Insane, Hilarious and Riveting!

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2017)

It's one of the darkest periods in modern history! Filled with mass killings, executions, rape, torture and most of all, authorized murder!
I know this makes it sound like the movie might be flippant since IT IS a comedy, but be assured: The Death of Stalin is a Black Comedy masterpiece! Masterpiece, does describe this film well: a masterpiece in directing, writing, acting, casting AND comedy!
But the first two, we really have Armando Iannucci to thank! Both his writing and directing of this film are simply brilliant!
His writing: one thing I noticed about this film after seeing it, was how even though it really made me laugh was how brilliantly it portrayed the madness, political backstabbing and shear lunacy of those dark times.
The script is a brilliant and dynamic piece of writing! It's sharp, cynical and absolutely hilarious!
One thing I look for and often don't find in modern comedies is actual comedic material, but I'm happy to say that in The Death of Stalin I actually found material that really made me laugh! Several scenes: the actual death of Stalin, moving his body, Paul Whitehouse dialogue, the appearances of Stalin's crazy children, Stalin's funeral and the arrival of Field-Marshal Zhukov are just some of the brilliant and hilarious sketches in the movie.
But as I was saying, this movie really shows just how crazy the events at that time were, and to simplify: C orders B to shoot A and then has D shoot B, then E orders D to execute C but then F has G kill E and D... You get the picture, and Iannucci writes all that brilliantly. There are sequences in this film that resemble a Tarantino stand-off!
Now I've reviewed his writing, onto his directing.
In this area, Iannucci excels also! Every single member of the cast is on TOP-FORM and all deliver hilarious and authentic performances!
Steve Buscemi is a very enjoyable presence as Khrushchev. He plays someone trying to keep on top of the slippery political pyramid and trying to stay alive, and he plays that character really well, with authenticity and charisma!
That is not something you can say about Simon Russel Beale as the monster that was Lavrentiy Beria! He plays the part very well and shows the complete sadistic monster that Beria was. Here was a man that would use the power he had to punish and murder many innocent people, here was also a vile rapist and Beale plays that so well that when his death and subsequent incineration comes, you actually are a little glad!
Jeffrey Tambor also delivers a very enjoyable and real performance as Georgy Malenkov and delivers the line: "when I said 'no problem', what I meant was 'no...problem' brilliantly!
There are of course the hilariously crazy performances of Rupert Friend and Andrea Riseborough as Stalin's children. They're both absolutely crazy but play that craziness really well and with real zest!
But (for me) the real highlight of the cast was Jason Isaacs as Field Marshall Zhukov. He delivers a hilarious performance as the OTT, violent, Yorkshire- accented Russian war hero. He's simply ringing with charisma!
The rest of the cast including Michael Palin, Olga Kurylenko, Paul Whitehouse and several others really deliver smart and funny performances as well that have real charisma and comedy in them.
This film really delivered with all these factors and I really did love it and so would certainly recommend this brilliant comedy to anyone...
FINALLY, an actually funny modern comedy!