The Death of Stalin Dvd

The Death of Stalin is a 2017 satirical dark comedy film written and directed by Armando Iannucci and co-written by Fabien Nury, David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows. A British-French-Belgian co-production, the film stars an ensemble cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Whitehouse, and Jeffrey Tambor. Based on the 2010 and 2012 French graphic novel La Mort de Staline, the film depicts the power struggle following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953.

The Death of Stalin was screened in the Platform section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and received critical acclaim. It was released in the United Kingdom by Entertainment One Films on 20 October 2017, in France by Gaumont on 4 April 2018 and in Belgium by September Film Distribution on 18 April 2018. The film was banned in Russia and Kyrgyzstan for allegedly mocking the countries’ past and making fun of its leaders. It received a Magritte Award nomination in the category of Best Foreign Film.

Plot

In the USSR in 1953, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Joseph Stalin is listening to a concert on the radio and orders that a recording of it be delivered to him. The concert has to be hurriedly repeated and recorded, but the pianist, Maria Yudina, hides a note to Stalin in the sleeve of the record, saying he has ruined the country. As Stalin reads the note in his dacha, he suffers a cerebral hemorrhage and becomes paralysed. The members of the Central Committee are alerted. The first to arrive is Interior Ministry (NKVD) head Lavrentiy Beria. He discovers and pockets Yudina’s note, and proceeds to steal papers from a safe and give them to his men who are waiting outside the dacha. Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Georgy Malenkov arrives next. As Malenkov panics, Beria encourages him to take the leadership, hoping to use him as a puppet.

Moscow Party Head Nikita Khrushchev arrives with the rest of the Committee, except Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, whom Stalin had added to one of his lists of enemies the previous night. Beria closes off Moscow, has the NKVD take over city security duties from the Soviet Army, and replaces Stalin’s list of enemies with his own list, reprieving Molotov. Khrushchev and Beria struggle for symbolic victories, including control over Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana, and his unstable son, Vasily.

Stalin dies, and the Committee members rush back to Moscow. As soon as they leave NKVD troops arrive to loot Stalin’s dacha and execute witnesses. Khrushchev goes to Molotov’s home and attempts to enlist his support, but Molotov, a true believer in Stalinism, opposes any factionalism in the Communist Party. Beria buys Molotov’s loyalty by releasing his wife, Polina Molotova, from confinement.

Malenkov is named Premier while being largely controlled by Beria. At the first Committee meeting following Stalin’s death, Beria sidelines Khrushchev by putting him in charge of Stalin’s funeral and suggesting the introduction of many of the liberal reforms Khrushchev had already planned. Stalin’s body is laid in state in the Hall of Columns, while many political prisoners are released and restrictions on the Russian Orthodox Church are loosened, earning Beria more popular support. Marshal Georgy Zhukov arrives and demands to know why the Soviet Army has been confined to barracks within Moscow.

Beria learns that Khrushchev has a passing acquaintance with Maria Yudina, who has been hired to play at the funeral, and threatens them both that he will reveal Yudina’s note. Khrushchev approaches Zhukov, who agrees to provide the Army’s support in a coup to overthrow Beria, but only if the Committee agrees.

To undermine Beria’s popularity, Khrushchev orders the resumption of trains into Moscow, allowing thousands of mourners into the city. As Khrushchev has anticipated, the NKVD guards around the Hall fire on the crowd, killing 1,500 people. The Committee suggests scapegoating low-level NKVD officers, but because Beria believes any blame attached to security services will tarnish his reputation, he angrily threatens the Committee with incriminating documents he has collected on them. Enraged that Beria has ended the State’s persecution of the Orthodox Church, Molotov secretly tells Khrushchev and Lazar Kaganovich that he will support the coup if they can enlist the support of the others, including Malenkov.

On the day of Stalin’s funeral, Khrushchev lies to the Committee and Zhukov that he has Malenkov’s support. The Soviet Army overwhelms the NKVD and takes up positions outside the conference room. Zhukov and his men arrest Beria, and Khrushchev coerces Malenkov into signing the papers for Beria’s trial. In a kangaroo court Khrushchev and his allies find Beria guilty of treason and sexual assault, and execute him. As Beria’s body is burnt, Khrushchev gives Svetlana a ticket to Vienna and assures her that her brother will be cared for. Several years later, Khrushchev, now leader of the Soviet Union, having removed his co-conspirators, attends a concert by Maria Yudina, while future leader Leonid Brezhnev watches him from the next row of seats.

Cast

Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev
Simon Russell Beale as Lavrentiy Beria
Paddy Considine as Yuri Andreyev
Rupert Friend as Vasily Stalin
Jason Isaacs as Georgy Zhukov
Michael Palin as Vyacheslav Molotov
Andrea Riseborough as Svetlana Stalin
Jeffrey Tambor as Georgy Malenkov
Adrian McLoughlin as Joseph Stalin
Olga Kurylenko as Maria Yudina
Paul Whitehouse as Anastas Mikoyan
Paul Chahidi as Nikolai Bulganin
Dermot Crowley as Lazar Kaganovich
James Barriscale as Army General
Leeroy Murray as Zhukov’s Chief of Staff
Daniel Fearn as Ivan Konev
Luke D’Silva as Kirill Moskalenko
Gerald Lepkowski as Leonid Brezhnev
Dave Wong as Zhou Enlai
Richard Brake as Anatoly Tarasov
Diana Quick as Polina Molotova
Justin Edwards as Spartak Sokolov (Conductor 1)
Tom Brooke as Sergei
Nicholas Woodeson as Boris Bresnavich (Conductor 2)
Karl Johnson as Dr. Lukomsky
Cara Horgan as Lidiya Timashuk
Jonathan Aris as Mezhnikov
Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Musician
Sylvestra Le Touzel as Nina Khrushcheva
Paul Ready as NKVD Officer Delov