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Title: The Death of Stalin (2017)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Olga Kurylenko | ... | ||
| Tom Brooke | ... | ||
| Paddy Considine | ... | ||
| Justin Edwards | ... | ||
| Adrian McLoughlin | ... | ||
| Simon Russell Beale | ... | ||
| Jeffrey Tambor | ... | ||
| Steve Buscemi | ... | ||
| Michael Palin | ... | ||
| Paul Ready | ... |
NKVD Officer Delov
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Yulya Muhrygina | ... |
Woman in Layers of Clothes
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Andrey Korzhenevskiy | ... |
Man in Layers of Clothes
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| Roger Ashton-Griffiths | ... |
Musician 1
(as Roger Ashton Griffiths)
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Jeremy Limb | ... |
Musician 2
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| Andy Gathergood | ... |
Citizen Bundled into Car
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In early-1953 Moscow, under the Great Terror's heavy cloak of state paranoia, the ever-watchful Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, collapses unexpectedly of a brain haemorrhage. Inevitably, when his body is discovered in the following morning, a frenetic surge of raw panic spreads like a virus in the senior members of the Council of Ministers, as they scramble to maintain order, weed out the competition, and, ultimately, take power. But in the middle of a gut-wrenching roller-coaster of incessant plotting, tireless machinations, and frail allegiances, absolutely no one is safe; not even the feared chief of the secret police, Lavrenti Beria. In the end, who will prevail after the death of Stalin? Written by Nick Riganas
Armando Iannucci is most familiar to TV audiences on both sides of the pond for his cutting political satire of the likes of "Veep" and "The Thick of It", with his only previous foray into directing movies being "In the Loop": a spin-off of the latter series. Lovers of his work will know that he sails very close to the wind on many occasions, such that watching can be more of a squirm-fest than enjoyment.
It should come as no surprise then that his new film – "The Death of Stalin" – follows that same pattern, but transposed into the anarchic and violent world of 1950's Russia. Based on a French comic strip, the film tells the farcical goings on surrounding the last days of the great dictator in 1953. Stalin keeps distributing his "lists" of undesirables, most of who will meet unpleasant ends before the end of the night. But as Stalin suddenly shuffles off his mortal coil, the race is on among his fellow commissariat members as to who will ultimately succeed him.
The constitution dictates that Georgy Malenkov (an excellently vain and vacillating Jeffrey Tambor) secedes but, as a weak man, the job is clearly soon going to become vacant again and spy- chief Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) and Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) are jostling for position. (No spoilers, but you'll never guess who wins!). Colleagues including Molotov (Michael Palin) and Mikoyan (Paul Whitehouse) need to decide who to side with as the machinations around Stalin's funeral become more and more desperate.
The film starts extremely strongly with the ever-excellent Paddy Considine ("Pride") playing a Radio Russia producer tasked with recording a classical concert, featuring piano virtuoso Maria Yudina (Olga Kurylenko, "Quantum of Solace"). A definition of paranoia in action! We then descend into the chaos of Stalin's Russia, with mass torture and execution colouring the comedy from dark-grey to charcoal- black in turns.
There is definitely comedy gold in there: Khrushchev's translation of his drunken scribblings from the night before (of things that Stalin found funny and - more importantly - things he didn't) being a high point for me. Stalin's children Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough, "Nocturnal Animals") and Vasily (Rupert Friend, "Homeland") add knockabout humour to offset the darker elements, and army chief Georgy Zhukov (Jason Isaacs, "Harry Potter") is a riot with a no-nonsense North-of-England accent.
The film held my interest throughout, but the comedy is just so dark in places it leaves you on edge throughout. The writing is also patchy at times, with some of the lines falling to the ground as heavily as the dispatched Gulag residents.
It's not going to be for everyone, with significant violence and gruesome scenes, but go along with the black comic theme and this is a film that delivers rewards.
(For the graphical review of the movie, please visit bob-the-movie- man.com or One Mann's Movies on Facebook. Thanks).