MOVIES - Feb. 23, 1987

The West Berlin International Film Festival opened Friday, with Martin Scorsese’s “The Color of Money” and Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” representing the United States and several previously suppressed films representing the Soviet Union--yet another indication of the cultural thaw spreading over that country. Rolan Sergeyenko’s film “Chernobyl,” about last spring’s nuclear catastrophe in the Ukraine, has caused heated controversy behind the scenes in Eastern Europe (it was banned in East Germany), and “Farewell to Matyora,” by director Elem Klimov--who was recently named head of the Soviet film-makers union--has until now had only restricted showings in Moscow’s Film Institute. The festival runs through March 7.