The Death of Stalin

You might think The Death of Stalin was a parody or a black comedy or a farce. We know that the actors are playing actual people some of whom lived until the late 1980s. The weird thing is the actual events depicted in the movie happened in some form.

In real life, when Stalin was lying on the floor in his soiled pajamas after he suffered a stroke. They needed to call a meeting to decide whether to call a doctor. Stalin's personal physician was unavailable as he was being tortured at the time for suggesting Stalin needed more bed rest.

Armando Iannucci mines comedy gold in an absurd, surreal, darkly violent tale of who wants to be the next leader of the Soviet Union. It is not a historical tale, it is a story of what can happen in any society where dogma and the bullet become the main currencies.

Taking his lead from the farcical absurdity which he has always done so well, director Iannucci turns to Soviet politics and the days after the death of Stalin. In doing so he produces a film that seems like a bit of a hard sell; truth be told it took me a minute to be motivated to watch it on the basis that it didn't "sound" good. From the opening scenes though, the tone is clear and strong. The uneasy actions of the inner circle are played out in a "relaxed" meal, while at the same time an entire orchestra frantically try to save their own lives by simply complying with a request from Stalin. These opening scenes are funny and absurd but yet they have a genuine menace and fear to them.

It is hard to describe but neither of these aspects undercut the other. The film manages to work as it plays out a massacre but yet has wonderfully funny dialogue and performances. This combination is deftly balanced and I wish I even had the skill to explain it, far less do it. The cruelty of the clamber for power, and the ruthless callousness of those who have it is chilling even as you laugh, but it is the laughter that is more impressive. The absurd but witty dialogue, combined with plenty of genuinely funny comedic touches in the small details (the accents, the pyjamas, the phrasing), all make the film very funny and had laughs where I least expected it at times. The cast are well served with the material, and are very good at making the most of it. Buscemi, Tambor, Beale, McLoughlin, Palin, Whitehouse, Friend, Isaacs, and really all the cast get the tone of the film just right. The comedic timing is spot on for all, but so too are the performances of men scheming and manipulating all the time while knowing the firing squad may be just around the corner.

Well worth watching. It has moments as funny as Thick of It etc, but yet has a darkness that makes it much more satisfying and engaging to watch.

"The Death of Stalin" is a somewhat fact-based film. In other words, it tries its best to recreate the events around the time of Stalin's death, though the sources aren't exactly unbiased or 100% truthful....and sometimes the writers needed to infer what was said and done behind closed doors. Look at it as the best guess as to the events instead....and in this sense and many others the movie is marvelous and very well made.

The story begins shortly before Stalin's death from a cerebral hemorrhage. The machinations before and especially after are what is intriguing about the story....and how various evil scum surrounding Stalin all vied for power after his demise. It culminates with a very vivid and bloody scene...of a man who truly deserved his fate but watching it is NOT for the faint of heart.

Apart from a bit of violence that might be off-putting (after all, the Stalinist regime was one of the most brutal and bloody in history), the film is a delight to watch. Excellent acting, amazing makeup and an interesting story all work together to make a really exciting film...well worth seeing.

... and yet this film does just that. It revolves around the power struggle that occurs at the death of Stalin in 1953, a man who had an iron grip on Russia for 30 years and enforced his will with terror, often randomly.

So when the sycophants who surround him are suddenly bereft of his soul, they are all jockeying for power while finding it very difficult to do the one thing that would get you tortured and killed as long as they can remember - independent thinking, or even making suggestions for that matter. A simple show of hands vote becomes a hilarious demonstration of group think. They all have a collective case of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to Stalin, still afraid of a man who is dead.

Jeffrey Tambor is doing his character Hank from the 90s sitcom "The Larry Sanders Show", and Steve Buschemi, as Nikita Khrushchev, doesn't look like any picture of Khrushchev that I ever saw at any point in his life. Plus he's basically doing his "funny looking guy" schtick from Fargo, and yet it all works.

When Lavrenti Beria, head of the secret police and probably responsible for untold terrors, gently tells Stalin's daughter that she needs to leave Russia because people who are strange like she is don't live very long, it is practically a sweet intimate moment that runs counter to everything we know about the guy.

This is a bleak yet hilarious comedy built around real events. I'd highly recommend it.

Moscow, 1953. After being in power for nearly 30 years, Soviet dictator, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, takes ill and quickly dies. Now the members of the Council of Ministers scramble for power in the government and the army. That inner circle is comprised of: Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) , First Secretary of the Moscow Committee; Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin), Foreign Secretary; Georgi Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) , Deputy to Stalin; Lazar Kaganovich, Minister for Labor; Anastas Mikoyan, Minister for Trade; Nikolai Bulganin, Minister for Defense; and arguably most terrifying Lavrenti Beria (Simon Russell Beale), these high authorities attempt to curry the favor of Stalin's two adult children, Svetlana Alliluyeva (Andrea Riseborough) and Vasili Stalin (Rupert Friend). Furthermore, Field Marshal Georgi Zhukov (Jason Isaacs), Head of the Soviet Army, who has the manpower of the said army behind him. Everybody wants a piece !. When a great leader falls, the fight for leadership begins !. In the Kremlin, no one can hear you scheme !. It's every comrade for himself !. You'll laugh or else !. He's dying to replace him !. Russia 1953, a nation in fear of one man !. The deputy, the politician, the son, the spymaster, the general !.

A peculiar comedy of terrors loosely based on the true story. Armando Iannucci (Veep, Avenue 5, The personal life of David Copperfield, In The Loop) directs and writes the script for this satire with a lot of black humor about the days before and immediately after Stalin's death. In 'The Death of Stalin' (2017) is depicted the last days of Stalin in a satirical, and humorous way with a number of outlandish incidents, including the rollercoaster of incessant plotting, tireless machinations, and the twisted, frail allegiances. There are several hilarious references to historical events, so when the Politburo first discovers Stalin's comatose body the morning after his stroke and move him to his bed, they briefly allude to how they "got rid of the good doctors in Moscow." It's a reference to the Doctors' Plot, a campaign in 1952 and 1953 that accused doctors of Jewish ancestry of conspiring to assassinate Soviet leaders. Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin published in 2010, this multi-award-winning film (best comedy at the European Film Awards, four awards at the British Independent Film Awards) stars an ensemble cast that embodies the different contenders in the fight to occupy the position of the recently deceased Stalin. So Steven Buscemi is the politician Nikita Khruschev, Simon Russell Beale is the director of the Russian secret service, Jeffrey Tambor is the legitimate secretary general, Michael Palin is Vyacheslav Molotov and Andrea Riseborough and Rupert Friend are Stalin's own children, in addition Field Marshal Georgi Zhukov, who's head of the Soviet Army, and that's why he has a huge power. All of then giving splendid interpretations. Along with them, in minor roles appearing: Olga Kurylenko, Paddy Considine, Paul Whitehouse, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, among others, they complete the nice cast of this film that was prohibited by the authorities of Vladimir Putin's government in Russia.

Paced in the form of satire by director and co-writer Armando Iannucci (nominated for the Academy Award for his screenplay ¨In The Loop¨), this is a special film and out of the real events. Rating: 7/10. Better than average. The film will appeal to historical parodies enthusiasts. Well worth seeing.