2017 Directed by Armando Iannucci
When tyrannical dictator Josef Stalin dies in 1953, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. Among the contenders are the dweebish Georgy Malenkov, the wily Nikita Khrushchev and Lavrenti Beria, the sadistic secret police chief.
Steve Buscemi Simon Russell Beale Paddy Considine Rupert Friend Jason Isaacs Olga Kurylenko Michael Palin Andrea Riseborough Paul Chahidi Dermot Crowley Paul Whitehouse Adrian McLoughlin Jeffrey Tambor Tom Brooke Justin Edwards Paul Ready Yulya Muhrygina Andrey Korzhenevskiy Roger Ashton-Griffiths Jeremy Limb Andy Gathergood Alexander Piskunov Ruslav Neupokoev Alla Bineeva Nicholas Woodeson Elaine Caxton George Potts Sylvestra Le Touzel Nicholas Sidi Show All…
I did something so insulting.... so blasphemous... so abhorrent.
Ready?
I watched this film on the plane.
BUT
I still laughed my ass off and think it’s one of my faves so far this year. The comic timing is impeccable. The performances shine. My god... Paddy Considine really shows his comedy chops.
Loved it and recommend seeing it ASAP. But not on a plane... it deserves better.
VEEP meets CITY OF GOD.
more grim than funny, but still plenty funny. by far my favorite thing that Armando Iannucci has ever done.
“Who would put a lamp on a chair?”
Unabashedly declaring this the best
[dark (as FUCK)] comedy of last year;
Iannucci's the master political satirist.
75
Fucking hysterical, mostly for showcasing the idiocy in group government dynamics while never shying away from the violence and complete disregard for human life around the chaotic remnants of the regime. In various scenes set inside the torture chambers, background bodies are shot (both on and off screen), conveying the same narrative function as a moment where a nameless prisoner tumbles outrageously down the stairs. The Death of Stalin wrestles with hilarity and horror within the same confined, decedent spaces, and the disruptions of each are startling. In a showing before mine, a woman apparently yelled "Communism isn't funny!" before storming out. Of course, even if it wasn't funny (and The Death of Stalin almost constantly is -like a squabbling contest between imbeciles), the film suggests something far worse: that it's true and, to quote The Giant in Twin Peaks, "it is happening again."
Now that's a fucking dark comedy. Very very funny and sharp and brilliant, but tonally upsetting and maybe a little confusing in a way I need some time to process? Or, just need to know more about history for. Who can say! I think I liked it!
"It's been a funny old week really."
From Dr. Strangelove to Duck Soup, the political satire has long been one of my favorite genres with each of those titles making laugh way more than I should. Armando Iannucci's sophomore film succeeds in making a total farce of a tyrannical regime and in 2018, a comedy that revels in the inherent absurdity of power and those who crave it is a comedy that is desperately needed.
This is one film that for me got better the more my friends and I recalled specific moments from it! We kept cracking up as we remembered specific moments. My favorite in the film was Jason Isaacs. He stole every scene! Looking forward to watching this one again.
Tobias Andersen 6,297 films
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