The Death of Stalin

Making fun of a scum like Stalin and the Bolshevik cadres deserves praise, but I didn't find the film very funny. The humour was quite forced and ham-fisted, I guess I'm not the right viewer for such unbridled shenanigans. The casting, with the exception of Khrushchev and Molotov (the always reliable Buscemi and Palin) was one big blunder, especially with Stalin himself, who came across more like a nice old man than the charismatic, demonic Satan. (04/27/2018)

Stalin is dead and needs to be replaced. There are plenty of ambitious candidates to replace him, and the battle for the throne begins. Winner takes all, loser takes a bullet to the head. It's going to be a ride. The Death of Stalin is a clever comedy that relies on the fact that it features situations that are as absurd as they are terrifying, rather than classic humour. And with a great cast, too. As a purposefully slightly over-the-top reminder of what was happening just a few decades ago, the film works excellently. And as a clever comedy, too. (07/26/2018)

House of Cards demonises politics as a rotten evil, the Danish government presents an explosive ideal of how politics should look, the classic satire Yes, Minister ridicules the incompetence and stubbornness of top politicians and the Czech Kancelář Blaník takes the blame off of politicians and depicts professionally depersonalised and opportunistic lobbyists as the instigators of all evil. This map, on which every viewer can choose which of these image of politics suits his or her prejudices or ideals, is essentially supplemented by the British satirist Armando Iannucci, who, unlike all the others, depicts politics as uncontrolled chaos. Thanks to this, he is characteristically able to include in his screenplays, with the phenomenal – and for many epigones, inspiring - political sitcom The Thick of It at the fore, all of the above-mentioned views on politics through individual characters. The initial situation of The Death of Stalin is exactly Iannucci's characteristic political chaos, not only in the sense of what started immediately after Stalin's death, but also in the sense of the entire degenerate totalitarian regime of the USSR of late Stalinism, where only incompetents, nutcases, toadies, manipulators and morons remained in high positions, because all of the capable people had been eliminated. (07/07/2019)

Excellent post-war satire, interwoven with very funny and apt black humour, great acting performances (Steve Buscemi and Simon Russel Beale are excellent), plus traditional executions and a stiffing atmosphere, so for me great satisfaction and surprisingly decent entertainment. From the turn of the year quite possibly, the best we've had. Long live Stalin! It should definitely be shown in schools. 85%. (02/28/2018)

You almost want to say that this event could only be conceived as an absurdist comedy, if it indeed was a comedy, but in the end, it turns out that it can be a funny comedy that is clever, but at the same time presents historical events not outright faithfully, but does not distort them that much - only with the humor. (03/19/2018)