The Death Of Stalin

Synopsis: Moscow, 1953: Joseph Stalin suddenly dies kicking off a power struggle to be the next Soviet leader with the Gulags or a firing squad a real possibility for whoever loses.

Armando Iannucci transposes his rapid-fire satirical style honed on his 2010 hit In the Loop and his long-running HBO series,Veep, to Stalinist Russia in a film that like Mel Brooks’ The Producers (1967) and Roberto Begnini’s Life Is Beautiful (1997) puts a comedic spin on what is actually very dark material.

Joseph Stalin’s 30 year dictatorship in which a staggering number of people died (estimates range from 9 to 50 million) as a result of execution, death in forced labour camps and famine, has come to end with the tyrant’s death from a cerebral haemorrhage leaving his inner circle in melt-down. Ineffectual Deputy leader Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) is his legal successor but the real contenders are the reformist Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and the dreaded secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale).

Reminiscent of  Milos Forman’s classic The Fireman’s Ball (1967) Iannucci, who based The Death of Stalin on a graphic novel of the same name by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, has a lot of fun with exposing the hypocrisies and venality of the Soviet system here exaggerated by the cult of Stalin which has created an atmosphere of justified paranoia. Chuckles are to be had as the various members of the Central Committee jockey for position and, not just in a political sense, their lives, as Beria moves his security force, the NKVD, to lock down Moscow while Krushchev is assigned to oversee preparations for Stalin’s funeral.

Although Iannucci isn’t giving us history the broad strokes are there and some familiarity with the times and players would help. It is hard to imagine the film meaning much to anyone who has not grown up at least in the shadows of the Cold War and therefore understanding the frightening reality that lies behind the Brechtian absurdity. One of Iannucci's strategies for distancing himself from this reality is to have all the characters speak in their native English, Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) for instance talks like an East End bovver boy whilst Buscemi keeps his Brooklyn accent, As the film progresses however and Krushchev moves to cut off Beria who in real life was a murderer, a serial rapist and paedophile as well as architect of the Gulag system, it is difficult to maintain the satrico-comedic vibe. It's like Veep but with a firing squad waiting in the wings.

The Death of Stalin is a very well made film. Zac Nicholson’s cinematography is crystal clear and a fine team of behind-the-scenes creatives give us a convincing simulation of the time and place.  It's wryly amusing in places but don’t expect to be rolling around with laughter.

FYI: For related material check out Peter Duncan's off-beat 1996 Australian comedy, Children of the Revolution.

Want more about this film?

Want something different?