Summary
After Stalin’s death, the Soviet Union struggles to hold together while all of its leaders grapple for power.
My Thoughts
Armando Iannucci has created a frenzied darker-than-black comedy where probably 80% of the jokes are about the horrible atrocities committed by the Soviet Union under Stalin’s reign. That right there may turn off a lot of viewers. How could mass murder, child abuse, rape, torture, and living under an oppressive totalitarian reign be funny?
I have no idea, but this film kills it.
What’s better, the film portrayed real-life events in a way that was coyly didactic; I learned some Russian history whilst laughing until I cried! True, we’re sixty-five years past the day of his death, but there certainly people alive that still remember the days of Stalin, and making light of their suffering might strike some as heartlessly cruel. I realize that in our increasingly sensitive society it’s hard to create a movie like this without hitting a few nerves, so as a disclaimer, I’d like to say that this movie is really dark, but… it’s still hilarious. If jokes about child abduction, rape, torture, human rights violations, and mass murder offend you, then don’t watch this film, because it wont be an enjoyable experience. However, if you can realize that these atrocities did happen, and look past the horror to see the ridiculousness of it all, then pop some popcorn, lean back and prepare to laugh because it’s going to be an uproarious ride.
(SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW)
The film starts with an orchestra playing Mozart. Two radio broadcasters sit in the sound booth behind the audience, watching the orchestra perform with bored expressions written on their faces, until a phone rings and one of the sound engineers (Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur”) picks it up, and after a brief harried conversation, he hangs up and says that it was Stalin’s secretary on the other line, and that Stalin himself wants a recording of the nights performance. The other engineer says that the performance wasn’t recorded, and thus begins a panicked frenzy to try to recreate the sounds lost to time; Paddy runs out into the room, tells all the people that they have to remain in their seats, and not to panic. “Don’t worry, nobody’s going to get killed,” he says with a nervous laugh. In the end, so much goes wrong with the recording that they have to bribe the solo pianist (Olga Kuylenko, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”), hire a new conductor, and pull random people off the street to have the same audience acoustics, but, with the recording pressed, Paddy’s character hands off the record to the secret police and the record is passed on to Stalin himself. Stalin listens to the record and collapses on the floor. Outside, two guards hear him collapse. “Maybe we should investigate?” One suggests meekly. “Maybe you should shut the **** up before you get us both killed,” replies the other tersely. This scene sets the tone for the entire film, for it’s this kind of gallows humor that permeates the film.
As Stalin’s minions learn of his demise, they flock to his home and do their best to keep the chaos in check. There are a lot of Stalin’s cronies, but among the most notable are NKVD head (Soviet Secret Police) Lavrenti Beria (Simon Russell Beale, “My Cousin Rachel”), Party Head Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi, “Fargo”), Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin, “Jabberwocky”), and Deputy General Secretary Georgy Malenkov (Jeffery Tambor, “Hellboy”). As the film progresses, alliances are made and broken, schemes are conceived and aborted, and people are executed to cover things up or, simply, for convenience sake.
(SPOILERS END)
As I mentioned above, the film is surprisingly true to the events that happened (I say this with a rather limited knowledge of Russian history, but the film prompted me to do a bit of reading before sitting down to write this review); the viewer actually learns quite a bit about that time period and the conditions one could be expected to live under during Stalin’s reign. It's a great period piece, and boasts relatively accurate portrayals of clothing and production design. We also get insight into how political squabbles worked (and didn't work) in the Soviet Union. I don’t know of any other film that boasted such compelling political intrigue while also making the viewer die laughing.
The acting from everyone is pretty much spot on. Buscemi and Tambor are probably the funniest of the bunch, but Beale, whom is the slimiest of them all, and was constantly at odds with the others, is also pretty darn great. Michael Palin, whom I normally love, was actually rather subdued; I didn’t find his performance particularly noteworthy.
It was really refreshing that the director chose not to have the actors do a Russian accent. I feel like many times people attempting to do an accent they come off sounding a little forced, and it ends up removing the viewer from the film anytime the actors slip up (looking at you “Red Sparrow”). With this film, the jokes were able to keep coming without the actors having to focus on phony accents, and as a result I believe they gave some pretty stellar performances.
The direction was also pretty outstanding. Again, I have no idea how half the jokes worked, because the subject matter was so dark, but even the slightly-tipsy elderly ladies sitting next to me in this screening found the movie to be hysterical, laughing alongside me without hesitation. Without carefully crated direction, this film could’ve easily come off not as farcical, but simply as offensive and in poor taste. As it is, I remind you that the viewer needs to be okay with joking about dark topics, but I believe that without Iannucci’s direction the film would’ve totally flopped.
Verdict
I feel like I say this a lot, but this film is not for everyone; it’s aimed at people with a dark sense of humor. I think that this film, even now, sixty-five years after Stalin's death, will offend some people, and that’s totally justifiable. There’s plenty to be offended by in this picture. But, I also believe that as human beings we need to be able to laugh at our past mistakes and realize the ridiculousness of ourselves if we ever want to grow as a race and as individuals. For some, this film will be an offensive jab at the horrors of humanity, but for others it will be a hysterical and compelling look at the end of an era of Russian history.
What did you think of The Death of Stalin? Did you find the subject matter offensive and the jokes in poor taste, or did the film work for you? As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
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