it for this episode, tune in next time when I cover how the plot picks up the pace.