I'd like to upload these videos to CZcams: "t̶o̶p̶ ̶t̶e̶n̶ ̶v̶i̶o̶l̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶" "b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶j̶o̶k̶e̶s̶" "a̶l̶e̶x̶ ̶j̶o̶n̶e̶s̶ ̶v̶i̶d̶e̶o̶s̶" "cartoon ponies and unicorns"
I actually thought he was helping her but trying to hide it. Letting her have that one document because he knows it's the one she's going to need. I think she knew it, too. That look on her face when she glances down at 2:12, its sort of a small smile and the 'Thank you, Comrade' sounded sincere to me.
@@chriskelly9476 Just a reference to the censorship and the desperate attempts at hiding the disaster. There is no way a KGB agent knows more nuclear physics than an actual physicist.
Did he know about what had happened at Chernobyl? At what point in the timeline did this scene take place? If he was just a political commissar working in a library, how did he know which material to strike? Maybe he felt he should have crossed out the entire list, and then figured he'll toss her a few crumbs so it doesn't totally like censorship, which might have made her REALLY suspicious.
@@infroma6745 Unlikely. Working for the KGB would have subjected them to additional scrutiny to get the required security clearances. Gays in the Soviet era would have had common jobs, a circle of trusted friends, and kept a low profile.
Gotta love how the Librarian's eyes turn into saucers when she hears "permission only," but relaxes when she's given the "permission slip" from the Central Committee.
A huge university library and not a book, magazine, paper or pamphlet in sight. Just their reference cards. Now the state knows not only what's being taken out, but even what's being looked at, and by whom and for how long.
@Lazar Živadinović I had not considered that the familiarity of those places could be comforting to some. I guess if someone were born in a prison, then were freed at a later time in their life, they might see that place with fond memories of their idyllic youth. Interesting.
Yes. Communist architecture is grey concrete on the outside, green and brown in the inside. I grew up a decade after the fall of Communism before all the renovations and I can tell you every government institution looked like that.
My favorite part of the whole series, you can come to ask the question. Was he a bad guy keeping secrets, or did he allow her that specific document because he knew that was the one that would give her the answer?
Maybe it was a bit of both the others led to secrets probably on other facilities she didn't need to know. And the specific document he did let her have would give her the answer she wanted without revealing any more secrets/problems of the Soviet nuclear program.
To think that "comrade" was actually allowed to read any of the files he was guarding... Common, he is just a young tool, proud of what he is doing like a dog. It is the loyalty that is valued in secret service, not the smarts. Being too smart or curious would get you killed.
Initially I thought it was the former but the later episode of her talking about the couple page retraction about the warning of the graphite tips. That made me think back to to this guy pointed her straight to the document to see the retraction and suggestion of a cover up.
The tension in this scene, the drab depressing decor of the library, the worried expression of the desk lady, the scowl of the 'comrade' who doesn't even acknowledge her 'thank you', it's all masterfully done. I've seen big budget action movies that fail to get any reaction from me with their big explosions but these short scene in Chernobyl was masterfully written and filmed.
People these days can wave the hammer and sickle flags, wear it on their t shirts and sing the praises of it loudly but THIS ladies and gentlemen is what the Soviet Union was like for the ordinary person. Oppressive, shadowy and frightful.
been born there -to me hammer and sickle is the same as black swastika in white circle -all of these people make me sick -any utopian ideology is based on lies and hypocrisy and most important of all -as the final argument always remain barrel to the back of your head words from Gunars Astra (In 1983, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. This time he was accused of possessing and distributing anti-Soviet literature, one of them being George Orwell's 1984.) final statement: "I believe that these times will disappear like a nightmare does. That gives me the strength to stand and breathe here." -these words resonate till this day and makes me wanna spit in face of anyone who rocks these symbols of mass murderers oppression and lies
@@IK-nv9yq I may be a Brit but I understand completely. Nazism wasn't the only example of human horror. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Herod...the list goes on. The cruelty of mankind is indifferent to ideology.
We might mock this scene today, but this was very real according to many accounts during the 1980's USSR time, especially after the Chernobyl disaster, the CCCP ordered all books relating to anything nuclear to be removed from the libraries all over the communist block. Vanity Fair actually got one of the medical personnel that was a 1st responder to Chernobyl to talk about this, and she said this scene is accurate regarding the restriction of knowledge and information, it was best for the government to decide what the people should know. Joke about this all you want, but it can happen to you if you let it.
Here they don't restrict information, they just bury it under so much irrelevant nonsense that even the experts can't tell whats real and what isn't anymore.
Considering what that old communist said to the council of Prypjat, when they was deciding if evacuating the city, and he insisted saying that people should be kept to ask and now things that could be against of their own interests...
Watching this clip reminded me of the recently uploaded news footage of the first McDonald's opening up in Moskow in 1990. Everybody was freaking out that the employees there were being friendly, helpful and smiling. Now I know why.
"Comrade, I know you've heard stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. You see them? They are following me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more...." Comrade Charkov, Head of KGB What a paranoid, dysfunctional society.
it was just the archetype of every single country nowadays, it's just that today they don't need agents following you to know where you are, who are you with, what you are doing or saying.
He tried explaining what the KGB was in a romanticized way. The problem with that “circle of accountability” is that it could get you killed even if you were right about something or uncovered a serious problem.
@Ss B well, yeah, the current FSB is a lot softer and more discreet. We don’t really fear it in our everyday lives, unlike our grandparents did with the kgb, so it’s just a government agency like the fbi. Most of that fear has now been passed onto the lower levels of the police, like for example the national guard, whose entitled-ass officers patrol every part of the city and have the ability grab you at any time. They are especially violent when it comes to protests and rallies as they can hit women, children and anyone else in the crowd, regardless whether that person was even participating. We’re kinda used to it by now, so these guys aren’t THAT much of a problem, but life sure would be nicer without them on every damn street in the city center.
1:22 The framing of this scene is so interesting when we meet the KGB agent. In contrast to the librarian, who looks constantly terrified, we have the faceless KGB agent. He comes in like some shadowy figure who must not be approached or even seen... like the face of God, it seems that seeing his face would mean death. He enters from off-camera, and leaves off-camera. Like some unknowable arbiter of fate, he comes and goes at his pleasure. The camera does not follow him, further reinforcing his mystery and terror-inspiring presence. The outsider professor can do naught but wait as her sentence is decided, helpless behind the plexiglass barrier. When he returns, the list is forcefully placed on the counter, the hand appearing from off-screen like the hand of God. There is mercy. Every book has been crossed off, save one. And as the librarian gets up to retrieve the book, relief apparent, the camera pans up to the KGB agent. He has a face. He is just a man. And then the camera switches to the professor. Still behind the barrier, but no longer completely shut out. Her face and torso are framed by the opening between the panels. There is still a bit of distrust, as symbolized by her right shoulder being obscured by the panel frame, but she has made her way in, just a bit. I am not a film buff, and I would never claim to be. I don't know if I've watched more than 5 films this entire year. But even I can recognize that there is some intense symbolism going on in this scene. You could probably write an essay about this scene alone without an issue. Wonderful storytelling.
This is not a "political officer". Political officer is purely a military conception - it is actually an army officer that has undergone special ideological training. Guy represented here is an actual KGB officer working in so-called First Departament - part of any institution or public facility that contains sensitive information - universities, libraries, RnD and production plants, state managing facilities, etc. First Departaments were in charge of acces and distribution of such an information that requires permission level (there are three of them - third for sensitive, service only and secret info; second for abovementioned and also totally secret info; first for all abovementioned and also extremely sensitive info), and were subordinate directly to KGB instead of facility management. Fun fact: they still exist in Russia, and there is nothing basically changed in heir methods of working. In technical universities, on some programs you are granted with level 3 permission right on your admission, for example.
@@paulbarclay4114 Given the fact that I dont know a single person that cant read, write or do math. Only hater, troll and source of bullshit information here, is you. And yes its hilarious you getting mad someone called you on your hate speech. 1 2 3 AAAAWWWwwwwwwwwww..... PS. I was 15 when this happened do the math...
I've just noticed that this scene doesn't have that shakycam thing going on where the camera just kind of wavers. It makes the scene seem more cold and mechanical.
Not everyone understood the brilliance of the scene. At first it looks like they don't want her to have the information by striking out all the entries from the list, but the comrade actually gave her exactly what she needed by striking off irrelevant ones!! Notice the relief on her face when she says thank you in the end.
What? It's not like he personally has reviewed every single book, and has a deep understanding of the current situation in Chernobyl, and put together that that book's non-redacted index would give her the necessary clue. It looks more like the officer looked through the list, cross-referenced it with a list of books that had been redacted, and allowed her the one book that they had gotten around to censoring. The point of this scene is to show how the knowledge that educated people could use to make a difference is being kept under lock and key by bored, arrogant, ignorant political officers. What I like about this scene is the setup of this officer as some sort of imposing presence, the quaver in the librarian's voice when she calls him, the camera being panned down so you just see this silent, black-suited man. You're left in suspense as to what his reaction was upon reading the list, the long seconds as he takes it behind a locked door. Then upon his return and verdict, the camera pans up to reveal a twerpy bored teenager. It shows that this opposition to freedom of knowledge isn't enforced by a grim and august organization but rather a paranoid, ignorant, and incurious one.
@@KingOfOnes people don't seem to understand that censurers make mistakes or are incompetent. many people don't seem to know what a index or faq is. so guess what the index wasn't redacted when it should have been
@toomanyaccounts why are you telling me the index wasn't redacted like I was saying it was? And why are you acting like no one here knew what an index or FAQ is? How is an FAQ even relevant in this thread? Thanks for the revelation that the censurer made a mistake and forgot to redact the index, not like the show specifically stressed that exact thing.
@@KingOfOnes I was stating that people were creating some elaborate nonsense about the scene when the unredacted index is just reality of the banality human nature. .
It funny he had this all crossed out in 15 seconds, a feat that is attainable when you have nothing else to do all day. Yet I think he has a whole stack of pre crossed out refusal lists ready to give to any and all library patrons.
@@josephastier7421 kinda like students who frequently uses library. You don't even have to use the pc anymore, you knew where the shelf for the books you are searching for
Not surprising. That dress was standard Soviet issue during that era, one of three outfits women could choose from. The others were a wedding dress and work coveralls.
The subtle eye movement. The emphasis on the expected eye movement. The jarring request for resources and response of only a single accommodation while the others are all denied with noticeably considered uses of strike-through. Wonderful series!
Of the five requested, he approved the only one she needed. But, for the record, concluding that those in the Chernobyl plant hadn't seen the redacted parts is faulty, because no one who made that conclusion was cleared to know everything that a plant operator would be cleared to know. They were professors.
Information must be protected by layers of security, because information may lead to knowledge, and knowledge may lead to the truth- and we can’t have that, now, can we?
In a lot of ways, this reminds me of how the Vatican operates their research library (can't remember what it's called exactly). Basically, if you wish to do research on a particular item or book, you have to know exactly what item you are looking for. They don't allow you to just browse around. Even after you request said item, they may or may not allow you to have it. It is a very controlled environment with a lot of procedures.
This library is so horrifying, you don’t actually get to pick a book or encyclopedia you want to read but you have to pick its name from a card. After picking the name you have to had permission to see it, the right status to see it and of course the state knows exactly what you read, when and where down to the minute.
It already does, comrade. Compare the search results on any hot-button topic with Google and another search engine, one of the smaller ones. The difference is chilling. Heck, even Bing is less biased.
I hardly notice that in a UNIVERSITY LIBRARY there are no books , only files You cannot take a book freely, you ask for it and they decide if they give it to you or not.
Sometimes, when people talk about how the US is a fascistic dictatorship or how we're all living in fear or some such, I think about depictions like this. It's hard for us to imagine, today, the sheer terror that even the humblest official could feel at something like this--the fear that if you screwed up in the slightest way, you could end up getting shot or tortured without even understanding why. That archives lady is absolutely terrified. Either she ticks off the rep of the central committee, or she doesn't keep the secrets properly. Or maybe she does, but the secrets end up being destructive anyway, even if she's done her job properly. She's at the mercy of someone else blaming their mistake on her.
The KGB wasn't really in the business of torturing and shooting librarians in 1986. 1946, sure, but not 1986. In 1986 they're more likely to get you fired and blackballed, like they do with Legasov on the show.
I do my fair share of criticism of my country, but one must appreciate the openness of information. There is no "permission only" in a library. Hell, even the New York Public Library only has a Restricted Section for their antique books, and you can come inside if you knock politely.
you really think that? There was a debacle when wikileaks made public what dark dealings the government was doing. That you can see all the books in your library dont mean you have free acces to information in your country. Just like this scene, you are allowed a part of it, just that the dont make it as obvious.
@@LeonArgent The fact that leaks happen is a sign you have freedom. In communist countries you would see the empty shelves, then the TV would announce the abundance of fresh produce in the markets and if you complained to anyone, chances are you'd get a visit from Stasi/KGB/etc. I'd rather take a shady government that is 24/4 under the scrutiny of the media and people rather than a shady government that doesnt allow ideas that contradict it.
@@adid.8526 you think so? How did it go for the two dudes that leaked important information? We see leaks, yes. But when the real stuff gets under the light the government acts similiar if not exactly the same as the soviets did.
You sign up for the KGB and go through all the cool spy training but, end up screening access to books at the local library. No wonder he looks so depressed.
I wonder that the person that spooky guy gave the sheet of paper to was a professional of nuclear engineering and such stuff being able to decide which info was critical and which was not.
No, this is a political officer monitoring internal activity. He would have approved and non-approved lists on hand. He would note who asked for materials and send a report to central authority. There was a similar test and failure at another power plant a few years prior to Chernobyl that was safely averted. The KGB covered it up to hide from anyone outside the USSR from knowing. The problem is it kept anyone within the USSR from knowing either. The redacted list would likely have been reports on that earlier incident. The KGB knew that the emergency shut off did not work, but hiding state secrets, even from the central committee and nuclear scientists, was more important than the people's health and safety.
One would think that such a system cannot exist, people would revolt... except there are so many that revel in petty bullying that they just love having that tiny power and as such you have no end of personnel that would help keeping the system as is instead of changing it to something better.
The Librarian did not tell the Information Officer that she is working for the Central Committee. It's like she had her request scrutinized after stating her benefactors.
She didn’t say because the KGB outranked the central committee in reality when it came to most internal affairs. As soon as she said working for the central committee the librarian knew she didn’t have a right to see squat.
That would be Vladimir P. Volkov. But i could not find a article from him about the incident at Leningrad in 1975. And i somewhat doubt there was one. Here:(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7175960/) is stated that he wrote messages to his superiors about the design flaw. "From 1976 onwards, Vladimir Volkov, head of the reliability and safety laboratory at the Kurchatov Institute, sent numerous memoranda to his supervisors about calculation errors in the design of the RBMK, and gave suggestions for their improvement. He mentioned the positive SCRAM effect, defined as a localized increase of activity in the bottom of the core of a nuclear reactor during emergency shutdown." One article where he was one of the writers is cited often (But i could not find this one, so i have not read it): A. Ya. Kramerov, V. P. Volkov, G. I. Savvatimskii, and V. V. Gorshkov, “Analysis of loss-of-coolant accidents in nuclear power plants with RBMK-1500 reactors,” Report No. 33.471184, I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (1984).
@@mercedesCH i dont know how i didnt see your comment, thank you for your reply. Im starting the search for the article and if i find it, ill share. Thank you for that paper you sent me
The dehumanizing is subtle but an important part of this clip. Notice how he never addressed the woman who requested the books. He only addressed the librarian. What does the look he gives her in the end mean to you? I take it as “I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t be allowed.”
Or it may be typical indifference of someone working in Soviet bureaucratic apparatus. Job is guaranteed by the state, nobody will fire him for acting arrogant towards applicant.
To be honest, "comrade" was an official appeal. In 80's it was a little too much official. One hadn't use it for an informal gratitude. Even worse, it would be bombastic and appear like a sarcasm.
"We keep impeccable records. You can't actually SEE any of it, but trust me, it's impeccable."
You mean impregnable
Yes and they’re being handled by “top men”.
"the best records, people tell me they love my records"
"We have a perfect public access record for these documents. Zero"
-The Vatican when asked about their library.
That spooky guy that was working at the library now works for youtube.
Of course! What else can do? Only censorship!
Worse, he is an algorithm now.
In what is CZcams like the former Soviet Union?
I'd like to upload these videos to CZcams:
"t̶o̶p̶ ̶t̶e̶n̶ ̶v̶i̶o̶l̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶"
"b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶j̶o̶k̶e̶s̶"
"a̶l̶e̶x̶ ̶j̶o̶n̶e̶s̶ ̶v̶i̶d̶e̶o̶s̶"
"cartoon ponies and unicorns"
He's the guy who goes through all the Chernobyl videos and posts the same quotes from the show.
His face literally shows "Yeah we're hiding a lot of shit from you"
More like "You and I both know this censorship is killing people, but if you complain about it, you go to jail"
I actually thought he was helping her but trying to hide it. Letting her have that one document because he knows it's the one she's going to need. I think she knew it, too. That look on her face when she glances down at 2:12, its sort of a small smile and the 'Thank you, Comrade' sounded sincere to me.
@@chriskelly9476 Just a reference to the censorship and the desperate attempts at hiding the disaster. There is no way a KGB agent knows more nuclear physics than an actual physicist.
@@adid.8526 no, but perhaps he simply knew that something wasn't right and that negligence was a factor
Did he know about what had happened at Chernobyl? At what point in the timeline did this scene take place? If he was just a political commissar working in a library, how did he know which material to strike? Maybe he felt he should have crossed out the entire list, and then figured he'll toss her a few crumbs so it doesn't totally like censorship, which might have made her REALLY suspicious.
The guy delivers perfectly the "I hope you don't get us shot" face.
So basically every soviet library had its own KGB komrad sitting in a closet
They're gays
@@infroma6745 Unlikely. Working for the KGB would have subjected them to additional scrutiny to get the required security clearances. Gays in the Soviet era would have had common jobs, a circle of trusted friends, and kept a low profile.
@@josephastier7421 r/wooosh
You don't have a KGB agent in your closet
@@USAF-mt1tu How would someone know? (jk, I get what you are saying)
Gotta love how the Librarian's eyes turn into saucers when she hears "permission only," but relaxes when she's given the "permission slip" from the Central Committee.
it just means she will not be disappeared. the one with the permission slip is fair game
A huge university library and not a book, magazine, paper or pamphlet in sight. Just their reference cards. Now the state knows not only what's being taken out, but even what's being looked at, and by whom and for how long.
Like google and your internet searches
And God help you if you have an overdue item…
@@warrenstemphly5756More like the NSA.
Same with ebook library.
@@fiix7026Which so didn't exist during the dawn of dialup Internet, when these events are supposed to take place.
"The KGB is a circle of accountability."
Standard practice across all government agencies Regardless of country
Trust but verify means the opposite
Dr. Jimes Tooper circle of lies and secrets.. this is why their is no more USSR..
More like a circle jerk...
@@brad9956 So, you'll be accountable for the circle jerk???
Did all institutional buildings in the Soviet Union have that same sinister green paint scheme? It works great to convey feelings of utter despair.
Да.
I believe that type of architecture is call Brutalist. Very inviting.
In some places the colours have not changed.
@Lazar Živadinović I had not considered that the familiarity of those places could be comforting to some. I guess if someone were born in a prison, then were freed at a later time in their life, they might see that place with fond memories of their idyllic youth. Interesting.
Yes. Communist architecture is grey concrete on the outside, green and brown in the inside. I grew up a decade after the fall of Communism before all the renovations and I can tell you every government institution looked like that.
My favorite part of the whole series, you can come to ask the question. Was he a bad guy keeping secrets, or did he allow her that specific document because he knew that was the one that would give her the answer?
It was because your momma was reading the rest of the material
I never thought of the second part.
Maybe it was a bit of both the others led to secrets probably on other facilities she didn't need to know. And the specific document he did let her have would give her the answer she wanted without revealing any more secrets/problems of the Soviet nuclear program.
To think that "comrade" was actually allowed to read any of the files he was guarding... Common, he is just a young tool, proud of what he is doing like a dog. It is the loyalty that is valued in secret service, not the smarts. Being too smart or curious would get you killed.
Initially I thought it was the former but the later episode of her talking about the couple page retraction about the warning of the graphite tips. That made me think back to to this guy pointed her straight to the document to see the retraction and suggestion of a cover up.
"Thank you comrade"
"👁️👄👁️"
this is the best acting of the typical russian state of " not sure if this guy is just creepy, or so drunk that it's a miracle he's still standing"
👁👃👁
👄 ☝️ ssss
The tension in this scene, the drab depressing decor of the library, the worried expression of the desk lady, the scowl of the 'comrade' who doesn't even acknowledge her 'thank you', it's all masterfully done. I've seen big budget action movies that fail to get any reaction from me with their big explosions but these short scene in Chernobyl was masterfully written and filmed.
People these days can wave the hammer and sickle flags, wear it on their t shirts and sing the praises of it loudly but THIS ladies and gentlemen is what the Soviet Union was like for the ordinary person.
Oppressive, shadowy and frightful.
been born there
-to me hammer and sickle is the same as black swastika in white circle
-all of these people make me sick -any utopian ideology is based on lies and hypocrisy and most important of all -as the final argument always remain barrel to the back of your head
words from Gunars Astra (In 1983, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. This time he was accused of possessing and distributing anti-Soviet literature, one of them being George Orwell's 1984.) final statement: "I believe that these times will disappear like a nightmare does. That gives me the strength to stand and breathe here." -these words resonate till this day and makes me wanna spit in face of anyone who rocks these symbols of mass murderers oppression and lies
@@IK-nv9yq I may be a Brit but I understand completely. Nazism wasn't the only example of human horror.
Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Herod...the list goes on. The cruelty of mankind is indifferent to ideology.
The kids think it's "cool"
@@joeyboedeker7205 I don’t think millennials are "kids".
@@mr.normalguy69 they are younger than me by 20 years, therefore,they are kids.
We might mock this scene today, but this was very real according to many accounts during the 1980's USSR time, especially after the Chernobyl disaster, the CCCP ordered all books relating to anything nuclear to be removed from the libraries all over the communist block. Vanity Fair actually got one of the medical personnel that was a 1st responder to Chernobyl to talk about this, and she said this scene is accurate regarding the restriction of knowledge and information, it was best for the government to decide what the people should know.
Joke about this all you want, but it can happen to you if you let it.
Here they don't restrict information, they just bury it under so much irrelevant nonsense that even the experts can't tell whats real and what isn't anymore.
It happens here in the west 2.
Not the same methods but the results are similar.
There is no “if,” there is only Zuul. Instead of what is shown, we have “redaction” to “protect” people. But it’s always the same thing…..
It’s already happening to us in the west. Amazon censors more books today than either ww2 Germany or Cold War Soviet Union.
Considering what that old communist said to the council of Prypjat, when they was deciding if evacuating the city, and he insisted saying that people should be kept to ask and now things that could be against of their own interests...
Goddamn that ominous music throughout this entire show had me on pins and needles... and I loved all of it
X-Files feel
The sound designer was recording the sounds of an actual Soviet nuclear power plant and re-mixing them to get that dark industrial vibe.
In case you are curious, the library shown in the series is located in Kyiv, Ukraine.
But the female protagonist is completely made up no such woman existed
probably bombed by now
Kiev not Kyiv you shill
@@piano_master_5246 actually no
@@topherh5093 The HBO series is a dramatization of historic events, but is *not* a documentary. Those have already been made.
Watching this clip reminded me of the recently uploaded news footage of the first McDonald's opening up in Moskow in 1990.
Everybody was freaking out that the employees there were being friendly, helpful and smiling. Now I know why.
"Comrade, I know you've heard stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. You see them? They are following me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more...." Comrade Charkov, Head of KGB
What a paranoid, dysfunctional society.
it was just the archetype of every single country nowadays, it's just that today they don't need agents following you to know where you are, who are you with, what you are doing or saying.
@@N4SP92 Makes me think of Coulson on Agents of SHIELD "between Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, people are putting themselves under surveillance."
He tried explaining what the KGB was in a romanticized way. The problem with that “circle of accountability” is that it could get you killed even if you were right about something or uncovered a serious problem.
Like USA does not do it too. :V
McCarthy and Hoover rings a bell?
@@nfspbarrister5681 NSA and Cancel Culture too, same thing, different assholes or is it the same assholes? I can't even tell anymore
This isn’t the actual MSU library, but it’s equally soviet nonetheless (Moscow resident here)
It's not always easy to film in the places you want to film in
@Ss B well, yeah, the current FSB is a lot softer and more discreet. We don’t really fear it in our everyday lives, unlike our grandparents did with the kgb, so it’s just a government agency like the fbi. Most of that fear has now been passed onto the lower levels of the police, like for example the national guard, whose entitled-ass officers patrol every part of the city and have the ability grab you at any time. They are especially violent when it comes to protests and rallies as they can hit women, children and anyone else in the crowd, regardless whether that person was even participating. We’re kinda used to it by now, so these guys aren’t THAT much of a problem, but life sure would be nicer without them on every damn street in the city center.
1:22 The framing of this scene is so interesting when we meet the KGB agent. In contrast to the librarian, who looks constantly terrified, we have the faceless KGB agent. He comes in like some shadowy figure who must not be approached or even seen... like the face of God, it seems that seeing his face would mean death. He enters from off-camera, and leaves off-camera. Like some unknowable arbiter of fate, he comes and goes at his pleasure. The camera does not follow him, further reinforcing his mystery and terror-inspiring presence. The outsider professor can do naught but wait as her sentence is decided, helpless behind the plexiglass barrier. When he returns, the list is forcefully placed on the counter, the hand appearing from off-screen like the hand of God. There is mercy. Every book has been crossed off, save one. And as the librarian gets up to retrieve the book, relief apparent, the camera pans up to the KGB agent. He has a face. He is just a man.
And then the camera switches to the professor. Still behind the barrier, but no longer completely shut out. Her face and torso are framed by the opening between the panels. There is still a bit of distrust, as symbolized by her right shoulder being obscured by the panel frame, but she has made her way in, just a bit.
I am not a film buff, and I would never claim to be. I don't know if I've watched more than 5 films this entire year. But even I can recognize that there is some intense symbolism going on in this scene. You could probably write an essay about this scene alone without an issue. Wonderful storytelling.
i never reply to comments but this is a masterful representation of this scene. underrated comment for sure.. well done
@@benlangham8805 genius comment
the dudes face said it all...neither malevolent or compassionate this was just a job for him and he had his orders to follow
That honestly makes him scarier
2:17 he looks like the kind of guy who would sell you dope, hash, mescaline, downers, and a cadillac with a pink slip on the side.
are you talkin' to me?
@@fd0198 "look at that"
I knew I couldn't be the only one who saw the similarity!! Also who'd call you a jackass if you carried a magnum in the street without a holster 🤣
@@BlaneNostalgia isn't that a little honey?
Just finished to Watch taxi driver and damm you are right
This is not a "political officer". Political officer is purely a military conception - it is actually an army officer that has undergone special ideological training. Guy represented here is an actual KGB officer working in so-called First Departament - part of any institution or public facility that contains sensitive information - universities, libraries, RnD and production plants, state managing facilities, etc. First Departaments were in charge of acces and distribution of such an information that requires permission level (there are three of them - third for sensitive, service only and secret info; second for abovementioned and also totally secret info; first for all abovementioned and also extremely sensitive info), and were subordinate directly to KGB instead of facility management. Fun fact: they still exist in Russia, and there is nothing basically changed in heir methods of working. In technical universities, on some programs you are granted with level 3 permission right on your admission, for example.
I feel like the American way has worked much better, make everyone so dumb they would never even think to ask the question in the first place.
@@paulbarclay4114 Put down the hate speech pipe bro, ya making a fool of no-one but yourself.
@@paulbarclay4114 Given the fact that I dont know a single person that cant read, write or do math. Only hater, troll and source of bullshit information here, is you. And yes its hilarious you getting mad someone called you on your hate speech.
1
2
3
AAAAWWWwwwwwwwwww.....
PS. I was 15 when this happened do the math...
"I'm a nuclear physicist you worked in a shoe factory." "Yes but I'm in charge. To the workers of the world."
In Soviet Russia, library checks you out.
I've just noticed that this scene doesn't have that shakycam thing going on where the camera just kind of wavers. It makes the scene seem more cold and mechanical.
Not everyone understood the brilliance of the scene. At first it looks like they don't want her to have the information by striking out all the entries from the list, but the comrade actually gave her exactly what she needed by striking off irrelevant ones!!
Notice the relief on her face when she says thank you in the end.
it means she will not be executed that day. it was a preapproved list
What? It's not like he personally has reviewed every single book, and has a deep understanding of the current situation in Chernobyl, and put together that that book's non-redacted index would give her the necessary clue. It looks more like the officer looked through the list, cross-referenced it with a list of books that had been redacted, and allowed her the one book that they had gotten around to censoring.
The point of this scene is to show how the knowledge that educated people could use to make a difference is being kept under lock and key by bored, arrogant, ignorant political officers. What I like about this scene is the setup of this officer as some sort of imposing presence, the quaver in the librarian's voice when she calls him, the camera being panned down so you just see this silent, black-suited man. You're left in suspense as to what his reaction was upon reading the list, the long seconds as he takes it behind a locked door. Then upon his return and verdict, the camera pans up to reveal a twerpy bored teenager. It shows that this opposition to freedom of knowledge isn't enforced by a grim and august organization but rather a paranoid, ignorant, and incurious one.
@@KingOfOnes people don't seem to understand that censurers make mistakes or are incompetent. many people don't seem to know what a index or faq is. so guess what the index wasn't redacted when it should have been
@toomanyaccounts why are you telling me the index wasn't redacted like I was saying it was? And why are you acting like no one here knew what an index or FAQ is? How is an FAQ even relevant in this thread?
Thanks for the revelation that the censurer made a mistake and forgot to redact the index, not like the show specifically stressed that exact thing.
@@KingOfOnes I was stating that people were creating some elaborate nonsense about the scene when the unredacted index is just reality of the banality human nature. .
The KGB guy looks exactly like the arms dealer from Taxi Driver (1976) who sells Travis the gun
It funny he had this all crossed out in 15 seconds, a feat that is attainable when you have nothing else to do all day.
Yet I think he has a whole stack of pre crossed out refusal lists ready to give to any and all library patrons.
If all you do for your entire career is cross things off of lists, you get really good at it.
@@josephastier7421 kinda like students who frequently uses library. You don't even have to use the pc anymore, you knew where the shelf for the books you are searching for
"The State must protect it's secrets" - Dyatlov
Do you dare suggest otherwise?
*KGB has entered the chat*
*its secrets
Just discovered that I own the exact same dress that the librarian is wearing.
So do I. meh heh heh...
Not surprising. That dress was standard Soviet issue during that era, one of three outfits women could choose from. The others were a wedding dress and work coveralls.
“Thank you, Comrade.”
*Etiquette is bourgeois*
The subtle eye movement. The emphasis on the expected eye movement. The jarring request for resources and response of only a single accommodation while the others are all denied with noticeably considered uses of strike-through. Wonderful series!
That spooky guy looks like a younger version of the guys that owns twitter.
He honestly looks like the same actor that plays Nick in Fear the Walking Dead
Except a foot taller... and no nose ring.
I agree, looks exactly like Elon Musk
That spooky guy is about as pleasant as Chernobyl itself.
The KGB agent?
@@frenchsoldier8485 I think so.
@@Vikingr4Jesus5919 That's about right
Of the five requested, he approved the only one she needed. But, for the record, concluding that those in the Chernobyl plant hadn't seen the redacted parts is faulty, because no one who made that conclusion was cleared to know everything that a plant operator would be cleared to know. They were professors.
Some people said that the man in this clip is supposed to be a young Putin. He was working for the KGB in East Germany at this time.
This is Ukraine, not East Germany.
Soviet Union is Matrix.
Actually Matrix was about capitalist countries. But it was also about totalitarian so was Soviet.
Information must be protected by layers of security, because information may lead to knowledge, and knowledge may lead to the truth- and we can’t have that, now, can we?
Yes, that’s why every major socialist/communist nation eliminated illiteracy and broke down all financial barriers to university education
Whats especially sad is having someone with no qualifications deciding what someone with qualifications can see.
480p, what is this comrad moreno? Do you even work in the central committee?
2:17 me after explaining to the customer that they will not get any refund
0:01 This is the National Library of Ukraine (in Kiev)
Well they obviously didn't get the filming rights for Moscow did they
@@cromania100 They could've actually do exterior shoot in Warsaw. :D :D :D
In a lot of ways, this reminds me of how the Vatican operates their research library (can't remember what it's called exactly). Basically, if you wish to do research on a particular item or book, you have to know exactly what item you are looking for. They don't allow you to just browse around. Even after you request said item, they may or may not allow you to have it. It is a very controlled environment with a lot of procedures.
This library is so horrifying, you don’t actually get to pick a book or encyclopedia you want to read but you have to pick its name from a card. After picking the name you have to had permission to see it, the right status to see it and of course the state knows exactly what you read, when and where down to the minute.
What a sad state of life. The proud Russian people, with their tradition of true intellectualism, reduced to asking permission to read a book.
And getting denied.
One day GOOGLE Search engine is going to say "You can have that one"
Google already is doing that, just that many dont notice. Look at the reform to the law they are passing in usa to limit it.
It already does, comrade. Compare the search results on any hot-button topic with Google and another search engine, one of the smaller ones. The difference is chilling. Heck, even Bing is less biased.
I know he isn't really Putin (he was an KGB agent in GDR at that time, not in Ukraine SSR), but I wonder if they wanted the actor to look like him.
"Hey comrade, it's me, Easy Andy! I can get you a brand new Cadillac with the pink slip for two grand!"
Underrated comment
Hahaha sadly i dont think many will get this reference, although as Jakery said its a very underrated comment
Travis would have just said: "Not interested..."
"look at that"
Easy anatoli
Being a librarian is one thing, being one in the USSR must be a dreadfully boring existence.
Right? The whole library might have had one book.
Librarians are already dreadfully bored
@@josephastier7421 and you're not allowed to read it.
@@frenchsoldier8485 Actual librarian here. I've never felt bored at my job! I often have to pull double duty as a social worker and overworked cop.
Librarian here. I wonder what it would be like to be a librarian in the Soviet Union.
I hardly notice that in a UNIVERSITY LIBRARY there are no books
,
only files
You cannot take a book freely, you ask for it and they decide if they give it to you or not.
can you believe it used to be normal to smoke in LIBRARIES
there’s an ashton kutcher behind every soviet library
@john smith eh id say he looks more like ashton than evan peters
Sometimes, when people talk about how the US is a fascistic dictatorship or how we're all living in fear or some such, I think about depictions like this. It's hard for us to imagine, today, the sheer terror that even the humblest official could feel at something like this--the fear that if you screwed up in the slightest way, you could end up getting shot or tortured without even understanding why.
That archives lady is absolutely terrified. Either she ticks off the rep of the central committee, or she doesn't keep the secrets properly. Or maybe she does, but the secrets end up being destructive anyway, even if she's done her job properly. She's at the mercy of someone else blaming their mistake on her.
The KGB wasn't really in the business of torturing and shooting librarians in 1986. 1946, sure, but not 1986. In 1986 they're more likely to get you fired and blackballed, like they do with Legasov on the show.
I doubt she was at any risk at all. All she does is call for the guy who decides what gets turned over. She didn't have any independent say.
nice place to work ..
I do my fair share of criticism of my country, but one must appreciate the openness of information. There is no "permission only" in a library. Hell, even the New York Public Library only has a Restricted Section for their antique books, and you can come inside if you knock politely.
There are reasons for why it was like this, not good ones but they existed
you really think that? There was a debacle when wikileaks made public what dark dealings the government was doing.
That you can see all the books in your library dont mean you have free acces to information in your country. Just like this scene, you are allowed a part of it, just that the dont make it as obvious.
try the National Archives
@@LeonArgent The fact that leaks happen is a sign you have freedom.
In communist countries you would see the empty shelves, then the TV would announce the abundance of fresh produce in the markets and if you complained to anyone, chances are you'd get a visit from Stasi/KGB/etc.
I'd rather take a shady government that is 24/4 under the scrutiny of the media and people rather than a shady government that doesnt allow ideas that contradict it.
@@adid.8526 you think so? How did it go for the two dudes that leaked important information?
We see leaks, yes. But when the real stuff gets under the light the government acts similiar if not exactly the same as the soviets did.
"Yeah, I will give you what you need, but don't expect to go abroad anytime soon".
I’m guessing an overdue item would get you a one way ticket to the Lubyanka….
Or Vorkuta.
The worst part is, this scene makes Soviet bureaucracy look like child’s play
If you need permission to go into a library, there's something wrong with your society
Well, some libraries are not open access even today (like the Vatican).
Welcome to communism! ☠
"Nice weather we're having." "Yes, there's fallout in it."
looking up things in libraries used to be insane
He give her look dont bother this other one, this is that you need
That library Committee guy in the library reminds me of Mr. Bookman, the library cop from Seinfeld (first or second season).
Wes Anderson had a rough job in the 80’s
Well that guy nailed the dead eyed stare of a KGB agent.
You sign up for the KGB and go through all the cool spy training but, end up screening access to books at the local library. No wonder he looks so depressed.
Those two actors absolutely NAILED the essence of the bureaucratic system at it's most extreme.
I wonder that the person that spooky guy gave the sheet of paper to was a professional of nuclear engineering and such stuff being able to decide which info was critical and which was not.
No, this is a political officer monitoring internal activity. He would have approved and non-approved lists on hand. He would note who asked for materials and send a report to central authority. There was a similar test and failure at another power plant a few years prior to Chernobyl that was safely averted. The KGB covered it up to hide from anyone outside the USSR from knowing. The problem is it kept anyone within the USSR from knowing either. The redacted list would likely have been reports on that earlier incident. The KGB knew that the emergency shut off did not work, but hiding state secrets, even from the central committee and nuclear scientists, was more important than the people's health and safety.
@@rufuspub did the central comittee have power at all, was the KGB basically rogue?
imagine if my university library was like this.
0:00 this is actually Vernadsky National Library in Kiev, that's where it was filmed.
One would think that such a system cannot exist, people would revolt... except there are so many that revel in petty bullying that they just love having that tiny power and as such you have no end of personnel that would help keeping the system as is instead of changing it to something better.
''If you ever try to come here again I 'll make it seem like an accident!...''
Legend says that it was Putin at that time worked in KGB , was the young man , staring at her 😁😁
Her didn't exist. There were only men working on this at the time
Putin was a librarian?! (shudders)
Putin was assigned to Dresden, East Germany from 1985-1990.
Reckoning she was used to represent the team of scientists
She wasn't real she represent the ladies workers help in the mission
I wonder if the libraries at Pripyat are still there....
Such a great actress. Really.
It’s 1980s Jack Dorsey! I knew he was A. a former librarian. B. kgb
He has that look on his face all the time because his parents named him comrade
Konrad scared the heck out of me.
The guy at 2:08 looks remarkably similar to the guy who sells guns to Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
The Librarian did not tell the Information Officer that she is working for the Central Committee. It's like she had her request scrutinized after stating her benefactors.
She didn’t say because the KGB outranked the central committee in reality when it came to most internal affairs. As soon as she said working for the central committee the librarian knew she didn’t have a right to see squat.
@@rickm6076 yet thanks to the KGB their *precious* iamge was utterly destoryed
It is best to have your own book library already.
James Caan going to the library in rollerball. I really don't expect most people to know what I'm talking about
Nailed it.
Got something to do with Misery?
@@HawaiiKnut nope.
@@HawaiiKnut rollerball. The 1975 version
I want to go to this library now!
Holy crap! So much effort to check out Go Dog Go.
Does anyone know the tittle of Volokov article from 1974/1975?
That would be Vladimir P. Volkov.
But i could not find a article from him about the incident at Leningrad in 1975. And i somewhat doubt there was one. Here:(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7175960/) is stated that he wrote messages to his superiors about the design flaw. "From 1976 onwards, Vladimir Volkov, head of the reliability and safety laboratory at the Kurchatov Institute, sent numerous memoranda to his supervisors about calculation errors in the design of the RBMK, and gave suggestions for their improvement. He mentioned the positive SCRAM effect, defined as a localized increase of activity in the bottom of the core of a nuclear reactor during emergency shutdown."
One article where he was one of the writers is cited often (But i could not find this one, so i have not read it):
A. Ya. Kramerov, V. P. Volkov, G. I. Savvatimskii, and V. V. Gorshkov, “Analysis of loss-of-coolant accidents in
nuclear power plants with RBMK-1500 reactors,” Report No. 33.471184, I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (1984).
@@mercedesCH i dont know how i didnt see your comment, thank you for your reply. Im starting the search for the article and if i find it, ill share. Thank you for that paper you sent me
Seems like a happy place
Leave it to the Soviets to take a vast repository of knowledge - then make it a place of bleakness, depression, and dread.
And that is why James Madison made the first amendment the first.
is it only me that it kinda has an asmr feel to it? lol
That guy at the end looks like Michael Kelso from "That 70's Show", if he grew up in the USSR.
Even the soundtrack in the library is creepy...
Just like a trip to the DMV.
The dehumanizing is subtle but an important part of this clip. Notice how he never addressed the woman who requested the books. He only addressed the librarian. What does the look he gives her in the end mean to you? I take it as “I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t be allowed.”
Or it may be typical indifference of someone working in Soviet bureaucratic apparatus. Job is guaranteed by the state, nobody will fire him for acting arrogant towards applicant.
That guy looks exactly like Andy the gun salesman from Taxi Driver (actor Steven Prince).
Would be hilarious if the most powerful person happened to be that desk clerk.
is that the gun salesman from taxi driver?
no lol
He can get you a brand new Cadillac with the pink slip!
A workers paradise.
To be honest, "comrade" was an official appeal. In 80's it was a little too much official. One hadn't use it for an informal gratitude. Even worse, it would be bombastic and appear like a sarcasm.
Was that Alison Janney in a cameo??