Armando Ianucci's The Death of Stalin

honestly I saw it at TIFF and it was dece but certainly no IN THE LOOP. it feels weirdly slight for what's effectively framed as a huge story, whereas ITL managed to be v funny while also telling a complete story about how modern war legislation is sold. certain awful truths of the characters and period sit awkwardly with the lols. Friend and Isaacs are great and should both do more comedy

I don't remember ITL so much but I thought this was great, the fact that it was about a real and murderous regime made it all the more chilling. The climactic scene was seriously intense. Some insight into how these regimes function - the groupthink, the cognitive dissonance; the true believers, the cynics & self-servers. Still funny though, & not too much of the fucknugget cockwomble type dialogue.

not on in Hull today sadly, wanted to fuel my inner despair without booze

Friend and Isaacs are great and should both do more comedy

Really well-cast all round

Was just reading about the Aleksei German death of Stalin movie. Which provoked a massive walkout at Cannes '98 and Scorsese wanted to award it the palme d'or. His movie is coming from the pov of a persecuted Jew during Stalin's antisemitic Doctor's Plot. It sounds fucking great tbh, I just wish my copy had subtitles.

http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/cteq/khrustalyov-my-car/

thanks for tip

subtitles! [

https://sovietmoviesonline.com/drama/305-hrustalev-mashinu.html

Is that site legit? I wouldn't complain about paying $3 for a good copy.

Oh I see you don't need to pay to watch, cool!

no idea bud but you can stream the movie for nothing anyway

Absolutley fucking cool, tbh!

excited for my tankie friends to get all mad about this

omg thanks nv!!

Will give that a watch.

Not seeing Death of Stalin but its been an...experience seeing Peter Hitchens go on about this *all day*.

Stoked for the opening of the communist museum.

I bet there isn't a moment in The Death of Stalin where Beria, standing over Stalin's fresh cadaver, says to Klensky: "Make him fart again".

I thought this was A+. Good year for films imo.

Was just reading about the Aleksei German death of Stalin movie. Which provoked a massive walkout at Cannes '98 and Scorsese wanted to award it the palme d'or. His movie is coming from the pov of a persecuted Jew during Stalin's antisemitic Doctor's Plot. It sounds fucking great tbh, I just wish my copy had subtitles.

I saw this several years ago as part of a German retrospective. (I think My Friend Ivan Lapshin was the only other title I managed to get to.) My impression was of a nightmare journey seeded by a deep study of the period. My memory is almost certainly at fault, but I'm remembering a faux-one shot stream of consciousness a la Birdman. I probably should revisit it, if it's available to stream.

I thought it was very good. It felt you are experiencing someone's internal memory of The Terror and experiencing memories in the abstract and disjointed way that they are relived in your mind. If that makes any sense. And this was mixed with much more vivid horror, like the innocuous looking NKVD van with the advert for Soviet Champagne on the side.

And Klensky seems such a strongman character and pretty invulnerable in the first act, by the end he is broken and humiliated. I'd imagine this was the director's memory that *anyone* could be broken in that era.

The overwhelming atmosphere of menace rendered simple sight gags excruciatingly hilarious. At some points I almost felt like I could be shot for laughing, which made not laughing much harder.

I thought this was great, amazing entrance scene from the guy playing Zhukov.

Jason Isaacs, he is hilarious in this. I liked it a lot also. I expected it to have had all the best jokes in the trailer but there were plenty more. I also found it surprisingly affecting. Andrea Riseborough as Svetlana deserves a lot of credit for that, in particular. Great performance.

when/where can i see this

I saw it (friend wanted light relief) and it was really bad although given where I am often coming from it might be impossible for me to find it good. There were only a couple of funny moments in this (the "you can plot while you run" quip at Khrushchev) and Isaacs was given the best lines, although the general as working class no-bullshitter who cuts through felt too easy a thing to do.

Otherwise it wasn't doing much of anything - felt like middle-class people laughing at stuff. Palin's role gave it a People's Front of Judea vibe to it and I mostly hate Python.

Palin was the week link

This was great

It was a weird experience. About 20 of us. One man at the back was laughing hard, a couple of others were doing so now and then. Everyone else quiet - it could be they were all laughing silently.

I was just hate-watching: these people are my enemies. I don't much like Thick of it either, not that they were attempting that trick here so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9eAshaPvYw

omg it's cpt lorca

when can i actually see this movie i've been dying to see since [looks at thread start date] six months ago??

opens March 9!

I predict yanklx will love this to the deserved extent ukilx obv just hates things these days cos brexit or w/e

Iannucci = centrist dad par excellence, amiriteukilx?

Centrists > ukilx

Khrustalyov, My Car >>> The Death of Stalin

by miles as well. I've got to admit I really enjoyed Simon Russell Beale's Beria in this, because I don't h8 fine actors. But it was pretty wank overall, just predictably shrill, shouty Iannucci type comedy, which is quite painful + predictable if it's not to your taste.

It is to my taste usually, or was, haven't seen much of it recently. I get the impression Iannucci's ship has sailed in the UK, and not just on ILX.

I used to like it, but find it exhausting these days. Not just because of his Centrist arrogance or whatever... I just feel like if you've watched the trailer to this there isn't much more to see really.

I just stuck the centrist dad bit in for laughs tbh, all I care about is whether the thing's funny or not.

i really enjoy all of ianucci's stuff despite him urging us to vote lib dem in the election that brought us the coalition and his other centrist crimes.

haven't seen this yet mind you

Both screenings of this sold out at the local intl film fest.

Should note that this is tbf far from flawless it doesn't really hang together as a movie but as a collection of scenarios and performances it's a beaut

i loved this

Iannucci's ship hardly seems to have sailed commercially as this was a lot more succesful than In the Loop with audiences. (Haven't watched it yet)

that's all that matters really, innit?

No, but it is an answer to "I get the impression Iannucci's ship has sailed in the UK, and not just on ILX."

It hasn't sailed commercially on ILX? I've no idea how it's done at the box office, but Iannucci and his style doesn't seem like a thing anymore in the UK, it seems to be still novel in the US though. For what it's worth, which isn't much, I've not heard a single person talking about this film outwith this thread.

Right well, anecdotes aside, I don't know what factors we can look at outside of Ilxor other than commercial and critical response, both strong for his latest project.

Did this even open in the US?

Out this week, I think

It really doesn't work as a comedy

And it definitely doesn't work as a drama, apart from the last 5 minutes.

Plus I'm sorry the bit where Beria has a hissy fit and starts shouting accusations at the other committee members was just a pale shadow of Glenn's "I AM MAN" meltdown in "Rise of the Nutters".

There was an 80's brit tv comedy drama about Stalin that pissed all over this, but I saw it years ago and can't remember the name of it, and then there is the darkest of dark comedy of Khrustalyov My Car which isn't going to be for everybody but goes more into the anti-Semitic "doctors' plot" violence at the end of Stalin's era, which much more interesting than doing shit comedy versions of famous Soviet commissars in *hilarious* UK regional accents. Actually maybe the latter could actually be funny if it was done by anyone but fucking Iannucci.

Having Paul Whitehouse play Paul Whitehouse, Michael Palin play Michael Palin and Jeffrey Tambor play Jeffrey Tambor was a bit lazy.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/14/khrustalyov-my-car-review-visually-amazing-russian-gem-aleksei-german

lol Khrustalyov is the recipient of that highest of movie accolades, a five star P Badshaw review! tbf on him it is a decent little review.

Fuck off back to Georgia, dead boy.

finally watched this. not funny at all apart from isaacs

i mean there's a line of people being shot in the head and then news of stalin's death reaches siberia and the next guy doesn't get shot. that isn't funny and it isn't satire

it's reveling in misery