The Death of Stalin (2017)
The Death of Stalin
- 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥
- Directed by: Armando Iannucci
- Starring: Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jason Isaacs
- Where to find it: Netflix
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When thinking of films that centre around the death of one
of the world’s most notorious and cruel dictators, the usual genre that springs
to mind is dark, gritty, and depressing dramas, not black comedies. It should come
as no surprise, then, that the person helming this project is one of the most
talented political satirists around today: Armando Iannucci. Famed for his role
in creating some of the world’s finest of the genre, including The Thick of It,
and its American spin-off, the multi Emmy-winning Veep, it’s fitting that
Iannucci would be the creative mind who would rise to the challenge and create
a film that ends up being an utterly hilarious, yet unmistakably chilling,
version of modern-day history.
The Death of Stalin is set in Moscow, 1953, where after brutally
ruling for almost 30 years, dictator Joseph Stalin (Adrian Mcloughlin) suddenly
dies, leaving the Soviet Council of Ministers, including Nikita Khrushchev
(Steve Buscemi), and Lavrenti Beria (Simon Russell Beale), to hilariously scramble
for power.
Iannucci tackles an undoubtedly dark time in history in a
way that almost flawlessly balances laugh-out-loud humour with a sense of unnerving
horror, with a large reason for this paying off being the strength of The Death
of Stalin’s cast. The film’s cast, including Steve Buscemi’s Khrushchev and Jeffery
Tambor’s wonderfully timid Georgy Malenkov, meld together seamlessly, fitting perfectly into the role of an extremely messed up, almost dysfunctional family always
trying to get one over on each other. One particularly funny scene occurs quite
early in the film and involves all of those closest to Stalin carrying his body
from one room to another, in a scene that would have been boring if not for the
talent of the cast.
In an interesting and decision, the cast opts out of using stereotypical
Soviet accents in the film, instead choosing to mostly use their native
accents, in an unexpected move that only increases the film’s hilarity. This decision
also leads the way for the standout character of The Death of Stalin: Jason
Isaacs’ Field Marshall Zhukov. Isaacs’ deep Yorkshire accent used in this film particularly
stands out amongst the, admittedly sometimes confusing, crowd, leaving
audiences with a sense of unbridled joy whenever he’s on-screen. One of my only
criticisms of The Death of Stalin is that Isaacs’ doesn’t have enough screen
time for my liking.
It would be insensitive for The Death of Stalin to not
acknowledge the hideous acts its characters undertook. The film, in fact, does
not shy away from the dark period on which it is based, opting to make audiences
painfully aware of just how monstrous these characters truly were. One of the
most prolific offenders was Lavrenti Beria (Simon Russell Beale), both in this
film and in real life, a notorious child abuser who gave his victims flowers
when he was finished with them. Beria (Simon Russell Beale) is an utterly vile
character that truly showcases the worst of humanity, giving audiences a stark
reminder that despite the comedic nature of this film, the real-life events
that inspired The Death of Stalin were heinous acts that will be painful to
look back on for the rest of time.
The Death of Stalin showcases exactly what Armando Iannucci
does best, taking characters with an extreme lack of morals and regard for
life, and with them creating a hysterical, and at times scary, commentary on
real-world scenarios that will be seen as the blueprint for the genre for
decades to come.
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