When politics goes completely crazy, everything somehow goes down the drain and the world seems to be going crazy, there is only one thing that helps: Laugh. Otherwise you would have to cry. Ideally, for cases like this, there are really nice, black, evil satires that make dealing with the bitter reality a little easier.
One such satire that reminds us that power struggles have always been completely stupid is The Death of Stalin. It is told with a whole cast of star actors. And this is inspired by the true events after the death of the Soviet dictator. You can stream this darkly humorous masterpiece now on Amazon Prime.
The Death of Stalin on Amazon Prime depicts the madness surrounding the death of a dictator
Josef Stalin is dead. He died in an extremely embarrassing and undignified way in his own office. Now the top leadership position of the entire Soviet Union lies fallow. What happens now? Will the nation be informed? How can a man of Stalin’s stature be given a proper burial? And Who, yes who only, should now take the scepter?
This and a whole host of other questions overwhelm the powerful masters who were subordinate to Stalin during his lifetime. They all now begin to eye and monitor each other more than suspiciously. Who knows which of them is already planning a coup? A utter chaos of intrigue, cockfights and total overwhelm breaks out.
At the center of this madness are men who made history but are now bicker like little children: Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Stalin’s right-hand man Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), for example. General Georgy Zhukov (Jason Isaacs) also plays, as does intelligence chief Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale). When everything threatens to escalate, it is clear: in the end, not only Stalin is dead.
The Death of Stalin shines with wonderfully evil stars and is still very relevant today
The Death of Stalin is a skilful mixture of sober depiction of reality and wonderfully played farce. Stars like Buscemi and Isaacs clearly enjoy being cartoonishly evil. Michael Palin is also there and the presence of a Monty Python member reinforces the feeling of real satire in the best way.
Rupert Friend plays the spoiled dictator’s son Vasily Stalin as meanly as the film needs. Even House of the Dragon star Paddy Considine has found himself lost here, drifting through the reality-inspired chaos just as confused as the audience. This is pure madness, takes a cold approach to history and… is diabolical fun.
It’s actually bitter that the toddler squabbles mixed with cruelty in The Death of Stalin still feel relevant. At the same time, that’s also practical, because a film like this can at least give us back a bit of gallows humor. And maybe in the end you can Hope draw from the fact that humanity has always outlived its crazy leaders.
If you need a bit of bitter humor, we’ll prescribe it starting today The Death of Stalin with streaming subscription on Amazon Prime.
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