The Death of Stalin is 2017 Dark/Comedy by Armando Iannucci and written by Iannucci with help from David Schneider and Ian Martin as it tells the story of Stalin’s last days in power before, during and after Stalin’s death in a satirical and comedic way.
So just before i start this review i am a huge fan of the 3 writers of this movie, The Thick Of It, In The Loop and The most recent The Personal History Of David Copperfield amongst others are absolutely hilarious these guys know how to write comedy and The Death Of Stalin isn’t only as funny as their other works…it might be the funniest one they have done i’ll try my best to explain why i love this movie so much.
So first of the most important part of a Comedy is of course the Jokes and my god this film has jokes coming at you left right and centre, it’s literally none stop and it’s just gut busting, whether it’s physical comedy,verbal visual comedy through set pieces this film had me roaring out loud in the cinema and soon as i had calmed myself down i found myself laughing at another joke and they just kept coming, but the weird thing about it is the comedy isn’t funny if you try to explain it to someone who hasn’t seen it but watching it unfold on screen has some of the funniest scenes you’ll ever watch.
But of course you can have a good joke but if your delivery isn’t any good and you butcher it then it isn’t going to be funny, but somehow every single actor is on point in this movie their comedic timing even from some of the non comedic actors is better than most comedians. Every joke is timed and delivered to perfection. You can see everyone is having such a good time with this movie and the cast is absolutely star studded the film boasts Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev,Simon Russell Beale as Lavrentiy Beria,Rupert Friend as Vasily Stalin,Jason Isaacs as Georgy Zhukov,Michael Palin as Vyacheslav Molotov,Andrea Riseborough as Svetlana Stalin,Jeffrey Tambor as Georgy Malenkov and Adrian McLoughlin as The Infamous Joseph Stalin as well as so many others.
This movie isn’t a ‘big hollywood blockbuster’ as such but the movie is a delight to look at the color scheme is rightly really colourful which i assume was done purposely to show as it contrast the dark subject matter or the colour is used to show the two sides to the story, one side let’s call it ‘Stalin’s side’ is full of wealth and bright colors and the other side, let’s call it ‘the people’s side’ is full of browns and grey telling a story through set design and colour without actually having to verbally tell us.
The only thing i could think of that may put people off is the subject matter, yes its a satirical look into Stalin’s final days but they don’t shy away from subjects such as Murder,Torture,Kidnap and even Rape and though it is mostly a comedy it doesnt tiptoe around from touchy subjects to get the facts out of how much of a Iron Grasp people in power had over Russia and its people and if you didn’t agree with all of it you were simply shot.
Not really a movie point but here is a story. The night I saw this I was working in Norfolk, and myself and my best friend Aaron went to the local cinema to find ourselves sat in a sold out screen and every single person there was at least 70 years of age… I remember Aaron leaning over and saying “Are you sure this is a comedy because why are all these old people here?” and of course it was a Comedy…a really funny comedy. A comedy that one could say was quite distasteful, well someone of a more mature age would say so, let’s say someone in their 70’s plus would probably think it wasn’t funny at all…and that’s what made this film all the more fun. Myself and Aaron were howling with laughter and the old people were dead…silent.So we came to the conclusion that this group of people thought that this was a factual drama piece depicting the rise and fall of Joseph Stalin but instead it was a hilarious romp that had my sides splitting over and over again. Fair to say I don’t think they were impressed, but i couldn’t recommend it enough.
Final Score.
Title:Great
Though it has tough subject matter, The Death Of Stalin is one of the funniest comedies I’ve seen and boasts a talented all star cast that delights for every second they are on screen.
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