Litvinenko

Russia!

A country known for loving vodka, dancing to Kalinka and corruption as well. I remember in the late 90´s when my grandfather Ingvar and i talked about if we should travel to Moscow just to experience the city together since we travelled to different countries. We talked about it into the early 2000´s and around 2006 we were actually looking into some sightseeing sites online. But all of that changed when Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaja was murdered in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow on October 7 2006. My grandfather was saddened by these news because he thought she have done so much to tell the truth about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian secret service FSB. So after this horrible tragedy happened, that was pretty much the nail in the coffin for our Russia trip. I can understand why my grandfather changed his mind, considering that he himself had a lot of things to say about Vladimir Putin. We did talk about this case and we were both interested in the media coverage surrounding the murder and if Putin was the only one behind it. Just the fact that she was shot on Vladimir Putin´s birthday October 7 was indeed a sign. Demonstrators all across Europe were not silent for the tragedy of Anna Politkovskaja, screaming out on the streets that Vladimir Putin is a murderer. The investigation and the different suspects took a long time, and it seemed that someone in the Russian government was protecting the killers who were suspects which made things more complicated. At the end of May 2011, Rustam Makhmudov was arrested in Chechnya who was believed by authorities to have fired the fatal shot. If you have not read about this case i think you should, there are a lot of interesting details to learn in the case of Anna Politkovskaja. Another very big criminal case took place in 2006 where former officer Alexander Litvinenko of the Russian Federal Security Service ( FSB ) suddenly became very ill in his home in London, and were sent to hospital. It turns out he have been poisoned with polonium-210 and he passed away on November 23. The investigation showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the murder of Alexander and Russia tried to deny any involvment. I followed this case in media and have listened to several people who have looked into this case. We now have a TV mini series simply called Litvinenko out on streaming and i just had to watch these episodes, since i have been interested in this specific case. Is this a must watch for everyone, or is Litvinenko not as good as it should have been?

November 1 2006, now a British citizen Alexander Litvinenko ( David Tennant ) with his wife Marina Litvinenko ( Margarita Levieva ) at home suddenly becomes very ill. He is rushed to hospital where he claims that he have been posioned and will die. DI Brent Hyatt ( Neil Maskell ) and his collegue begin to investigate Alexander´s case and, where they find out from Alexander himself that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one who is behind this. For each day that goes by Alexander is getting worse. If Alexander is speaking the truth he will soon be murdered, which makes this case even more complicated.

If you are interested in political scandals and crime stories, i would say that the TV mini series Litvinenko manage to tell the story of what happened Aleksander Litvinenko in a realistic and not too complicated way. Of course all details in this case may not be exactly how it happened in this TV mini series, but if you have read about this case in newspaper articles or in books, you definetely get a big picture here of some of the most important details. So how is this TV mini series in general? If you love British criminal TV series i have a feeling you will appreciate this 4 episodes TV mini series. Once you get into everything how it all started and why Vladimir Putin would approve such a horiffic crime such as this, it really shows that he have no remorse about anyone or anything. I can not imagine how difficult this must have been especially for Aleksander´s wife Marina and how strong she was refusing to be silent. Let´s get into the actors and let us begin with actress Margarita Levieva ( who have done a lot of great acting performances, especially in the HBO TV series The Deuce, a must watch ) playing the role of Marina Litvinenko. Since this is a difficult role to play knowing how much suffering Marina went through to get justice for her beloved husband, i feel that Margarita give a performance that feels emotional and realistic how a mother and wife would react in such a horrible tragedy. British actor Neil Maskell ( who you should see in the 2011 future cult classic film Kill List, worth picking up on DVD ) as DI Brent Hyatt is definetely a interesting character while we follow the investigation. He clearly care about solving this case and showing respect for Aleksandr´s family and loved ones. There is especially one really good performance from actor Mark Bonnar ( who is really good in the TV series Shetland ) in the role as DSU Clive Timmons. I only wish he would have had more scenes and dialogue because he absolutely knocks most actors out with his strong performance. Scottish actor David Tennant ( who have done so many good acting perfomances over they year, especially in TV series Broadchurch ) plays the victim Aleksander Letvinenko. He is only in this mini series a short period of time but i really appreciate his performance. Litvinenko could have been at least one more episode, since i feel that the final episode is rushed too quickly ending the court scenes. But this is still a good TV mini series if you appreciate British crime drama and director Jim Field Smith does a great job capturing both the events and tragedies surrounding this case. If you are looking for something to watch and appreciate British productions, i suggest that you give Litvinenko a chance.

Rating: DDD