SummaryFedor Alexandrovich is a radioactive man. He was four years old in 1986, when he was exposed to the toxic effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and forced to leave his home. Now 33, he is an artist in Ukraine, with radioactive strontium in his bones and a singular obsession with Chernobyl, and with the giant, mysterious steel pyramid now rott... Read More
Directed By:Chad Gracia
Written By:Chad Gracia
The Russian Woodpecker
Metascore
Generally Favorable
74
User score
Mixed or Average
5.6
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 13, 2015
100
The Russian Woodpecker is very much like Fedor himself — eccentric as hell, smart as a whip, and, at the end of the day, a heartbreaker.
Oct 13, 2015
100
In the end, it doesn't matter if you believe Alexandrovich's story that a $7 billion weapons system was ultimately the cause of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown; what matters is that Alexandrovich believes it so completely. And through his eyes (which seem to bug out outside of his skull), the entire Russia/Ukraine relationship takes on a vivid, personal immediacy.
User score
Mixed or Average
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
40% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Nov 29, 2015
10
It is difficult to overstate how incredible writer/director Chad Gracia’s storytelling work is here. The Russian Woodpecker is a film that begs to be as confusing and cumbersome as possible, with competing dichotomies of past and present, Cold Warriors and pacifists, history and art, history-makers and artists, and science and conspiracy. Yet somehow Gracia not only makes sense of it all, he presents it in a way that rivals some of the best dramatic fiction out there.
Jul 29, 2016
8
Chad Gracia returns, but only this time, he has a huge movie documentary to share and 'The Russian Woodpecker' manages to get things right without slipping a single mistake.
Oct 13, 2015
80
Director Chad Gracia’s The Russian Woodpecker offers a wild ride through Ukrainian and Soviet history.
Oct 13, 2015
80
Gracia succeeds brilliantly in delivering a chilling warning about where Putin and his spooks might go next, by giving Fedor full licence to act the biblical prophet.
Feb 1, 2018
75
The post-apocalyptic landscapes captured by the courageous lens of cinematographer Artem Ryzhykov are deeply chilling, especially when Alexandrovich stumbles upon a classroom littered with gas masks.
Oct 15, 2015
60
Whatever the facts, Mr. Gracia’s messily structured film works best as a document of fear in today’s Ukraine and as a kind of ghost story about the Soviet Union.
Oct 15, 2015
58
The Russian Woodpecker is ostensibly an investigative documentary, but there’s precious little investigation; its primary subject, Fedor Alexandrovich, is peddling a hypothesis for which he offers no tangible evidence whatsoever.
Nov 26, 2021
0
Purely fictional conspiracy theorist propaganda film. Purely fictional conspiracy theorist propaganda film.
Production Company:
- GraciaFilms
- Roast Beef Productions
- Rattapallax
Release Date:Oct 16, 2015
Duration:1 h 20 m
Awards
Biografilm Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
International Documentary Association
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
