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Old April 4th, 2018 #1
steven clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,277
Default The Death of Stalin

A new movie…not really a (whew!) comic book film, although it's based on a graphic novel, but The Death of Stalin, by Armando Iannudci (who does Veep on HBO) is a serious/farcical look at the end of Stalin. The cry of the USSR was 'Na Rodina, na Stalina', and the film begins in no uncertain terms in a murderous dictatorship. People are being taken into dark corners and shot,
doors are being pushed open in the night, and a radio concert is taking place. Mozart is played. After the concert ends, the director gets a call from Stalin. He wants a copy of that recording. Now. None was made, and the terrified director compels the pianist to stay, locks up the concert hall, drags in anyone from the street to fill the hall for resounding applause, and when the conductor collapses from fear, another is rounded up to conduct in his pajamas.
Stalin is happy as he plays the concerto in his dacha…and reads a note from the pianist denouncing him. he laughs…and promptly collapses.
The leaders, Khruschev, Beria, Molotov, Malenkov…are appalled. The great leader is dead, and who will take over? Everyone jockeys for power, trying to out screw the other and keep their head. Beria, head of the secret police, has files on everyone. Malenkov feels he is Stalin's heir, but he looks like a grandmother. Khruschev angles for power.
The style is like Veep, with a lot of one-liners ('how can you plot and walk at the same time?), and farce mixes with drama. A proper operation can't be performed on Stalin because he had all the good doctors shot. The massive state funeral shows more jockeying, and through all this, the masses revere Stalin and flood the city (despite Beria shutting it off, and soldiers open fire on people trying to get to Stalin). Again, the repression is very real as is the period feel (Stalin invites his cronies to watch American westerns with him…but no Russian subtitles because the films were stolen from the West) of dullness and a real air of oppression. A scene where Malenkov demands a young girl to be photographed with him a la Stalin recalls Wag the Dog and a scene trying to find the right kitten).
It's a relief to have a movie with history, no blacks, and a view of Russia rarely seen. The comedy and drama balances well, and although everyone has good lines, you have to remember all of these guys are communists and murderers, and some, like Molotov, dislike the idea of reform and stopping arrests because they have to remain 'true to Stalin and the revolution.'
It reminds me of what the Deep State must be feeling when they get rid of Trump and decide to come for us.
It was a lot of fun.
Also, The Death of Stalin opened in an art house cinema in Moscow, and its one performance was closed by the police. Putin admires Stalin, and it's considered disrespectful to show the film. Na rodina, na Stalina!
 
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