Title: The Death of Stalin
Director: Armando Iannucci
Writers: Fabien Nury (comic book and original screenplay)), Thierry Robin Armando Iannucci, David Schneider and Ian Martin
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Olga Kurylenko, Adrian McLoughlin, Paddy Considine, Paul Whitehouse, Paul Chahidi, Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Friend
Time for another edition of “Lawrence reviews a movie that came out years ago,” because I don’t have cable or streaming. And The Death of Stalin is a movie I kept waiting to get cheaper or turn up used on DVD, but it never did. So I finally ponied up for a copy.
Now that I’ve watched it, it’s the rare film that actually lives up to the hype, an absolutely scorching black comedy about high level commies scrambling for power (and survival) as Stalin is dying and after he kicks off.
It’s a tremendous cast, each giving a great performance, as they play one off the other in the sudden power vacuum. Jeffrey Tambor’s Georgy Malenkov is theoretically in charge but too weak to make anyone fear his authority. Simon Russell Beale’s slimy NKVD head Lavrenti Beria (one of history’s nastiest pieces of work) is decisive and cocksure, believing he has enough dirt on everyone to keep his head above water, no matter how much blood he has on his hands. Steve Buscemi’s Nikita Khrushchev is the reluctant party toady who realizes he has to unite the rest of the Committee against Beria before the latter can purge him. Michael Palin (in echoes of his Monty Python and Brazil roles) plays Vyacheslav Molotov as a man who has so mastered communist doublethink that switches from condemning his imprisoned wife mid-sentence to praising her return when Beria produces her.
Into the inner circle comes Stalin’s children, Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough), possibly the only main character without blood on her hands, and her drunken brother Vasily (Rupert Friend), whom the Politburo hacks immediately start sucking up to. Finally, into Stalin’s funeral swaggers Field Marshal Zhukov (Jason Isaacs, having tremendous fun with the role), the macho, cocksure head of the military who ultimately provides the fulcrum upon which the others can rid themselves of Beria.
All of this is done in the hilarious, profane, black comedy style of Director/Writer Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It, right down to the Scottish swearing. Just about everyone here is (as in history) an abhorrent cog in a genocidal totalitarian state, and it’s a pleasure to see them sink knives (rhetorical and otherwise) into each other.
Beria, the nastiest of the nasty, overplays his hand and succeeds in uniting the others against him, for a bloody, satisfying end.
Certain liberties have been taken, as historically there were more than nine months between Stalin’s death and Beria’s execution. But The Death of Stalin is faithful to the spirit of the thing, if not the letter.
All in all, this is a hilarious black comedy, and the best film about communism since The Lives of Others.
Tags: Communism, Media Watch, movies, Stalin
The unfortunate thing is that humorous take on the Soviet Union plays the whole thing as some sort of comic-opera affair, when it was actually one of the most horrific periods in the history of “civilization”.
It’s sort of like the way we romanticize all the “Great Men”, from Alexander the “Great” to Julius Caeser to Ghengis Khan. All of those “worthies” killed their millions; what Alexander and Caeser alone wrought in Persia and Gaul respectively should be remembered right up there with the Holocaust. Don’t even get started on Ghengis Khan…
In a hundred years or less, Stalin and Hitler will be remembered not as the demonic killers that they were, but as historically neutral figures with no real responsibility or agency; look at the way that Napoleon is being lionized by today’s movies. Not a hint of the results of his ambitions, like the destruction in Spain and Russia, where his “great work” destroyed the lives of millions.
I’m not a fan of “Great Men”. On the whole, I think that we’d be rather better off if their servants had slit their throats quietly, before their careers of “Greatness” had a chance to take off.
One day, the human race will grow up, and instead of lionizing and honoring these rank bastards, we’ll do just that, and the guy who wields the razor which slashes the throat will be the one who is immortalized in song and story…
Who was that guy who nearly shot Hitler, towards the end of WWI? British dude, who forbore to shoot the bastard ‘cos the end of the war was nearly on them, and regretted it ever after Hitler’s rise to power…?
One of the best comedies of the 21st Century so far. Can’t recommend it enough. I especially liked the scenes where the KGB troops and regular army keep trading a particular post back and forth as if it were routine.
Hi Lawrence, if you have internet, you have streaming. Google the movie title. On the right will be a selection of streaming sites, free and pay. Click on any you like. If this format changes, you could search “Watch” or “stream” movie title. Looks like Death of Stalin is showing on Pluto and Tubi for free. Sometimes, channels not viewable in the US are shown. If you have VPN, you can get around that or sometimes incognito windows work.
Thank you for the movie review.
My favorite scene was the orchestra repeating its entire performance because they didn’t record it for Stalin the first time.
In light of recent events, every time I think of this movie now I can’t help but imagine a similar fiasco taking place behind the scenes at the White House over the discovery and cover up of Hunter’s missing cocaine.
The Thick of It by Ianucci is also quite good. He redid it as Veep in the US. He has a way with characters, dialog, and casting. All three very enjoyable.
Great movie. The final shot alone is worth the price of admission.
Someone ought produce a film about the Pentagon and the adoption and promotion of DEI. I’m sure there’s lots of ‘profiles in courage’ in that story. Beria’s got nothing on the ‘equity’ queens.
They had to curtail the vileness and evil of Beria because no one would believe the real monster. Real life, unlike fiction doesn’t have to make sense.
They also have to cut back on the number of medals that General Zhukov wear in real life, especially in these special events. Jason Isaac’s chest isn’t as broad as the real guy.
@The Gaffer
That would be a hoot, an instant cult classic. They could call it “The Pentagon Wars” to Pentagon Queers: From the Bradley IFV to Bradley Manning.
I predict a bigger hit than The Sound of Freedom.
I watched it on Amazon Prime and thought this movie is so hysterically funny and vicious that I bought it. I’ve watched it about six or seven times now and I still find it superb. The matter-of-fact switches from being comical boobs to bloodthirsty villains really highlights how vile they were. Not a coincidence that it wasn’t made in Hollywood, I think.
Rewatching it several times I’ve seen some little subtle touches that I missed earlier. For example, the lists that Stalin and Beria were going over look like they were written in Russian. But if you look closely, it’s actually written in English with the characters slightly modified to appear Cyrillic.
Jason Isaacs steals the show, but Paddy Considine is just stellar. “Don’t worry, no one is going to be killed” is another line that is funny on the surface yet instantly illuminates the kind of society they’re in. The whole opening segment is perfect.
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I thought it was a great movie. While I understand concerns about diminishing the crimes of Stalin and Hitler, mockery is one of the best weapons against these monsters.
I don’t have cable or streaming either but my local library had the DVD so I was able to watch it. I enjoyed the movie as well but then (spoiler alert!!) I watched the “special feature” on the DVD about the making of the film and got to listen to the director comparing Trump to Stalin in all seriousness. Made me think after everything he said about Stalin and Beria’s depravity, etc., he still had no earthly idea what he was talking about.