"The vast horror of Chernobyl is the subject of an extraordinary Soviet film being given its American premiere at the (Margaret Mead Film Festival). It should be seen by everyone, but particularly by those...who still doubt the reality of glasnost...Shooting began on the spot, a bare three weeks after the explosion. Most of the movie concerns the effects of the disaster on the lives of the inhabitants of nearby towns and villages who have been forced to abandon their homes, in all likelihood never to return. Some give full vent to their rage at the authorities responsible. There are weird images of a deserted amusement park...Washing flaps on a clothesline next to quiet houses-clothes that will never be worn again. On the trees hang radioactive apples that will never be picked. In the spookiest scene, we follow a squad of men going into the plant to clear out contaminated material. They are aproned, bunched and bundled up, looking like some curious order of medieval monks. A voice-over intones, "The land has become the victim of our error, and we shall long be paying for it..." (Elliot Stein, The Village Voice, 9/20/88) The filmmakers have stated their intention to record the first-hand responses of victims of the tragedy, "to serve as a lesson to all mankind." The documentary does not cover the fallout in western Europe. Nor could the filmmakers have recorded the fact that at least one cinematographer whose footage was used in the film subsequently died due to his exposure at Chernobyl.