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Death of Stalin, 2017
Josef Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) signs off on a list of citizens to be imprisoned, tortured, and/or executed, reads a nasty note from a woman who has had enough of his tyranny, and suffers a cerebral hemorrhage that leaves him sliding toward death. Facing the lost of their leader, various ministers and other higher ups in the government begin jockying for the crown, including Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), Beria (Simon Russell Beale), and Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor). The men play deadly, deceitful political games as they try to best position themselves.
This one came highly recommended when I asked for several 2010s movies to watch and it definitely delivered.
What works throughout the entire film is the contrast between the banal, middle-management waffling conversations among the various ministers and the ridiculously high stakes involved in those conversations. The men banter about whether or not to halt the latest slew of executions with little more passion than you'd expect from a debate over whether to order pizza or sub sandwiches for a lunch.
The barely controlled manipulations of the main cast gets tested by an assortment of far less controlled and predictable supporting characters, including a plain-spoken military general (Jason Isaacs), and Stalin's children Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and drunk son Vasily (Rupert Friend). An air of uncertainty undercuts every decision, and the willingness of characters to betray each other leaves everything on a knife's edge for the entire run time.
While the film is a comedy, it is very dark at times. The realities of Stalin's regime are on display, including torture, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, kidnapping, executions, and general terrorizing of civilians. It's jarring to be asked to laugh at Beria sprinting to be the first to greet and hug Svetlana, when just moments earlier we watched him abduct and sexually assault a teenage girl, or when we've seen him torture a man and then demand the sexual assault of another man's wife.
Visually, the film looks great. The costumes and sets exits in a space of slight unreality, which pairs well with the decision to not have the actors speak with accents. It strikes just the right balance of history/not-history.
In terms of satire, I feel that the movie does an incredible job of showing the very warped nature of "loyalty" that emerges from a system of oppression and fear. It's miserable. No one can trust each other. No one feels fully free to speak their mind. I also thought that there was a powerful moment when a decision comes down to (at least temporarily) halt executions. As the news is delivered, a soldier executes one last man. The man next to that man looks down for a moment, processes that he would have been next. For me, part of the message of that moment relates to justice or civil rights movements and times that people are extolled to be "patient." Patience doesn't help that last person who took a bullet to the head.
A very solid dark comedy.
Death of Stalin, 2017
Josef Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) signs off on a list of citizens to be imprisoned, tortured, and/or executed, reads a nasty note from a woman who has had enough of his tyranny, and suffers a cerebral hemorrhage that leaves him sliding toward death. Facing the lost of their leader, various ministers and other higher ups in the government begin jockying for the crown, including Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), Beria (Simon Russell Beale), and Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor). The men play deadly, deceitful political games as they try to best position themselves.
This one came highly recommended when I asked for several 2010s movies to watch and it definitely delivered.
What works throughout the entire film is the contrast between the banal, middle-management waffling conversations among the various ministers and the ridiculously high stakes involved in those conversations. The men banter about whether or not to halt the latest slew of executions with little more passion than you'd expect from a debate over whether to order pizza or sub sandwiches for a lunch.
The barely controlled manipulations of the main cast gets tested by an assortment of far less controlled and predictable supporting characters, including a plain-spoken military general (Jason Isaacs), and Stalin's children Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and drunk son Vasily (Rupert Friend). An air of uncertainty undercuts every decision, and the willingness of characters to betray each other leaves everything on a knife's edge for the entire run time.
While the film is a comedy, it is very dark at times. The realities of Stalin's regime are on display, including torture, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, kidnapping, executions, and general terrorizing of civilians. It's jarring to be asked to laugh at Beria sprinting to be the first to greet and hug Svetlana, when just moments earlier we watched him abduct and sexually assault a teenage girl, or when we've seen him torture a man and then demand the sexual assault of another man's wife.
Visually, the film looks great. The costumes and sets exits in a space of slight unreality, which pairs well with the decision to not have the actors speak with accents. It strikes just the right balance of history/not-history.
In terms of satire, I feel that the movie does an incredible job of showing the very warped nature of "loyalty" that emerges from a system of oppression and fear. It's miserable. No one can trust each other. No one feels fully free to speak their mind. I also thought that there was a powerful moment when a decision comes down to (at least temporarily) halt executions. As the news is delivered, a soldier executes one last man. The man next to that man looks down for a moment, processes that he would have been next. For me, part of the message of that moment relates to justice or civil rights movements and times that people are extolled to be "patient." Patience doesn't help that last person who took a bullet to the head.
A very solid dark comedy.