My final entry for Marx’s birthday. It’s late but I still want to write about seeing this at the nearby discount theater which never ceases to amaze me in what they carry.
Believe it or not, The Death of Stalin is based upon a comic book portraying the historical event. I will have to seek it out.
As for a movie and History buff, I enjoyed Stalin immensely despite the dark subject matter. Even if the Cold War were continuing, I would still see this.
The film is loosely based upon the power struggle that happened after the Soviet dictator Stalin dies from a stroke. We all know in the end who won, spoiler, Khrushchev. Yet during the initial days, the “throne” was up for grabs between Stalin’s deputy Malenkov (technically the designated successor); the head of the murderous NKVD (secret police, probably what Orwell’s thought police were based upon), Beria; obviously Khrushchev; and the Soviet Union’s highest-ranking military officer, Field Marshall Zhukov; and all the other cabinet members. Beria appears to be in the lead as his NKVD operatives are executing and arresting anyone who was near Stalin prior to his death; they also keep the other contenders scared with the exception of Zhukov.
Where is the comedy? It’s in the peer pressure with their committee meetings. The preparation for the funeral (Malenkov is vain). The actual funeral. The terror Stalin inspired, namely at the movie’s beginning when the tyrant demands a recorded copy of concert broadcast on the radio. It’s all from how the various players scheme and backstab each other. Not an easy feat given the millions Stalin had murdered during his reign of terror; many times more than Hitler.
If you’re a History fanatic like me, watch this when it appears on Cable/Streaming. Everybody else, you’ll probably be bored.