The Death of Stalin is a comedy satire about the power struggle following the death of one of history's most notorious dictators. It's also hilarious, insightful, fascinating and generally, a great movie.
Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov was a masterful choice. He captures that 'I defeated Germany and I've survived under Stalin for longer then most of you. I fear nothing at this point.'
He also captures that came from the trenches attitude of a soldier that is most of the time just done with the BS of the political actors around him (especially those that "think" they're being savvy), though has risen high enough to know when to be savvy himself and when to be a wrecking ball.
Sums up his apparently real life attitude. He knew he was too big for staking to take on and staying knew it too. Was careful not to push too far to trigger any need for retaliation but knew the reverse was true for stalin Jason Issacs is great in everything anyway
It's hard not to love Zhukov. The dude was such a breath of fresh air after you listen to the scared politicians all movie and he walks into the room like he could give a shit
Everyone talks about how badass Zhukov is, but nobody talks about Vasily. He has some of the most genuinely funny scenes and lines in the entire movie. My personal favorite is his freakout during Stalin's autopsy, where he accuses the doctors of "not being real people" and how they're trying to steal his father's brain and "fill it with American lies".
This reminded me of one of my school teachers during the CCCP. She was a russian bitč, "a war veteran" heavily medalled for sleeping around with important commanders and for creating the lists of the locals to imprison or exile to Siberia until 1980s. She was always wearing wool jumpers/sweaters that stretched enormously with all the weight of the 20+ medals, lol
Honestly, we’ve gotten so many movies taking the piss out of Hitler and the Nazis, it’s practically a trope in of itself, so seeing a movie poke fun of the Stalin and the Soviet Union is kinda refreshing nowadays.
It's like there's a reason that, say, there's a million holocaust movies but no Holodomor movies. Same thing with Hitler vs. Stalin (or any other dictator)
Buscemi is such an unsung hero. He's never the leading man in movies, but he carries every character in such impactful ways, they can never be overlooked. And this man has not one f*cking Oscar. Travesty.
You should see his how to be a youtuber video, he says free yourself, while showing dirt bikes stuck in the mud. He is either very good at editing or gets lucky sometimes.
The real-life story of that pianist (Maria Yudina) is even more wild than the movie. Not only did she keep wearing her cross despite it being illegal, and not only did she read verses from banned poets at her concerts, but Stalin actually read her letter to his inner circle. For whatever reason, he just never got around to arresting her. When he was found laying on the floor, comatose from a stroke, Yudina's concerto was playing on the record player in his room.
Her letter was not as antagonistic in reality. It said: "I will pray for you night and day and ask the Lord to forgive your great sins before the people and the country. The Lord is merciful and he’ll forgive you. I gave the money to the church that I attend."
The scene where Baria flips and starts screaming that he’s got dirt on everybody was hilarious. And when he’s walking away “only friends and comrades can yell at each other like that.”
@@darthpepe2994 I was about to say the same thing. History Buffs is an amazing channel that anyone who is even remotely interested in history, and wonders how accurate "based on actual events" movies are, should check out.
One of my favourite reviews he did was The Terror, got me really into the story of the Franklin Expedition because of how mysterious and terrifying that story appears to be. 2 ships, 130 sailors just completely vanished somewhere in the Arctic and we still don't know what happened to them
Zhukov steals the show in this movie: "I fucked Germany, I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat." The comic this movie is based on is pretty good too. There was a follow up produced called Death of the Tsar, just as satirical. Hoping the same team will turn that into a movie one day.
Would be cool if the writer ever made another comic on the power struggle after Lenin’s death, from what I know about it the power struggle after his death was just as crazy with Trotsky and Stalin.
The accents crack me up most of all (and you're right, Jason Isaacs as Zhukov steals the show); Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev was hilarious too, because he was like the little, wormy "yes man" of the group. I also find it darkly ironic the way that Beria dies both in the movie and in real life. He sent so many other people to their deaths, yet when it was his time, he was a little bitch about it.
As portrayed, Khruschev was indeed a scared little wormy man - but the smartest guy in the room too. You can see how he survived when so many better men didn't and also how he could outmanouvre Beria, who was no fool himself. Of course they all look grey little men next to Zhukov ...
The actual events and circumstances of Beria's death in the film differ in some ways to how he was executed in real life, but the concept was very much there in spirit. In fact, the film actually _downplays_ how hysterical Beria really was when he was given communism's eternal reward.
@@kitty6720 It begs the question “Does Stalin REALLY have no one better to run the internal police force?” (As he is famously AWARE of Beria being a rapist, what with the near-miss with his own daughter.)
I think that was actually Isaac's idea. He said in an interview that Zhukov was just a blunt, bull of a man and, he felt a thick Yorkshire accent was perfect for that.
@@callummcintyre713 Zhukov was from Strelkovka, which is in Ukraine - Russians consider Ukraine to be a s&^thole and consider Ukrainians subhuman - monkeys. Remember, Stalin made war on the Ukrainians in the 1930s by starving them to death(3 million people died; it's called the Holodomor), So Jason Isaac's position of using a Yorkshire accent would have been spot on in terms of how he would have been viewed by Russian politicos.
There isn't enough time, writing space, or eloquence to describe just how effin' awesome Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov is in this film. It's a dominating performance. He's like a prized stallion hired to come in and mount everyone in every scene he's in. Watch this film for this alone, and just enjoy the dark humor and sadly accurate take on what it's like to live in tyrannical cult of personality...
It's even a pretty good take on Zhukov himself- the guy was one of the few in the Stavka that had the force of personality AND credentials to go toe-to-toe with Stalin whenever serious disagreements broke out about how to prosecute the war effort without getting gulaged.
I love how the movie goes out of its way to play him up too. First appearance, he busts down the doors and take his coat off in slow motion. That's movie language for "Introducing The Chad Master General."
There is an amazing scene where Kruschev loses his shit and forces Malenkov to sign a death warrant. It’s played completely straight even though the rest of the film is darkly comedic. Steve Buscemi should have won all the awards just for his performance in that scene .
And yet he's never even been nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, people who have not only been nominated but actually won an acting Oscar in the last few years include such legends as Troy Kotsur, Ariana DeBose, Youn Yuh-jung, and Brie Larson.
The ending of this film is pitched so masterfully - it’s like the writer who’s been laughing along with you for the whole movie suddenly stops and says: “What’s so fucking funny?” It’s a brilliant punch and it makes this movie even better.
@@bno6156 not really implication. Yeah, they were either disappeared and sent to a gulag or killed, but Stalin was Infamous for doing exactly what was in the credits. He erased people from official record if or when they crossed or offended him, even if he got some wild, paranoid idea that you were out to betray him even if you weren't. One or the things he would do to erase people from history was remove them from photos. I don't remember the credits, but the photos shown may have actually been real photos that had people removed. The credits are very much literal and figurative at the same time.
I LOVE this movie. My degree is in Russian history and, inaccuracies aside, I still love it. I would totally watch an entire movie of Jason Issac's Zhukov from this.
Quick question... a certain historian I watch bashed the movie and claimed that the purges the film presents weren't happening in Moscow, but were happening in the eastern European countries under Soviet control. Is that fair and can you recommend some reading materials on the subject?
A lot has been said about Jason Isaacs as Zhukov, and it's an excellent scene stealing performance. However, Simon Russell Beale as Beria was the standout for me. His mischievous malevolence is brutally funny, plus he looks like my father in law which clinches it for me.
I saw this in a theater on opening weekend that was packed with older Chinese immigrants who were laughing their asses off. Their reactions changed the whole tenor of the movie. It was one of my top movie magic in a theater moments ever.
This movie shockingly historically accurate, other than a few small scenes which are made up for drama, the biggest divergence from the real history is the timeline. It’s mostly just a case of the timespan of events being compressed from months and years to about a week, with a the order of a few events being slightly rearranged for narrative cohesion.
Being relatively aware of the history of the Stalin regime and already aware of the chain of events and people involved, I was easily a half hour into this movie before i realized it was satire. Because the chain of events and who did what was so accurate, as well as the absurdity of the reality that was soviet Russia. Yes, it was that brutal and insane.
The poetically ironic part of The Death of Stalin is that while of course the scenes are tailored to make for comedy, the kernel of the incidents and even the discussions was actually factually correct, all the paranoia and abject terror the people felt was genuine and set the perfect groundwork to make fun of how preposterous everyone's position(s) were and how easily one could be a hero on Monday and an enemy of the state by Tuesday. Even if you have no interest in the history at all, you owe it to yourself to watch The Death of Stalin just for the humor and "so ridiculous it must be true" scenarios that play out in the power vacuum formed.
in our college we talk about the events about the Death of Stalin (the event, not the movie), our professor, a passionate Stalinist, didn't like we use parts of the movie in the in between of the explanation, conclusion, the USSR was a black comedy kind of goverment
Simon Russel Beale is a gem and needs to be in more things. He absolutely murders every Shakespeare roll I've seen him in (Falstaff, Richard II, Lear, Prospero). Such a great actor.
One thing I love that the movie captured was that Zhukov was effectively untouchable, as the most decorated and talented general in the red army (plus the whole ww2 thing) nobody not even stalin could touch him, hence why he gives no shits in the movie compared to all the other ministers who are in a constant state of fear
I wonder why he survived this long. Did Stalin KNOW he was not a threat and too useful a too to waste? Untouchable? He could have "fallen out of a window" very easily. Who would have refused to throw him? It could have been done very easily, no chance of his surviving and raising the Red Army against Stalin. There is a scene in another movie/series in which Stalin froze after Hitler invaded. He froze for DAYS. When he came out he found everybody waiting for him to give orders. They were not blaming him for anything. He spoke with an officer and asked him why, and the officer(I THINK)told him that what was Russia without Stalin? Maybe it was Zhukov and since then Stalin trusted him.
@@xhagastZhukov was hugely popular with the Russian people following the war, so it would have been dangerous, even for Stalin, to openly purge him. However because of this popularity Stalin saw him as a potential threat, so Zhukov was shunted into non-strategic positions, where it would have been hard for Zhukov to making any moves against Stalin.
@@xhagast Zukov is the main reason we dont speak German. The man was a legend of the red army that command at the battles of Moscu, the siege of Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk. (Only in those 4 battles you have more Axis soldiers death that in all the other fronts combined)
@@xhagast Zhukov wasn't just loved by the Russian people. He was worshipped by the Red Army. We forget that in the fifties that organisation was still several million men strong and well equipped. Rightly or wrongly Zhukov was seen as the man who had given it back its sense of purpose and confidence after the purges and the early failures in the war. Even Stalin knew there were limits to what he could taken on and the Red Army was one of them. Why do you think Kruschev had Zhukov "retired" only two years later?
“I’m off to represent the entire red army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourself” There are layers to these jokes that at first you don’t catch. But upon repeat viewing, you catch it, and it makes it all the funnier.
@@joshuasantana685 Yeah it sounds like a joke but Zhukov is pissed on how the Red Army was banned from the capital so he is literally the only representative of the Red Army in Moscow let alone the gathering. A nice added detail to the story
@@ntluck1592 I also took it that the troops were being fed poor quality food that Zhukov is going to the buffet to eat for them. But your explanation is probably more accurate
One of the most underrated comedies of the last five years. Then again, comedy has been pretty bad the last ten years. However, the casting was odd especially when you realize Steve Buscemi and Simon Beale should have traded characters based on historical looks, but it works somehow. The most annoying aspect of Death of Stalin is that the studio never released a Blu-Ray, and I am left with only a digital copy that like Malenkov can be erased from history. And when I saw the movie at the theater, it took till 2018 to get it in US theaters. Oh well, it was worth it to drive to the pretentious part of Dallas just to see a good comedy.
I bought it on blu ray in 2019 - it's absolutely brilliant. Perhaps it's a blu-ray region issue - the only blu-ray available on Amazon is Region B, so if you're not in Region B, you may need a multi-region player.
Jason Isaac: Cast your minds back back to the early 1990's, he was in a BBC drama called 'Civvies' about British soldiers returning from the Northern Ireland 'troubles' and how they were adapting to 'civilian' life. A fantastic show probably his first major starring role.
I lived in USSR. This film was freaking ACCURATE! I literally felt like I was watching the depiction of everything my grandpa would tell us about his life (when some of the worst of USSR atrocities took place, though my childhood wasn’t easy either). It’s almost scary how well they got the behaviour, the way they dressed, the sets, the hypocrisy, the dramatic acting, the lack of any loyalty or backbone. My great-grandma almost got raped by a soviet soldier, but my great grandpa was able to save her. They’re animals, worse even. The starvation my country went through, coupled with deportations, and cold blood murder… what you see in the film happened pretty much all the way up to my birth. I can’t explain what a f*cking shithole that was. Beria was a monster, a rapist, a murderer, and the biggest coward there is. He’d behave all big and powerful with those inferior to him, but cower in front of others with more power. He was one of the biggest POS. Well, all of them were, but he, Stalin, and Lenin certainly took the f*cking cake.
Pretty funny how Eastern Europeans are triple hard basterds while those in charge were the weakest. My Polish grandad was put in a gulag as kid. He then got freed by ww2 alongside the polish bear wojchek at monte cassino. He got to go down Scottish mines for his reward while wojchek died of a mix of loneliness and eating/smoking fags/cigarettes in Edinburgh zoo. There's is now a statue of the bear in Edinburgh Princes Street Gardens. My grandad died at 78 after 5 heart attacks and then cancer. I've literally only had an ingrowing toenail for pain in my life but I give my endless admiration.
To some i might be tone deaf, but the more I read about Russia under the Tsars compared to the Soviets; the more I believe they'd been far better off with a constitutional monarchy following a White victory in the Civil War.
It's a testament to Jason Isaac's sheer presence when you realise he only comes in halfway through the film, and somehow manages to own the whole thing.
This movie made me laugh like a nerd. I'm glad you're bringing it to your audience's attention. I highly recommend the movie In The Loop by the same director.
Absolutely, Dominic! "Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your shitter with a lubricated horse cock!"...Jesus, Peter Capaldi has some of the most legendary lines I've ever heard, and delivered them all like a fucking legend!
Can we take a moment to appreciate the mad lad that walked into a room and made a pitch for a comedy English movie with Steve Buscemi about the death of a mass-murdering dictator? Or the even madder lad that agreed to finance it?
Loved every dark, paranoid, vodka fueled minute of this film. So many heavy weight actors and they all played amazing together. Which is extra kudos for the director.
The choice of Buscemi as Khrushchev was absolutely inspired. This movie sits next to Jojo Rabbit on my shelf of favorite DVDs and I watch it over and over again. I am glad to see that the Drinker concurs.
One of my favorite films in the past several decades. One reason I think it plays so well is the age and experience of the cast. Since these are the rulers of the Soviet Union, there's barely a person under 40 in the film. This means a cast of old pros clearly having the time of their lives.
There is a great History Buffs review on it that compares the movie events to the actual history. I was surprise by how authentic it turned out being. Love this movie
Well, yes, but no. Turned out, he compared the movie not with real history but with the book this movie is based on. Which is just hilarious. When I realised he'd read literally ONE book on the subject and considered himself an expert, I started wondering how accurate his other reviews were. And unsubscribed.
@@RealFranzy Why? He was honest about it. There is not much evidence for 100% factual events. Heck history itself often teaches us a lot of lies in school until we learn from different sources.
Are you seriously suggesting the authenticity of a subject that none of the people involved ever wrote about? Russians are known for dark comedy, but just the first scene is FAR more darkly comic in reality-Stalin DID want a recording of the concert, but nobody was knocked unconscious, the conductors were too nervous to conduct, which actually would be FAR funnier. And of course this night occurred nine years before Stalin actually died. "In the film, the incredibly brave Yudina, whose family was killed by the dictator, slips a note into the recording sleeve, telling Stalin just what she thinks of him. In reality, Stalin sent her a gift of 20,000 rubles after receiving the record, and she responded with a thank-you note saying, “I will pray for you day and night and ask the Lord to forgive your great sins before the people and the country.” Ordinarily such lèse-majesté would mean certain death, but Yudina was never arrested. Her courage has made her grave a place of pilgrimage for Russian dissidents since her death in 1970." This was based on a COMIC BOOK, which ought to say it all. The good thing about it being about Russia is that it shows just how brutally psychotic such politicians are, when for comedies about 'our' politics, Ianucci tends to defer to them being incompetent, stupid, and 'comic'. When they are just as malignant as any soviet leader. I never found the movie very funny at all, there was lots of historical events that could have been used that would have made it far funnier. Why there are so few comedies nowadays in film are that the best writers are going to television and frankly the REAL world is now so insane that satires pale against the reality. Actually LISTENING to Trump is far more hilariously insane than SNL trying to make fun of him. If only it weren't ALL fiction it would be funnier but that such people actually run the world makes satire pretty much tragic.
I watched it a few months ago and it was hysterical. I watched it again, not paying attention to the humour and it was frightening. The second time around it is truly sinister. You were right about Zhukov's lines, but Brezhnev's, _I'll take the tall blonde_ slayed me.
This is a great movie. I saw it in a niche cinema and there were only two of us in the tiny theatre. It was so magnificent I spent the next 6 months trying to get an import copy of it to NZ. It has the feel of one of those movies where the big stars knew it wasn't going to be a massive pay-day but that it was going to be a piece of work they'd be proud to have their names linked with. It's probably the best work I've ever seen Jason Isaacs do and that's fkn saying something.
Slight correction, they mentioned purging all the best doctors, which did happen, but mostly this was internal exile to regions like Siberia. Same result for these events though as there was no one capable to handle things available. On another note, I'm surprised this was such a straightforward review, with no endorsements of Stalin's son's lifestyle choice, or mentions of Titania.
Doctors and pharmacists were deported to Crimea, although it doesn't really matter for all intents and purposes as it was an arid backwater s-hole back then.
It really does convey why they had no idea how to handle the situation. There were even rumors that the first person to find him on the ground was a maid/butler who immediately turned around and locked the door on their way out.
This movie is amazing. I watched it on a business trip a few years back. Glad to see the drinker got around to it. It's a under rated little known comedy.
"Comrade Detective" series on Amazon Prime is a great 1-season series if you enjoyed Death Of Stalin. Wonderful dark humor mocking the 80s Communist regime in Romania, in the form of an '80s style buddy cop show. Superb.
From the Guardian article on the film's banning in Russia: "Pavel Pozhigailo, a high-ranking culture committee member, said the film “insults our historic symbols - the Soviet anthem, orders and medals”. He also complained that Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet military commander, “is portrayed as a fool”. " From the clips I have seen I'd have thought Zhukov would have loved his portrayal. What Putin and his sycophants objected to was the portrayal of the politicians closest to their own characters.
Can confirm. But I think they also fear general desacralization of the status of rulers. This is why they banned Matilda too (which portrayed the Tsar as inapt, mildly speaking)
One of my favorite movies of all time. I've seen it around 10 times and still laugh hard at so many scenes. The dialog is brilliant and the cast do such a remarkable job of seeming more like the members of a local Condominium board than the cabinet of ta superpower. Buscemi is brilliant, as is Jason Issacs and wow, Simon Russel Beale has you actually liking Beria one minute then being chilled to the bone the next. Yes, this is a brilliant movie. Cheers for talking about it.
Jason Issac as the lej General Zuhkov with a Yorkshire accent and gruff / blunt persona was a masterclass in characterisation and comedy. Stalin with a cockney accent was pretty sublime as well. One of the best films in recent memory.
I remember being intrigued by the trailers, but never getting around to seeing it. This popped up on Amazon Prime last year, so I gave it a watch and then watched it three more times. Way better, way funnier than I expected.
One of the best things about the Death of Stalin is many of the things you think we're jokes for the movie actually happened. Because it's Stalin, it's both funny and terrifying at the same time.
Not funny for anyone from postcommunist country. From our point of view the only funny thing is that western world thinks that Hitler was more bloody... And hippies wearing Che on tshirts, guy that wanted homosexuals in concentration camps...
I know!! The fact he collapsed and pissed himself but the guards were too shit scared to knock and ask if he was OK. Then there no competent doctors because he'd killed them all 😂😂
@@crank1985 Sadly, that's the result of our own "long march through the institutions." My own teachers summed up Communism as "a fight for equality." The gulags and all of the death were barely mentioned. I didn't notice any of this at the time, living in a large city is like living in a bubble. When I read up on the Soviet Union later, I was absolutely horrified.
@@ratgrl81 well. If read about China, redKhmers and rest of the shit and realise that the total kill count by commies is between 125-200 mln victims, you realise that for the good of the world's future,every person saying "that was not a real communism, I would do better" should be shot on the spot. Interesting thought before WWI Hitler, Lenin & co were hanging in Vienna's Caffè and talking as young idealists about a perfect world. Just like hippies, social studies students, etc. You never know if the young lefties, talking in Starbucks about perfect society isn't a next Stalin.
@@darthpepe2994 A persistent conspiracy theory is that the whole thing was a plot to assassinate Stalin because he was planning a new purge of the Party and everyone was sick of his shit...
So many details to the characters, their lines, the cinematography. Zhukov nodding while looking down his nose at Svetlana when she was avoiding accusing him of...anything...was superb. He did not give a damn.
Great review as always, Drinker. But you forgot the best line by Zhukov: ''I'm in, I'm in. That fucker thinks he can take on the Red Army? I fucked Germany, I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat.''
Coincidentally just rewatched this movie recently, and have to quibble with one thing in this review. Isaacs is a lot of fun, but Simon Russell Beale as Beria gives the best performance in the movie . It is a very demanding role that requires an enormous amount of range--alternating between cold calculation, humor, sympathy, cruelty, white-hot anger, and pathetic begging, and Beale pulls it all off without a hitch. Was not familiar with him before this, and hopefully he starts turning up in more movies that make their way stateside.
I cycled to a smll local cinema which was the only place showing this when it came out. It was utterly worth it and I ended up laughing the whole way home.
Jason Isaacs absolutely killed it as Zhukov in this movie. I also had been unaware of this particular part of Russian history, as many documentaries I've seen on the USSR seem to skip over the in-between of Stalin and Khrushchev. This was one of those historically based movies that encouraged me to learn more on the actual subject.
"Are you blaming the dead for their own deaths?!" I love this movie. Ever since I read Tom Rob Smith's Leo Demidov trilogy in highschool, I've had a morbid fascination with The Great Terror era of Soviet Russia. In fact (although I would have a better chance of going to the moon at this point considering recent global events) I've always wanted to go to Russia and tour the gulags. Especially the Vorkutlag. Even though this movie took some dramatic license with history, it was a great portrayal of a communist regime at its peak.
Tbf the biggest liberty really was the condensing of the timeline. It took three years before they managed to get Beria. Aside from that it's more accurate than some actual documentaries I've seen...
I agree. By most accounts, between the Russian citizens, the citizens of other USSR added countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine) anywhere from 60 to 100 million people died in the gulags. The reason this wasn't brought up was after WW2 no one had the will or balls to take Stalin to task for his treatment of people.
@@aussiewanderer6304 Um, 60-100 million from communism in general and all its various regimes(especially the various purges, Russian and Chinese famines, pol pot, etc. Not in the gulags themselves. But I’d put the number around 40-50 million throughout the world in the 70+ years communism existed.
@@aussiewanderer6304 what the fuck? Where are you getting your numbers, no half the people of the soviet union didnt die in Gulags where did you read that they did?
The actor who portrays beria in this film should be recognised for displaying the man's evil in such a convincing way. It's not as outrageous a performance as the actor playing zhukov so is easily overlooked.
The way the darkness bubbles up through the comedy to the point where you're not sure to laugh or be shocked at points was really well done in this film. Enjoyed it back when it first came out on rental.
While not any kind of comedy, if you are interested in more Stalinist shenanigans, then check 1992 HBO tv-movie Stalin, starring Robert Duvall. It's almost 3 hours long, and covers Stalin's life from Bolshevik revolution to his death. Duvall is chilling as calculating human monster.
An absolute classic. Zhukov is indeed an absolute legend in this. I'm not sure about Buscemi playing Krushchev though, because the latter is a league in his own when it comes to outrageousness.
Great review dude. One of the most underrated films of the past 10 years. The ending is so powerful simply because it so jarringly abandons the humour that dominates the rest of the movie, without flinching or using any common trope to build tension. Love your channel mate
There are few perfect films in the world, but this totally is one. I've watched it several times, it doesn't get less impactful or interesting on rewatches.
One of the few genius films to hit the market in the last while. Absolutely hilarious, engaging and still thought provoking. One of the films I recommend constantly.
I know that here in British advertising some accents are seen as having different qualities. For example, unfair as it might be in reality, Cockney/Essex accents are perceived (by media anyway) as a bit snide and untrustworthy - cockney wideboy-ish and too clever for their own good. A similar attitude is taken with Scouse (Liverpool) accents. Yorkshire accents are seen as bluff, no nonsense and warm, a bit more honest. West Country accents are seen as slow, stupid but friendly. Scottish accents as blunt but trustworthy and (no surprise) parsimonious. Geordie/North East England accents as friendly and open if a little incomprehensible. The list goes on. I wonder if the decision to have Scouse actor Jason Issacs play Zhukov with a Yorkshire accent had any bearing on this. Bluff and no nonsense would suit Zhukov's character in this film down to the ground.
Loved this movie and for some reason they gave my employer a bottle of Death Of Stalin themed vodka to promote the film. I’d love to see the same kind of movie about a similar moment in history in the exact same style.
Fuck I loved this movie, never heard of it til I watched History Buffs review of it, when I heard it got banned in Russia I had to watch it! Loved Drinkers take on it too!
Everyone should go watch History Buffs vid after this one. Things didn’t happen in quite the same order or for the reasons the films suggest, but in the main the things in the movie did happen. It’s crazy how little needed to be added.
Yeah I know they really condensed a lot of history into what appears to be a few short days/weeks when in fact it happened over years. Still a great movie though and it's mind boggling how much of the bat-shit insane moments were actually true!!! History Buffs is a good channel too! Not as funny as Drinker but really knows his history
@@darthpepe2994 If you want funny History Buffs - watch his reviews of Mel Gibson's movies, particularly Breaveheart. The real events of The Death Of Stalin took place over a few months. IIRC, Beria was dead by the end of the summer of 1953.
This is one of the few movies made in the last decade that I've seen more than once. The score is also fantastic--composer, Christopher Willis, channels Shostakovich, which is perfect for the story's setting. (It's also a refreshing break from the character-less, Zimmer-lite sound of most recent scores.)
I wasn't sure I hadn't dreamed it, it was so enjoyable, dark, and absurd. The cast was riveting. I bet no one ever said "Shut the fuck up, Donny!" to Khrushchev.
I absolutely loved this movie. It makes light of some of the crazy things in the USSR while also painting a pretty interesting idea of what it would have been like at the time. My favourite character is the one guy who gets his wife to write down the jokes he's already told Stalin so he doesn't repeat them and piss him off. What a fun and cool movie!
The subtlety of the writing is exquisite..the interplay between Beria and Molotov when he gets his wife back is just great. Another gem of a movie Drinker
Such an absolutely brilliant film. The acting, directing, writing and cinematography are all perfect. It's a 10/10 from me. It's one of those films I will always be happy to watch again.
It pisses me off when people complain that this movie isn't accurate enough. They don't realise that it's a comedy and doesn't need to be completely accurate.
true story in the War the Brits supplied the USSR with condoms (they where used to keep their gun barrels warm), we sent over really large condoms XXL but Churchill had them marked as "medium size", even Churchill trolled Stalin.
I loved this movie. Despite the inaccuracies, it was very well executed. It’s one of my favorite movies Edit: also fun fact about Zhukov in the movie. They couldn’t fit all his medals on the uniform. He had more medals in real life
Ah drinker, I’ve been waiting for you to review this since it came out a few years ago. As you said, by unanimous vote, sheer fucking brilliance comrade. One of the best films hands down from the 2010’s, and personally one of my very favourite films. Your reviews always entertain me for a few minutes on an often mundane weekday…cheers!
