The Death of Stalin (2017)

Moscow, 1953. After being in power for nearly thirty years, Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) takes ill and quickly dies. Now the members of the Council of Ministers scramble for power.

Director:

Armando Iannucci

Writers:

Armando Iannucci, David Schneider

Stars:

Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 18 wins & 35 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Olga Kurylenko	...	Maria Veniaminovna Yudina
Tom Brooke	...	Sergei
Paddy Considine	...	Andreyev
Justin Edwards	...	Spartak Sokolov - Conductor 1
Adrian McLoughlin	...	Josef Stalin
Simon Russell Beale	...	Lavrenti Beria
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Georgy Malenkov
Steve Buscemi	...	Nikita Khrushchev
Michael Palin	...	Vyacheslav Molotov
Paul Ready	...	NKVD Officer Delov
Yulya Muhrygina	...	Woman in Layers of Clothes
Andrey Korzhenevskiy	...	Man in Layers of Clothes
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Musician 1 (as Roger Ashton Griffiths)
Jeremy Limb	...	Musician 2
Andy Gathergood	...	Citizen Bundled into Car

Storyline

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. As a result, when someone discovers his body the following morning, a frenetic surge of raw panic starts spreading like a virus amongst 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?

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Plot Keywords:

satire | black comedy | soviet union | nikita khrushchev character | based on comic book | 

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Taglines:

The fight for leadership begins.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

rated R for language throughout, violence and some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning of this movie, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) recounts a story to Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (Sir Michael Palin) and Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor). Malenkov, unable to follow, asks Khrushchev to clarify part of the story. Malenkov is instead criticized by Molotov for interrupting a story on account of his inability to understand the story. Earlier in his career, Steve Buscemi played a similarly oblivious character in The Big Lebowski (1998), another comedy, where Buscemi is repeatedly berated by a friend for stalling discussions on account of his inability to follow through.

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Goofs

Faced with Stalin's imminent death, Svetlana says that she knows "doctors in Stalingrad". Stalingrad is an industrial city far away in Southern Russia. Surely, the writers meant Leningrad (St Petersburg) which would indeed have many distinguished doctors. Svetlana doesn't seem to have spent any time in Stalingrad, so there's no reason to think that she would have known doctors there.

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Quotes

Georgy Zhukov: Right, what's a war hero got to do to get some lubrication around here?

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Crazy Credits

Black-and-white photographs of the main characters appear over the end credits, but various figures are airbrushed out, have their faces defaced, or have other people superimposed over them, as per Soviet photos of Trotsky and purge victims.

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Connections

Referenced in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Josh Gad/Tamron Hall/Tiana Major9 & Earthgang (2020)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 6, Op. 74 in B Minor
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performed by Galaxy Symphonic Orchestra

User Reviews

Imagine if the world's greatest mass murderer had a comedic puppet master in his court.

Steve Buscemi leads an all star cast of characters in a keystone cop-esque replication of the confusion and anarchy that followed the death of Stalin.

Very dark and witty, but to those with knowledge of these events, so very intuitive.

This is about the steps taken by Stalin's court (The Central Committee) to secure power rather than have another strongman come in, and like Stalin did, clean house.

Listen for some very understated yet powerful lines of dialog here.

I can't wait to see it again. I am afraid of misquoting the lines that i liked so much. Many having to deal with revenge.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official website (au)

Country:

UK France Belgium Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Death of Stalin

Filming Locations:

Blythe House, 23 Blythe Road, West Kensington, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$184,805, 11 March 2018

Gross USA:

$8,047,856

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,646,055

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quad Productions, Main Journey, Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1