Throughout Danish director Peter Anthony’s 2014 debut documentary “The Man Who Saved The World,” former Soviet colonel Stanislav Petrov reminds the audience that he is not a hero but instead someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time. With his ordinary body, sad eyes and weathered face, he seems like an unlikely protagonist.
On the night of Sept. 26, 1983, while serving as duty officer at the command center for a nuclear warning system, Petrov saw a report that the United States had fired five missiles into Russian airspace. Doubting the credibility of the warning system, Petrov decided to report to his superiors that the warning was a false alarm. He was right.
As a result, Petrov prevented a possible retaliatory nuclear attack by Soviet forces on the United States, which may have resulted in World War III and countlessmultiple lives lost. Despite being initially praised for his actions by his Russian superiors, he was also berated by one of his commanders for failing to record his actions in a daily log and therefore receiving no award for his courageous decision.
Anthony decided to recreate the events of Sept. 26, 1983 through historical reenactment, casting actor Sergey Shnyryov (“Worm”) as Petrov. The film is dominated by quick cuts and closeups of Petrov’s and his fellow comrades’ worried faces in dark blue filtered lighting. These scenes create a mood full of tension, emphasized by the ominous drums in the background and Shnyrov’s dramatic acting.
But the film is not just a biopic. The reenactment is intercut with footage of the actual Petrov and the journey he took in 2006 as a 70-year-old man. He travels to New York to be interviewed by a young Russian journalist about his amazing story, honored by both the United Nations and legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite, who remarks, “so you’re the man who saved the world eh?” Petrov is also honored by actors such as Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon, and humorously asks his interpreter if Damon is DeNiro’s son. When he meets his favorite American actor Kevin Costner, he gives him a book about Moscow, and in return, Costner makes a sweet toast to him on set. At a shooting range in Louisiana, Petrov successfully shoots a target of Bin Laden through the eye.
Yet these moments of levity are balanced by many moments of darkness in the film. The reenactments also depict the failing health of his wife Raya as she succumbs to cancer, with Petrov asleep when she dies. Petrov wants both Russia and the U.S. to move past the Cold War and abandon their nuclear programs, declaring that he believes that it is only a matter of time before nuclear weapons are used again. Anthony uses apocalyptic imagery, such as footage of 9/11, rockets being launched and a blue-filtered nuclear mushroom cloud to suggest the alternative result had Petrov confirmed that the missiles were real or the grim possibility of such a future.
However, the film ends on a light note, as Petrov reunites with his 90-year-old mother after losing contact for over 20 years. The final shot is a long shot of them walking hand in hand, their backs to the camera. With a mixture of closeup personal documentary footage and reenactment, “The Man Who Saved The World” sheds a light on someone whose quick decision, though seemingly insignificant, averted the extinction of the human race.
