The Death of Stalin (2018)

Too much of everything

Absolutely Fantastic

A Major Disappointment

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This was a chilling comedy... like Dr. Strangelove only different. Steve Buscemi gives an incredible performance as Nikita Khrushchev, acting as the only voice of reason in a sea of total chaos and terror. One of those movies that you do and then don't take seriously. Genius on display.

To start off this is one of the best movies i've seen in a while. It's a fresh breath when it comes down to movies about history and Russia as a whole. Not that there are this many movies about Jozef Stalin or the Red army and their period in history. It instantly showed us the fear people had for and the power Stalin had. Some visual gags like men falling off the stairs in the background etc. actually made me giggle a bit, slapstick has been dead for a while yet in this amount it worked. The movie gave ma Doctor Strangelove feeling when it came down to the comedy and laughing about a serious topic. As a movie fanatic I could never have imagined a movie about Stalin his (surprising) natural death to be this funny. It's not a stupid Adam Sandler esc. comedy but a well written smart dark-comedy. The costumes and acting performances delivered by the respected actors are phenomenal. I think that the best thing is that for the first time in my memory Steve Buscemi doesn't die in this movie. It's funny how overacting can sometimes work in this movie, it's well established how Stalin his "Friends" are scared of him and this gets them in some hilarious shenanigans for the first half of the movie. As for the writing it's great, some clever banter as they struggle to get his body out of the room. This tone continues for the rest of the movie. Now to conclude this to be classic : acting : Great, Costumes and sets : Amazing, Cinematography : Good , Directing : For a relativly unknown director a masterpiece, Writing : As said before without a doubt the best thing about the movie.

More or less I guess - but the movie never goes into details what truly happened, rather keeping the satire and fun up. The acting is superb and the humor is as dark and twisted as you can imagine. PC this isn't, quite the opposite. And you can understand why some Russians might not like certain depictions of historical figures and events.So if you like wicked entertainment and are not afraid to laugh even when it seems wrong to do so, remember this is just a movie, so it's ok here. It's not like you are rooting for someone evil in reality. Also Jason Isaacs almost steals the movie entirely. There is nuance and there is just flat out ridiculous. But all in great quality and entertainment.

There are some genuine laughs to be had when this historical satire leans into its farcical, sometimes slightly absurdist, nature or allows the incompetent clambers and random observations of its characters to pierce through its striking period-accuracy but 'The Death Of Stalin (2017)' is also a pretty dark picture that paints a detailed vision of back-stabbing, blood-shed and brutality under the guise of a political party aiming to clean-up after one of history's most ruthless dictators. It's a scenario that seems scarily close to home - despite the many years since its occurrence - and proves that horror and comedy aren't all that far apart. It is precisely because the piece renders its very real events so very realistically - only taking significant liberties in the way it condenses the narrative - that it works so well. Even without the humour, this would've been a brilliant historical drama. With it, however, it's elevated to a new level, one that allows it to be easily accessed by all and makes its most dire of moments slightly more digestible while also lampooning the decisions and mindsets behind them, which are both often incredibly hypocritical and counter-intuitive. It's surprising that nobody has made a flick about this period of history before, as it is so thematically rich and ripe with drama. The fact that it has been given the subtle, satirical and intelligent treatment it has makes it all the more engaging and, surprisingly, entertaining, despite the weight that comes with knowing pretty much all of it actually happened. 7/10