In Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin, Russian dignitaries attempt to come together to determine the direction of the Soviet Union following the death of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in 1953. Under dictatorial rule for more than three decades, a power pull breaks out among Nikita Khrushchev of Moscow, Lavrentiy Baria, the head of NKVD - Russian Internal Affairs, and Stalin's General Secretary, Georgy Malenkov, as well as with other members of a hastily assembled Central Committee.
That may sound simple enough, but through the filter of Iannucci, this quickly degenerates into a haven of inspired lunacy.
Iannucci is the creator of the Emmy-winning "Veep" and shared an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2009's In The Loop. His pencil remains ever so sharp and jagged.
From the very beginning, when Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) orders a copy of a classical music performance he listened to on Radio …show more content…
Half-heartedly a couple people oblige.
It should be noted that Russia banned The Death of Stalin, as did a few other countries from the former Soviet Union. To put it midldly, the movie is not exactly a ringing endorsement of Mother Russia. As the silliness amplifies and the barbs get sharper and cause deeper and deeper wounds, I was struck by how underneath my chuckling and laughter, a sense of real-world panic began setting in.
As over-the-top as all of this seems to be, Iannucci finds parallels to the toxicity of our political world today. History tells us that Malenkov would essentially be a de facto leader, with the support of Baria, but it would be Khrushchev that would essentially shift the country and take its politics away from Stalin's policies, governing as the First Secretary of the Communist Party for nearly a
That may sound simple enough, but through the filter of Iannucci, this quickly degenerates into a haven of inspired lunacy.
Iannucci is the creator of the Emmy-winning "Veep" and shared an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2009's In The Loop. His pencil remains ever so sharp and jagged.
From the very beginning, when Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) orders a copy of a classical music performance he listened to on Radio …show more content…
Half-heartedly a couple people oblige.
It should be noted that Russia banned The Death of Stalin, as did a few other countries from the former Soviet Union. To put it midldly, the movie is not exactly a ringing endorsement of Mother Russia. As the silliness amplifies and the barbs get sharper and cause deeper and deeper wounds, I was struck by how underneath my chuckling and laughter, a sense of real-world panic began setting in.
As over-the-top as all of this seems to be, Iannucci finds parallels to the toxicity of our political world today. History tells us that Malenkov would essentially be a de facto leader, with the support of Baria, but it would be Khrushchev that would essentially shift the country and take its politics away from Stalin's policies, governing as the First Secretary of the Communist Party for nearly a