They sound like people on Twitter, like there's a strange and wildly inconsistent ruleset for what's acceptable and what will get you cancelled, or in the movie, shot. But even though the consequences for stepping out of line are severe, and the probability of doing that on accident is high, everyone is still constantly insulting and sarcastic to each other.
I love the way they're pretending to be shocked and outraged when Beria's charges are read out, as if they've never heard it before. *GASP* "Pervert! FUCKING PERVERT!" *Indignant pointing* "SEVEN?! Seven years old?!" *Heads shaking* "Urgghhh, my god!" "You've ruined everything, Lavrentiy!"
Classic Leftist move. Silence everyone but when they get in trouble suddenly is all about personal rights. Beria is burning for all eternity for all he did.
Even better, in real life during his sentencing Beria was crying and begging for his life so much that he had a rag stuffed into his mouth to silence him before he was dragged away and shot.
In Soviet Union, all High-ranked members of the communist party were equally responsible for the crimes. The ones who detronized Beria also were criminals.
@@Dilley_G45 That reminds me: Stalin and Beria drove Lazar Kaganovich’s brother to suicide by claiming that he had been selected by the Nazis as leader of a future collaborationist government. Lazar and his brother were communist Jews, the ultimate enemy of the Nazis. It was so absurd that some historians theorize the accusation could have only arisen out of a joke between Stalin and Beria.
In fact, the one who shot Beria was not a soldier but three-star general Pavel Batitsky (a colonel general, to be more accurate), a man with a big action experience of WW2. And my compatriot, btw - proud to mention that Ukrainian officer became the hand of vindication that eliminated bastard Beria 🇺🇦
@@WeltSchmerz1349 Yeah that was the actual guy who shot Beria. In the context of the scene however, the guy who shoots him seems to be just a standard soldier who got carried away.
1:16 lol, an outraged facial expression of Nikolai Bulganin (blonde-haired bearded guy in khaki uniform) - like if he's shocked by Beria's pedophilic debauchery. Though it was a well-known fact even for ordinary Moscow citizens, not even mention the Stalinist elite.
I think you could justify it as they'd known, sure, but they'd never even dared to say anything because it would have meant Beria and possibly Stalin as well coming down on them. So the hatred of Beria had been held inside, festering along with their fear of him, until suddenly he was powerless and in their hands and it all had a chance to explode and be unleashed on Beria with no repercussions.
@@thewandering01 In fact, they didn't fear of Beria so much. It was about 15 years after The Great Purge when even the highest Soviet elite died like flies from plumbum intoxication, and no state minister or army marshall could feel safe for his life. But very soon after that, situation in elite circles stabilized. Stalin got rid of "hostile elements" (all those able to become an opposition to him), then formed a loyal clan to ensure his political monopoly. In other terms, he established absolute monarchy with a loyal court. A bit later, WW2 strengthened that autocracy. So the court of Stalinist "noblemen" felt themselves too confident to fear some Beria (he wasn't even a "top headsman" of The Great Purge in 30s - that terror campaign was provided by Yagoda and Yezhov. While Beria even judged and executed the latter: speaking in modern terms, Yezhov became too much toxic to stay alive). The utter fear of Beria that paralyzed even words - it's accurate to say about the ordinary Soviet people. Even about elite of non-governmental level. Notice that massive repressions didn't stop even in 1941-45 wartime. No freedom of speech existed in Stalinist USSR at all. Even the softcore political joke or a word of slightest disagree with official politics - it could ruin human life and lead the careless to GULAG, or even to Helheim mists. I know what I'm speaking about, it was gruesome time in our history - Ukraine was a part of USSR back then, we suffered repressions, Golodomor (Starvation Genocide), Executed Renaissance with almost 100% elimination of Ukrainian culture... I know many unsettling things about Stalin's times from my grandparents and other people of older generations, not only from historical sources). But speaking about Stalinist court, they could rather feel a bit of loath and disgust towards Beria - but not even too much. Status quo was more than suitable for them. Yep, there could be sense of fear as well, Beria probably had dirt on many Stalin's courtiers to blackmail in case of personal conflict - but this factor wasn't essential. Those elitists just didn't give a flying fcuk about Beria's antics. Simple and cynical. Things changed only after Stalin's death. At that moment, Soviet elite realized that Beria is not a kinky yet tolerable molester of girls - he's a mortal enemy able to launch the Great Purge V2.0 and kill anyone on his way. So they had to strike first and act harsh. This is exactly when they "suddenly investigated the shocking truth - Beria is a vampire!!1!1" and "boiled up with righteous anger" )) But in any case, anti-Beria conspiracy was an action for the good of all. A type of targeted killing: despite the blatant lawlesness and absurd of this parody trial, it saved USSR people from the tyranny even worse than in Stalin's time. And opened the way to the long-awaited period known as Khrushchev's Thaw. Being a threat, Beria was eliminated in a radical manner. This is what really matters here, background details are insignificant.
Not quite with dignity for many of them(given Beria's inhumane antics), but Beria's end was rather pathetic compared to his victims and of course his untold monstrosity!
In real life, his death was even more undignified. Apparently, he was crying and begging and pleading so much that his executioners stuffed a rag in his mouth before executing him just to shut him up.
According to eye witnesses, Beria was said to have violently defecated his pants before falling to the floor crying after his sentence was read. I wish it was recorded.
This was one of the few scenes that was largely improvised. The director wanted it to feel chaotic so he gave the actors a broad outline, told them to read the charges, shout over each other, and then shoot Beria. Jason Isaacs, who played Zhukov, said in a Q&A that he wanted to be the one to shoot Beria, and you can see him lining up to take the shot before the other actor steps in. His surprise was real, and he improvised the "well that's got it done" response.
I'd like to believe that, but how do you improvise a gunshot? The effects could be added in post, sure, but the actor getting shot would at least need to know exactly when to react.
*FUN FACT:* Beria was responsible for arranging the (show) trial & execution of Yezhov, the guy he replaced as head of the NKVD. Before that, Yezhov was responsible for arranging the (show) trial & execution of Yagoda who he replaced as well. All three of them begged and pleaded for their lives, screaming for mercy despite doing to (Many) others what was being done to them. Even though they railroaded and murdered the guy they replaced, none of them ever expected that that would ever happen to them.... until it did. They ultimately got what they deserved.
Id wager Yezhov knew what was coming to him eversince Stalin appointed Beria as 2nd in command of the NKVD he started drinking heavily and neglected his duty by frequently absent from the office. In the end they shouldve known what they were getting in stalin, the bandit and the terorist of the bolsheviks.
@@ajaysidhu471 Yezhov , like Beria & Yagoda, was *wildly* corrupt and had sent many innocent men to their deaths. In fact, Yezhov was executed using the exact 'quiet purge' protocol he created, in a room he himself designed for it. He just felt too important, they all did until it was their turn.
True but he's not an exception. The marxist socialists were all pieces of sht across the board even by the extremely vile standards of socialists *(Ex:* Mao, Saddam Hussein, Hitler, etc.). These guys were worse and I mean way worse but not just Beria, all of them. Some were worse than others but that's a nominal difference.
It's even more ironic because Beria was Georgian. In their culture, such a cowardice before own death is an utter disgrace - manliness is a must have feature of Georgian folks. In particular, each of them (no matter male or female) must look into death's eyes with no sign of fear. While Beria cried and begged hysterically, moreover, he shat his pants... a moment later, army general Pavel Batitsky granted Beria a headshot euthanasia (it was rather a mercy to people present there, to save them from a dense fecal stench).
@@rook513 My life experience under communist regime, VN. You don’t believe then move and live in communist countries. Why to cover up? War is prohibited to say in Russia. Violation means imprisonment. 👹 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C66mAkS1ZfM.html
@@rook513 My life went through hell under communist regime. Even though I was a college student. I was an intellectual of the regime. Communists brain wash people. Tian Square massacre. People tried to avoid! terrorized citizens don’t dare to talk about. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bf7PEFwnFwg.html
A historical fact: before the very execution, Beria cried hysterically and begged for mercy, and then heavily shat his pants. Feces bursted loudly with a wet fart, loathsome stench spreaded around... In the next second, General Batitsky ended the coward's life with a headshot.
there have been different accounts of what happened. this is the first I've heard of him shitting his pants. However all accounts agree that he died badly, crying and begging for his life.
@@jonathanwpressman about shat pants - this detail is taken from memoirs by Pavel Batitsky, a three-star general that executed Beria personally. "We dragged Beria down the stairs to the basement. He shat his pants. A wave of suffocating stench spreaded around. At that moment, I shot him like a rabid dog". Btw, Batitsky was my compatriot - proud to mention that Ukrainian officer became the hand of justice that put an end to Beria's vile life 🇺🇦
Batitsky could just lie. It is very likely that Beria was killed on the very first day during his arrest (as in this video), and all the memoirs about being kept in the guardhouse, about the trial, are all lies.
@@Konstantin_Smirnov Alternate versions always exist )) according to one of them, Beria wasn't killed at all, Soviet authorities allowed him to leave USSR with a new passport, and he ended his life somewhere in Latin America )) But let's dive not so deep into conspiracy theories, otherwise we will end up with UFO that took Beria to Nibiru planet, lol 👽🛸 In any case, this motherfcuker was removed, and it was for the good of all - Soviet people were saved from the tyranny even worse than in Stalin's period.
I loved how anti-climactic the execution was in this scene, he didn't get himself an honorable death or made peace, he just cried and begged then got shot like many of his victims.
@@youtubestayatyourrootsforfsake Im referring to Alfred Jodl not Lavrentiy Beria, Jodle should be punished and hanged for atrocities he commited but Katyń was not any of it
@@tempejklbecause for all of Beria's crimes, he was extremely good as the director of the NKVD, and that is what stalin wanted. In reality, he both despised, hated, and never trusted the man. However, he couldn't find anyone to do his job better than he could.
The acting in this scene is amazing. Beria’s beg for mercy was so believable, would this have been out of context and without knowing who Beria was, you would’ve actually felt sympathy for him.
It’s telling that when asked later, Zhukov, a man responsible for some of the most impressive battles in history, a man whose armies took Berlin, a man so beloved that even Stalin was afraid to kill him, said that bringing Beria down was the most important moment of his life.
The "Acts of Perversion with Children As Young As 7 Years Old" was in fact implied earlier in the film, when a random silent young girl repeatedly appeared alongside Beria whom he brought roses for at one point with no obvious reason(at least to the laymen in the audience!), and later saved by the Red Army from Beria's dacha!
Yep, well said. The bouquet of roses thing was in fact, a signal that the 'woman' had consented to the acts the entire time and was a well-known act by his underlings.
It's interesting how Beria stays confrontational and it seems like he thinks he can argue his way out of this -- right up until the moment Khrushchev starts reading specific names of his victims. It's as if in that moment he's finally realized they have truly done their research and these aren't just generalized accusations...and he's not getting out of this.
The best part about this scene is it is one of the few examples of Revolutionary Justice getting it right. The monster paid for crimes he actually committed, rather than innocents being punished for the failures of others. As cathartic and rewarding as it is, the idea that a small group of armed men can drag someone into a barn, without counsel, read an indictment with a summary judgement to be executed immediately upon leaving this building, and all appeals ignored is a bit terrifying. I wonder how many faced similar 'justice' undeservedly.
Well Revolutionary Justice is a bit of a stretch. The honest truth is that any one of them could be put on trial for similar crimes although Beria in particular was evil even by Soviet standards of the time, but let's not kid ourselves. That's not why he was put on trial. Beria was put on trial because he was making power plays and becoming unhinged so they choose to kill him before he could kill them. Beria being evil and deserving of this death was just a happy coincidence and nothing more.
Eh? the marxist socialists were all 'monsters', not just Beria. Remember, the reason they turned on Beria is **Because** they were all incredibly guilty of vast amounts of heinous crimes and they feared Beria might expose them if they didn't act.
@@johncarter4956 Exactly. Revolutionary tribunals are self appointed groups making legal rulings based off incredibly broad mandates (such as stopping counterrevolutionary activity) with the power to pronounce guilt, sentence death with immediate execution without recourse, counsel, an impartial jury, appeal, or even a delay in the execution. What could possibly go wrong in the case of an innocent person accused? We find ourselves supporting it when a clear criminal gets the justice he deserves, but the criminal nature of the 'proceeding' slips past many viewers. Even monsters deserve fair trials.
They all knew Beria crimes long before the trial they only decided to do something after he threatened to expose them first and because he was the most powerful opposition. Beria was a monster but they're all culpable in someway for hiding and ignoring his crimes until it was convenient for them .
In fact, headshot was done by General Pavel Batitsky, a Deputy Commander of the Moscow Military District, and WW2 veteran with a big action experience. Btw, Batitsky was my compatriot - proud to mention that Ukrainian officer became the hand of retribution that put an end to Beria's vile life 🇺🇦
Apparently, Jason Isaacs AKA Zhukov was originally meant to shoot Beria but someone else beat him to it in the making of the scene, hence his reaction.
@@USSFFRU considering most of it was improvised, no one really knew what the other was gonna do to improve the realism of the scene, one man getting tired of the charade and ending that monster's life suddenly was probably no one's expectation, instead of the proper act of getting him out and killing him with the AK
@@russell5078084 Fox Newsmax is the propaganda TV you cultist. I don't need to watch the media you're thinking of for one second to see how bad trump & his fans are. Nobody makes a better recruiter for the far left than the average Trump voter & their condescending narcissist attitude.
@@daz7052 Yes. And it was successful targeted killing, the case when one death of one motherfcuker saves lives of millions. Imagine Beria winning and taking the supreme power - USSR would fall into the tyranny even more gruesome than in Stalin's times. But he was eliminated, and since that, the long-awaited period known as Khruschev's Thaw has begun. I know that from my parents and grandparents (I'm Ukrainian, my country was a part of USSR back then) - it was like a fresh wind, a Renaissance after the dark ages. People finally felt themselves free, no more fear to be arrested in the dead of night for a careless word or political joke. it was a cultural rebirth as well, Soviet youth began its reintegration into the world culture, rock music, etc... - after the decades of isolated totalitarian art domination. A bit later, Soviet system became harsher again (I mean Brezhnev's "stagnation epoch") - but it wasn't as cruel as in times of Stalinism.
@@WeltSchmerz1349 I didn’t know that. Glad he didn’t take power. I’m also sorry for what your homeland is going through. I know this means little, but слава Україні!
I think an understated part of this scene is Malenkov’s reaction after he reads the charges. He spends the prior scene insisting that Beria be given a proper trial, signs the order Kruschev gives him under protest, and then you see him read over the charges in this scene. You see him take on an expression of stone-cold contempt for Beria as he slowly sets down the paper and understands that this monster had to die. Great performance by Jeffrey Tambor, there.
They all knew Beria crimes long before the trial they only decided to do something after he threatened to expose them first and because he was the most powerful opposition. Beria was a monster but they're all culpable in someway for hiding and ignoring his crimes until it was convenient for them
I had another take on it. Malenkov was just too weak to condemn Beria to death personally. So he just punted and left the task to Khruschev by default.
@@ConfusedRevolutionary The real Malenkov wasn't the spineless toady he's portrayed as in this film; he was a willing ally of Beria who was more than willing to throw Beria to the wolves when he realised his time was up. His mistake was underestimating Khrushchev and thinking of him as a "nobody". But that's not as ripe with comedic potential.
Jason Isaacs is so good. That look he shoots the extra when he shoots Beria in the head like he doesn't know whether to give him a medal or shoot him himself for denying him the chance at finishing Beria. Then the silence and "Well, that's got it done then." He somehow managed to steal so many scenes in a movie full of fantastic actors.
This is historically accurate: Beria died weeping and begging for mercy. His predecessor head of the NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov (who oversaw the deaths of tens of thousands of people during the Great Purge) died almost exactly the same way, crying and begging for mercy. Beria was his second in command and betrayed him and supervised his execution. Yezhov had supervised the execution of his own predecessor, Genrikh Yagoda, who was also a mass murderer. One has to appreciate the dark irony of the fates of Stalin's secret police chief
While the whole movie displays a comedic aspect I love how the trial is completely solemn, chaotic and very very serious. The comedy doesn't return until after the monster is shot. I'm no director but I can say it makes this scene particularly powerful.
Maybe it's just Buscemi's genuine reaction, but I like how Khrushchev increasingly gets more disgusted with every name. He even seems to break down slightly with "would you like to read the list yourself?!?" Maybe I am overreading it, but it adds a nice layer to his character.
You know that thing where they say things like: "HItler was a vegetarian btw" or "Hitler was bad but at least he loved Germany"? This dude was not like that. He had *no* redeeming features whatsoever. He wasn't a genuine, but misguided Patriot. He wasn't a Violent Idealist fighting for a Cause. He wasn't even a Lunatic In Power or Fool Out Of His Depth. He was absolutely, completely, sanely evil, who used a system of violence to achieve his personal lust for power (and many *other* things) and had loyalty to none or from none. Not even Stalin liked him.
@@thebighurt2495 In other words; He was the average marxist socialist. A typical bolshevik. Also yeah, the bolsheviks make the NSDAP look like boyscouts. The greater evil won that war.
Everyone is praising Jason Isaacs, but the actor who played Beria did a phenomenal job in this scene. You can hear the pure despair in hice voice and it made the scene that much satisfying.
When have political opponents EVER had rights in any major country? Just look at what happened to Paul Robeson and Earl Browder in the USA. Paul Robeson’s HUAC trial is on the internet, it’s very interesting to listen to.
Beria met himself in the doorway. Millions of Russians was killed in the big purges in Russia in the 1930s because of him and his apparatus, togeher with at least 22.000 Polish officers (Katyn massacre).
He was overconfident after Stalins demise, a huge miscalculation. When that meeting was called, he should have made sure his men were near and ready for anything
To be fair, his men i.e. the NKVD were quite near him(remember that the NKVD displaced the Red Army in Moscow during the days leading up to Stalin's funeral, at least in this fictional timeline). The timing just worked in Zhukov, Molotov & Khrushchev's favor- because the Red Army was back in Moscow for a day for Stalin's funeral, thus facilitating the coup smoothly!
@@jmwoods190 problem with Beria is that he was never really in charge of the nkvd or at least hold its loyalty and nkvd officer are not gonna fight the god Damn red army
Maybe Beria had something to do with Stalin's death, and maybe he didn't. But his actions following Stalin's passing was so, so telling. He knew his only real protection was that Stalin was as psychopathic as he was, and with the boss dead, he had to appear merciful, as if he was only following the orders of Stalin. Thankfully, the rest of the Soviet leadership saw right through his BS. I can't imagine what a USSR with Beria at the helm would have been like. Also, Jason Isaacs had be in stitches in every scene he appeared in. Total scene stealer.The look on his face after the soldier shoots Beria, he looks like he's about to tune the guy up. But the look was really one that said, "Damn. That was hardcore."
This is false. He was romanticized in this film as well as in real life by the soviet propaganda. He was a degenerate like everybody else in the state apparatus of the soviet union.
I love the way this movie is both very funny, and also a pretty honest peek into a wierd time and place in history. I'm not an expert of coups and summary executions, but this seems pretty believable.
I like the prosecutor's opening statement: > You are accused of treason and anti-soviet behaviour, the court finds you guilty and sentence you to be shot. Short , sweet and to the point.
My favorite part of this is despite Beria’s “nymphets” being an open secret to this room of histories most prolific murders even they can’t help reacting with sheer revulsion and disgust when its read out in front of them. I suppose it’s one thing looking the other way to keep your head down and another thing entirely to take a moment and think “Jesus Christ what a sick fuck”
He said he was looking at a way to get into being this tough, no nonsense Field Marshall who was one of the few not intimidated by Stalin, given his WW2 record. The inspiration was Brian Glover’s PE teacher who takes himself way too seriously in the 1969 film Kes. The accent, general demeanor somehow fit the part for this role.
Pretty similar to how Stalin's NKVD head died after the purge. Forget his name but he's the guy who is erased from the pics. IIRC the guy begged for his life despite being in charge of thousands of executions.
And that guy had a private torture dungeon that would make Hostel seem tame. All of them were sick fucks, like it had to be on their resume or something.
This was a fantastic scene, the chaos with all the shouting and men talking over one another just captures the sense of a summary trial perfectly. Also just the suddenness of Beria's death was eerie.
After learning about all of the atrocities Beria had committed, along with all the young girls and women he had raped, this scene was 100% justifiably. Also love the fact that he truly did beg for his life like this like the coward he truly was
Well a life sentence in prison also prevents them from every doing it again. I think that is much more fitting as it is more of a punishment. A bullet to the head is a quick and painless death but being sent to prison as a child molester? Once that news makes the rounds within the prison that dude is gonna be the target of beatings and shankins for the rest of his life. Sure, criminals might have done bad things but they are still not gonna take kindly to somebody who molests children and I doubt the guards would have an interest in protecting guys like that
@@FathomLordKarathr what is it with the far left and wanting to murder political opponents? trump is a fucking a-hole but executing him would make you 100000x worse
NGL a group of people in power doing stuff like this to get more power, competing, getting a trial and undermining eachother is one of the best forms of entertainment.
To be fair, while every last person in that room is guilty of something horrible. Berija as a person was just entirely horrific. Absolutely no redeeming qualities.
"Have a look. Proper dead, huh?" Very funny line. It's fair to say the man who shot Beria needs some lessons on range safety and muzzle discipline.... but it's hard to criticize the result.
I remember watching Death of Stalin when it first came out. Great movie and this scene still chills me somewhat. It would have been classic, considering how Khrushchev said, “We will bury you” a few year later. It would have been hilarious if Steve Buscemi belted out, “We will bury ya!” in his amusingly American-sounding Russian accent.😂😂😂😂😊
