The Death of Stalin

Rating: 5/10 (8 October 2018)

Written and directed by Armando Iannucci (I'm Alan Partridge, The Thick of It, Veep) and co-written by David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows, I saw film critic Mark Kermode deliberating this on The Film Review on BBC News, it looked interesting. Basically in early 1953 in Moscow, Russia, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) has been in power for almost thirty years, the "Great Terror" has had a heavy cloak of state paranoia for all that time. During the night, 74-year-old Stalin collapses unexpectedly and is paralysed by a brain haemorrhage, his body is discovered the following morning, he died of a stroke. Members of the Central Committee are alerted and frenetic surge of raw panic spreads like a virus as they scramble to maintain order, weed out the competition, and, ultimately, take power. During this 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 (Simon Russell Beale). Council member Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) does his best to maintain order and thwart Beria's plans. Stalin's body is laid in state in the Hall of Columns, there are four days of national mourning, he is given a state funeral, organised by Khrushchev, Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin), and Beria, he was buried in Lenin's Mausoleum. Also starring Quantum of Solace's Olga Kurylenko as Maria Veniaminovna Yudina, Paddy Considine as Andreyev, Rupert Friend as Vasily Stalin, Jason Isaacs as Field Marshal Zhukov, Paul Whitehouse as Anastas Mikoyan, Andrea Riseborough as Svetlana Stalin, Dermot Crowley as Lazar Kaganovich, Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Musician 1 and Jeremy Limb as Musician 2. From what I understand, it sticks to the basics of the historical facts, but one of the big jokes is, all the characters are an array of British and American accents, rather than Russian, it is a funny concept, accompanied by well-played performances and a witty script, I will admit I lost my way with of the many of the discussions of politics and state affairs, but it is an interesting political satire comedy. It was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Adapted Screenplay and Outstanding British Film of the Year. Worth watching!