Citizen X

To be a psychiatrist in this country is to be an expert on paranoia... whether you meant to be or not.
—Bukhanovsky, a psychiatrist in Russia
There are no serial killers in the Soviet state. It is a decadent Western phenomenon.
—Bondarchuk, secretary of ideology for Rostov-on-Don

Citizen X is a dramatic version of the investigation of one of the most prolific serial killers. The decade-long investigation happened in the final years of the Soviet Union, sometimes against the forces of the Communist Party. Although the film has dramatized some parts of the story, it still gives a good insight into the workings of a dying empire, a good crime story and several first-class actors.

It's basically the story of one man, Viktor Burakov (Stephen Rea), a forensic scientist promoted haphazardly to lead investigator on the trail of a serial killer dubbed The Rostov Ripper, whose real identity is factory worker and party member Andrei Chikatilo (played chillingly by Jeffrey DeMunn). The committee heading the investigation is composed of yes-men and politicos who do nothing but hinder Burakov's investigation. His only ally is Colonel Fetisov (Donald Sutherland), who, while sympathetic to Burakov's pleas and frustrated at the committee's incompetence, nevertheless has his hands tied because of politics. Burakov is later also assisted by Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky (Max von Sydow), a psychologist who creates a scientific profile of The Rostov Ripper. The movie follows Burakov's brave, determined and sacrificed pursuit of the Ripper, showing both his frustration at his own people's indifference toward the case and the toll it takes on him. it is a powerful film, and one that you will be amazed was a Made for TV Movie, considering its excellent cast and production values.

Tropes used in Citizen X include:
  • Antagonist Title: Citizen X is the pseudonym Bukhanovsky gives Chikatilo in his profile.
  • Artistic License History: The officer executing Chikatilo was wearing a communist uniform, but Chikatilo's trial took place after The Great Politics Mess-Up.
  • Based on a True Story: Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo was a real person, and one of the few killers to start killing in his late 40s. And, yes, communist ideology (particularly in view of the fact that Chikatilo was a member of the Communist Party) did make the investigation a whole lot harder.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Initially, Colonel Fetisov (before he gets emotionally invested).
    • Burakov is also a master of snarking, but in a subtle, hostile way. When Fetisov is amazed at how nervous he is and can't understand what he's feeling, Burakov says, "Passion."
    • Burakov is one-upped by Buchanovsky in one memorable exchange:

Burakov: (while Colonel Fetisov shakes the doctor's hand) He'd say something witty but he's overcome with emotion right now.
Bukhanovsky: Thank you both... and may I say that, together, you make a wonderful person.

  • Determinator: Unknowingly, Burakov is considered such by the head of the FBI's Serial Crimes Task Force - "the one man in the world he would not want after him". Burakov is reduced to tears when he learns about this. The FBI's right, too: Burakov manages to keep his sanity and catch his man after A DECADE of investigation, when he finally gets the resources he needs to catch his man. it takes the Fall of the Soviet Union to finally get him his resources. Let that sink in for a second.
  • Dirty Communists: In one sense, the real villains of the movie: Without them, Chikatilo would have been arrested long before the ending.
  • Driven to Suicide: The young homosexual man who had been falsely arrested on the erroneous belief that the killer had to have been homosexual. Burakov finds his body hanging in his cell, and it's one of the things that culminates in his subsequent breakdown.
  • Eye Remember: The killer's belief in this particular piece of folklore is key to getting him to confess. (Not because they can actually use the victims' eyes to identify the killer, or even that they falsely claim they can--it just happens that the killer being told the detail from Bukhanovsky's profile of him that he may have this belief is what finally makes the murderer break down and confess.)
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Chikatilo's execution.
  • Heroic BSOD: Averted, but just barely by Bukarov. He breaks down when he finds out that normally, investigators are rotated out of forensic cases every few months to avoid irreversible psychological damage - and Bukarov had been working on the same case for eight years.
    • Burakov suffers one earlier on in the film, when he is confronted by Bondarchuk regarding some statements he had made about how he would rather find bodies of the serial killer's victims than not-- meaning that he would rather have a possible lead to the killer than none at all. Bondarchuk twists his words and makes him out to be no better than the murderer they are trying to capture, which causes Burakov to burst into tears and need to be brought to a rest home. Bondarchuk is unsympathetic.

Bondarchuk: (witnessing Burakov's breakdown) Is this man crying? Is the man to whom we have entrusted the safety of our children crying?

  • I'm a Humanitarian: Chikatilo partially cannibalized his victims, because in Soviet Union, serial eats you.
  • Ironic Echo: "He may be stupid, but he is in charge." Early on, Fetisov to Burakov, who's just nearly blown his stack at the Committee over their obstructive stance. Later on, Burakov to Fetisov, who (letting his increasing emotional investment in the case run away with him) has just ripped into the prosecutor from Moscow after an unproductive interrogation session.
  • Made for TV Movie: Could easily had have a theatrical release and been the darling of the Oscars.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Played for laughs when Fetisov catches on to Burakov's "catch more flies with honey" ploy-- something that Fetisov had suggested earlier in the film.

Fetisov: ...Did you just come in here and go out of your way to make me feel good; then ask me for something? My God, are you learning how to manipulate people? I've created a monster.

  • Police Brutality Gambit: It fails miserably.
  • Red Herring: Subverted: When Burakov arrests Chikatilo, he thinks he finally has him pending a blood-semen test, but Chikatilo goes free, much to Burakov's frustration, when the blood test shows that the semen and Chikatilo's blood are different types(Chikatilo's A, the semen is AB). Burakov says that the FBI's blood test had more factors being tested and was more accurate, so it's irrelevant that in this case it was negative, but the damage is done. However, it is later revealed that Burakov was absolutely right: Chikatilo possesses a rare genetic trait that makes his semen and blood different blood types. Had the test been done with the FBI's test, it'd have been an exact match.
    • That's not what the film says: the head of Soviet forensics claims this as her explanation of why Chikatilo passed, but it says the rest of the world's scientists mocked it as ridiculous, and what happened was never adequately explained. It seems to be the lab just messed up the test somehow, which is not surprising given what we see of Soviet bureaucratic incompetence.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Bukarov refuses to let Party politics stop him from his investigation, and Fetisov blackmails a high ranking Party officer to allow Bukarov to continue his investigation.
  • The Stoic: Fetisov, Lampshaded by Bukarov.
  • Serial Killer
  • Take That: To communism, or at least how communist Russia was run during the time of the case.
  • Undying Loyalty: In his own way, Fetisov NEVER gives up on Bukarov, and Bukarov himself slowly comes to this realization as he manages to make progress thanks to Fetisov, leading to this exchange:

Fetisov: "Have I ever let you down?"
(Bukarov stands in silent disagreement to the question)
Bukarov: (smiles) "Thank you so much for your support."
(Fetisov walks away, while Bukarov smiles.)

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