Review of The Death of Stalin (2017) by Vlad M — 01 Nov 2017

In the same fashion as films such as 'Dr. Strangelove' and Iannucci's own "In the Loop", 'The Death of Stalin' takes dark subject matter and turns it on it's head with slick dry comedy and a pitch black sense of humour. The film is held first and foremost by the brilliant comedic forces of it's actors. The talented performances in this film are first rate, each actor is remarkably skilled at bringing out the most humour without becoming too broad or over theatrical. Steve Buscemi gives one of his best performances in recent memory as the quick talking, weasely, but manipulative First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. Jason Isaacs plays Georgy Zhukov in an unexpected, but priceless performance as a masculine no-nonsense northerner.

If you were expecting a historically and culturally accurate film, then you maybe confused as to why all the Russian characters have distinctive British and American accents, once you start to settle into the tone of the film you begin to understand why director Armando Iannucci has made this decision. In terms of tone it feels like a mix between 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'House of Cards' as odd as a mix that sounds it works excellently to create the absurd world that is satirising one not too dissimilar.

The writing, performances and direction make 'The Death of Stalin' a film which whatever your political opinion maybe, laugh at the flawed and desperate nature of the characters, which we can all relate to in one way or another. While I don't have any real criticisms of the film, the film does not leave you on a high note, which is hard to complain about because of the subject matter, but for a comedy, despite all the laughs, the ending did make me feel quite low, however I think on multiple viewings I may grow to like it more.