If memory serves, the real life incident on which the start of the movie was based was actually more ridiculous than depicted. They went through a couple of conductors before they dragged the last guy out of bed; the writers thought audiences wouldn't have bought the real story.
Same thing with Zhukov's medals. The real Zhukov was so covered in medals they toned it down for the movie because it they thought audiences would find it unbelievable.
@@gaiusjuliuspleaser also because Jason Issacs chest litteraly wasnt big enough to hold all of them, yea Zhukov was a large man both litteral, and metaforicly
The real story is mostly unknown. Like barias death and anything surrounding the death of Stalin. All that’s really known is that he had a stroke and people were too afraid to check on him.
Let’s be honest: Jason Isaacs stole every one of his scenes. While Buscemi, Palin, and the others politely asked for your attention, Isaacs commanded it
IRL Zhukov had some balls. He was lucky to survive Stalin after he pissed him off after WWII. And actually during the war too, but then he was so needed, not even Stalin could touch him if he wanted to win the war. At the victory parade in Moscow, when Stalin was celebrated as if he had saved the nation, Zhukov rode in on a white horse and stole the whole show, getting more cheers from the crowd than their now furious leader (who probably had a minor rehearsal stroke at the time). Though he really wanted, killing the most popular man in the Soviet Union right then would probably have been a dumb idea, so Stalin waited. But Zhukov kept his popularity and gained more fame and honor, just enough to stay alive. Lucky bastard!
@@siddharthbirdi I've heard the story Stalin being former cavalry, could get up on the horse, the horse bucked and threw him off. Zhukov on the other hand, the horse liked. Otherwise, yeah, what I heard.
The scarily funny part about this movie is how much of it is accurate. Stalin really had late-night dinner parties, his personal doctor really was locked up and tortured as Stalin had his hemorrhage, and the pianist actually wrote Stalin a letter similar to the one in the film.
‘I thank you, Joseph Vissarionovich, for your aid. I will pray for you day and night 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 crazy thing about Beria's portrayal is that they TONED DOWN how bad he was, because Ianucci thought no one would believe it if they showed just how depraved he was.
I"m reminded of Fiennes portrayal of Amon Goethe in Schindler's List. Spielberg also had to tone down Goethe's monstrosity just so audiences could believe it.
Exactly. His mansion was eventually given to Tunisia as an embassy and the Tunisians did some maintenance work to turn it into an embassy they actually discovered a graveyard of young women he had raped in the garden
Depraved doesn’t even begin to describe him. Beria was responsible for the deaths of 22,000 Polish military personnel and massacres in the Caucasus which took 400,000 lives. There’s even suspicions he was a serial killer. Saying he was depraved is a understatement
@@darthveatay the fact that the one time Stalin realized he had left Svetlana unsupervised in the same building as Beria, he reacted by sending soldiers with explicit orders to kill him on the spot should they catch even the slightest suspicion he had done anything to his daughter says a lot. Unfortunately for everyone in Russia at the time, Beria was too smart...
Just a historical side note- the first notice of Stalin's death in the West came from a USAF radio intercept airman- you may have heard of him- Johnny Cash
The actor playing Zukov arranged for the number of medals he would wear reduced because he did not think that anyone would believe how many actual medals the general had. And Beria's death was very satisfying. In real life he was that nasty a person.
Stalin introduced Beria to Truman during the Potsdam conference 1945 as "this is my Himmler" in reference to Heinrich Himmler, the leader of SS and logistican behind the Holocaust. Needless to say, Beria was a nasty evil human being.
when they demolished beria's house after his death, they found bodies and remains of missing women who he had predated on. there are still people who believe the site of his house is haunted.
The part where Stalin was hit with the stroke and his Bodyguards heard him fall but they were so scared of being shot for abandoning their posts to check on him. That was a hundred percent true to history, that actually happened!!!
Specifically because the last time his guards heard something from within his office and went to check on him he was fine...and really pissed off at being disturbed.
@@sherlocksmuuug6692 He actually faked being attacked or something, so that he could get mad at the guards for entering despite him telling them not to disturb him.
The accusations against Baria were absolutely true, to the point that ghosts have been reported all over his Dacha, usually women silently screaming with their throat cut. A mass grave full of women and young girls was found in the backyard too. Baria definitely deserved much worse than he got.
It's Beria in English. And yes, he was the filthy one of the Comittee and deserved much worse than what he got in the end. Don't get me wrong,none of them were saints, but Beria was the worst, very intelligent, but perverted and power-hungry.
Beria documented hes victims and one of Berias top man Sarkisov had a copy of the list of the names and phone numbers of the people Beria lets just say had a romantical dinner with and he gave it to Abakumov. after Abakumov showed it to Stalin Stalins reaction were. "Send me everything this asshole wrtites down!" When a guy who genocided 20 million people calls you a sick fuck than u know that u have some serious problem.
The concert at the beginning was real, but the pianist didn't need to be bribed to replay it. She knew the whole orchestra could suffer if she didn't. It also happened 9 years before Stalin died.
Also, the guy who ended up conducting the recording was the second guy they rousted out of bed. But the writer/director thought THREE conductors would have been too ridiculous to be believed in a movie. LOL!
@@cehghanzi6477 The real note was a lot more subtle and backhanded, but given the recipient, still one of the bravest letters anyone ever wrote: "I thank you for your aid. I will pray for you day and night 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.”
@@karlmortoniv2951 Perhaps also, too long a sequence for a tight, fast-paced movie? What they settled on delivers us rapidly into the USSR's World of utter farce & paralyzing fear under Stalin.
fun fact stalin would have his guards severely punished if they disturbed him and would test his guards so the reason the guard tells the other not to investigate is because they were trained not to
I love this film. Watching Beria execution is such catharisis for me, seeing a bullying monster get whats due. Awesome scene, I love how there's absolutely no build up to the actual shot, it's just like as soon as he's outside bang.
the producers toned down the number of medals on Zhukov's uniform in this film, they felt like it would be too many to be believable if they actually put every single medal he earned on his uniform. and yeah, he earned them all. Zhokov could have staged a coup on his own with the red army but the man was a consumate soldier, he lived for the fight and had no desire to be a politician xD
I mean, Zhukov had the best position imaginable. He was unassailable, rich (in the USSR defined by access to state ressources rather than bank accounts) and highly respected. Why destroy this with dirtying his hands with the many, many problems the USSR had?
The movie seriously shortened the timeline and sort of overlooked Beria's attempts to make deals with the West, but a lot of the stuff happened kind of like that. Kind of. Don't ask me for specifics. Also, it was a deliberate choice to have the actors speak in their own accents. The only character of note who is actually from the area is Olga Kurylenko, who portrayed the pianist. She was born and raised in Ukraine, lived briefly in Russia, and moved to France at 16. I am sure that that casting was also deliberate. The director is Armando Iannucci, creator of the TV show Veep, and several UK TV shows. Most relevant to this movie would be The Thick of It, which portrayed British politics as a farce.
In a way the compressed timeline of events actually makes the film versions of these people appear more competent than their real life counterparts… well, more decisive, anyway.
Jason Isaacs is the only one not using his own accent. He's not from Yorkshire. The director says he actually toned down some of the more ridiculous events.
When Stalin died, there was no crying in my grandmother's village. For three days people drank and played button accordions. In Russia, this film was banned. But everyone downloaded it from the Internet. We have "forbidden" = "must be taken" ... Since then, little has changed except for technology. The departure of the leader is possible only with his death. There are presidential elections without a choice ("It doesn't matter who votes how, the main thing is who counts" - quoting Stalin, he was also "elected"). Television is under government control, all "wrong" radio stations have been banned. Constant wars, sometimes undeclared. And the entire budget went to the police, if you go against it, they will beat you up and put you in jail. Women, children, old people will be beaten too. Television is in their pocket, and on the Internet "only fakes." Therefore, the death of Stalin here in Russia is not a black comedy. This is reality. "Do you ever dream of me? Do you ever see the letters that I write? When you look up through the wire Nikita, do you count the stars at night? And if there comes a time Guns and gates no longer hold you in, And if you're free to make a choice Just look towards the West and find a friend." (It's funny that Elton John has a song named after me. .. Sorry if my English is not very good.)
@@reiverraider4887 Thank you. There is a funny moment, by the way. A lot of what seems like a joke is actually true. For example, multi-barreled tanks in the Red Alert. In World War II, there were such, twin anti-aircraft guns (from the actual anti-aircraft guns) were placed on the tank turret. They were few, but they looked epic.
Armando Iannucci doesn't miss. You should def watch the show "The Thick of It" and the movie "In The Loop" if you want some more incredible dialogue full of savage burns.
This movie made my sides hurt from laughter. That doesn't happen very often. It's bleak, it's black, it's nasty and it's all wrapped up nicely when Beria gets shot. Isaacs as Zhukov was amazing, hilarious too. That moment where.... look, just watch the movie. There's moments where he plays Khrushchev that are just hilarious. And honestly? Some of the actors aren't so separated from their actual counterparts of the time.
Some things were changed around, but indeed the history is basically pretty good. In reality, Beria had not been head of the NKVD for some years by the time Stalin died. The events of the movie took longer to play out in reality, leading up to the death of Beria, months instead of days. The part about Malenkov having the button under the table to summon the soldiers to arrest Beria is true!
Thats what makes the film so much fun. Some of this stuff is real. Like Nikki working out with his wife what jokes he told Stalin and what ones he laughed at while suffering from a hangover.
Love this movie! General rule of thumb: the more bizarre the situation, the more likely it is it acutally took place. In reality al these events took place over a period of a few months, I get why they would shorten it for a movie. One of my favorite lines in the movie: "You are the greatest, and nearest, conductor!"
Although it comes off like a slapstick dark comedy it's shocking how realistic this film actually was.. most of the events actually happened.. and happened pretty much as they're shown in the movie.
Beria was played by Simon Russell Beale, who has been a legend of the London stage for some 40 years now. Like Mark Rylance, he's done very little film work, but he inhabits a character so believably. if you get the chance to see his portrayal of Prospero in The Tempest, grab it - it's absolutely superb.
Many think Isaacs stole the show as Zhukov, he played him as a gruff northerner, not exactly that far out of his wheelhouse. But Russell Beale's portrayal of Beria was surely what stole the show, his dark,scheming presence cast a shadow over nearly every scene in the movie, he portrayed him so ably as such a suitably loathsome being (also quick-witted) who, in truth, was little more than a massively jumped-up bureaucrat who had been granted monstrous powers, and wanted more. That said, the entire politburo was brilliant, a bunch of really great actors getting their teeth into some great writing with beautiful comic timing. The result's always gonna be classic.
Choosing farce setup for that event is perfect, as all of the inner ring of Stalin, including Khrushchev, were veterans of Stalin’s purges, deeply involved in the system. Basically, the smartest or the luckiest - posssibly both. Seeing them starting plotting and fighting right off is not really far from the truth, even if pace of events was obviously quicker then historically.
If the most craven and least principled won the day Beria would have wound up in control. None of these were good people (with the possible exception of Zhcov) but only one of them actually derived pleasure from directly killing people. At least the others did it as part of procedural requirements…
it's not only that the movie was funny, it was remarkably historically accurate, everything in that movie happened in real life. All the movie did was compress the time frames and make up humorous dialog. The note by the pianist, the entire hockey team dying and secretly replaced, the conductor they had to pull out of his apartment in the dead of night... all of it actually happened.
No, not everything. For example, people were NOT killed while trying to reach Moscow to attend Stalin's funeral. However, about the same number of people were TRAMPLED TO DEATH during the funeral - so, they've made some changes, but kept it more or less grounded in reality.
Imagine the absurdity of one on the Orange Julius' administration! Pack of greedy, bumbling arseholes all desperately trying to remain in the Great Leader's good graces while stealing as much money as they can.
most of that was 100% real, time was off it took several months not days. The best thing was no one even tried to fake a Russian accent. It's banned in Russia. A cinema that played it was raided. Great acting all round
Each actor's choice of accent was perfectly suited to the character portrayed - I was particularly fond of Jason Isaac's working class Yorkshire accent for Zhukov. The producers made a brilliant choice when they opted against dialectal uniformity. Not only did it allow the actors to give more natural performances, but it also represented the ethnic and class diversity within the Soviet Union - Beria and Stalin were Georgian, Kruschev was Ukrainian, Zhukov was a peasant who Rose through the ranks and survived the purges by a mixture of merit and luck, etc.
This is what good english comedy looks like! It's so dry but clever and doesn't feel like it's asking you to laugh, it's almost expected for you to have the same shocked and disbelieving reactions the cast is having as the shit happens lmao
Man, this movie was a fucking gut buster, the funniest fact, is ignoring the time crunch on events, and one or two taking as creative liberties, most the wacky shit that happens was real life. Like for instance, the pianist didn't protest playing for stalin, *cause the entire orchestra would have been killed if she did*, the letter was toned down in real life, but she did send him something like that in real life, long before he died, but he couldn't bring himself to kill her as she was his favorite pianist lol. And the NKVD didn't open fire on civilians at his funeral, but they're were literally so many that people ran out of air and die from that and being stampeded when the crowd panicked. the Doctors all being arrested leading to Stalin's death, and everyone being too scared to call a good one was 100% legit, as was how ridiculous and useless Stalin's son was.
One of my favorite parts is the very end where you see Khrushchev watching the concert and there is a large heavy browed man sitting behind him who glances down at him. Brezhnev.
@@AQuietNight I think Kruschkev started some of that process, which was of course brought to an abrupt end when he was deposed, and Brezhnev installed.
@@FolkSongsEtAl Nikita Khrushchev was the "flaming liberal". After he started to De-Stalinize the Soviet Union people asked him why was it allowed to go on. He responded with you just do not realize how popular Stalin was. For the people never touched directly by Stalin, they did think the world of him. Brezhnev was no where near as bad as Stalin but not as liberal as Khrushchev. He was a pretty dull character. The Soviet Union started to stagnate under him.
@@AQuietNight Beria wanted the *illusion* of freedoms, but wanted to keep doing what he'd always been doing. I mean...they found a shitload of buried bodies (mostly young women and girls) under the backyard of his villa. Dude was a serial killer. Khruschev was a realist who saw the writing on the wall and knew he'd be one of the first against it if they didn't ease up.
Movie is banned in Russia by the way. A Moscow theater screened it anyway but got in trouble for it. One of the viewers lived during that time though and said it seemed close to what life had actually been like.
Jason Isaccs in THIS movie in one of my favorite roles and favorite movies! When you learn about Georgey Zhukov, you appreciate it even more. He was an amazing man who become friends with Eisenhower after the war. In the Soviet Union after WWII he was bigger than life. He was so popular he was practically untouchable in a country where anyone could be killed by the government at any time.
The part that's blown my mind, and it's something that I totally missed after watching this movie a few times: *Is how Brezhnev is actually in scenes throughout the movie with Zhukov and even participates in the coup.* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CA9eiAmBJ1w.html
I love Svetlana (as a character) so much. Irl she moved to Wisconsin and hung out with Frank Lloyd Wright. At least someone walked out of that nightmare alive.
I'm a little let down that you skipped over one of the darkest, yet funniest bits in the movie-when the prisoners are being released, and the guy is going down the line executing people, when another agent runs in and tells him to stop. And he does, and says "you're free to go" to the man he was about to shoot. The look of shock and disbelief on the prisoner's face as he looks down at the last victim before him is fucking priceless, and it's a perfect distillation of the absurd cruelty of Stalin's regime and Soviet Russia in general.
Vasily's portrayal was quite accurate. He was considered a constant embarassment to the Stalin family and screwed up every government job his father gave him. In fact, being Stalin's son is probably the only reason he was never executed
The Opera scene took place in 1944, and it took them two months to kill Baria. The way it was combined into a couple days was perfectly done. A very historically accurate movie. The message to Stalin was real, but not as rude. People wanted her dead, but she was Stalin's favorite pianist. Baria didn't have men massacre Russians but there was a stampede and trampling during an event after Stalin's death. It was incredibly authentic of his person though. It made really good sense for the story. My favorite scene is when they are arguing around the coffin. Who invited the Jesus freaks? Lol.
You sat through the entire movie and provided laughs and a reaction at the end. Deserve credit for that. For a relatively unknown period of history, this film shows the absurdity of that regime in simple terms with the dialogue being provided in American, cockney and Yorkshire accents. Great film that is superb entertainment and in general factually correct.
Khrushchev's line at the end ("I will bury you...") is a Russian idiom that translates to something like "I'll see you at your funeral". The real Khrushchev famously "threatened" the United States with the same idiom when he took off his shoe and began banging it on the table at the UN in 1960 while grandstanding the delegate from the Philippines during an, uh, impassioned speech on American foreign policy (he was as "earthy" as the film depicts him).
If you liked this you might like In The Loop - same writer, also a UK-US co-production, also political satire comedy; different, but similar and set in more modern times.
I saw Simon Russel Beale (Baria (sic)) play Hamlet in Boston sometime in the early 2000's, and have seen in a number of different films, usually 'prestige' films in the nineties. known more for his stage work then films.
I co-sign all the recommendations for watching _In the Loop_ which is basically a satire on the Dodgy Dossier scandal. What’s great about both of these films is that it’s funny up until IT’S NOT.
It's a 2009 movie. 7 years before the whole Steele memo thing. It's a satire of the run up to the Iraq war and all the garbage rationalizations and shitty intelligence the U.S./U.K. used to make it happen.
@@Raulbikcube The Dodgy Dossier scandal was about WMD in Iraq - way before Christopher Steele was in the headlines. The most cutting reference to it is when Malcolm Tucker threatens to hound the minister to an assisted suicide - a very dark inside joke about the mysterious suicide of Dr. David Kelly.
