Armando Iannuci's The Death of Stalin

heebusjeebus

Hello to Jason Isaacs!

Havnt seen a thread for this but the trailer is out.
Looks brilliant. Glad they are not all trying russian accents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukJ5dMYx2no

ohnonotgmail

that looks class.

bnt

Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev? боже мой ... :pac:

charlie_says

Haha great trailer.

Based on the the quality of dialog in Armando Iannuci's other works, the trailer is probably not giving away the best laughs of the movie.

bnt

Trailer #2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLv3A4T0zU4

"I'm off to represent the entire Red Army at the buffet."

FCIM

Hmm... Doesn't look spectacularly useful for a PhD student researching for a thesis.

Looks very funny though.

Fysh

I saw this at Cineworld's preview on Thursday, thought it was very funny without shying away from the madness and doublethink of the ruling party, or the casually brutal violence they doled out indiscriminately.

Well worth a watch.

pixelburp

Fysh wrote: »

I saw this at Cineworld's preview on Thursday, thought it was very funny without shying away from the madness and doublethink of the ruling party, or the casually brutal violence they doled out indiscriminately.

Well worth a watch.

Would like to see this, but random question : is there much of the shaky, fly on the wall style shooting that typifies Ianucci's previous work? My OH gets terrible motion sickness from this sort of filming style, so could be a no go for the cinema

bkrangle

pixelburp wrote: »

Would like to see this, but random question : is there much of the shaky, fly on the wall style shooting that typifies Ianucci's previous work? My OH gets terrible motion sickness from this sort of filming style, so could be a no go for the cinema

Not so much shaky stuff

Autecher

I thought this was really funny at times and also slightly confusing at times storywise. A bit like In The Loop in that way. And no there isn't too much of the shaky camera stuff.

cliggg

cliggg wrote: »

I thought this was really funny at times and also slightly confusing at times storywise. A bit like In The Loop in that way. And no there isn't too much of the shaky camera stuff.

Is it out? Unreal

spurious

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it out? Unreal

It was shown in the Screen Unseen slot. I enjoyed it a lot.
Marshal Zhukov (Isaacs) is hilarious.

JP Liz V1

Ireland's own Dermot Crowley also in this

Telecaster58

Sorry to say but I found this a bit flat. There were too few laughs and there were actually a couple of walk-outs. It's a pity as it really is a top notch cast. I am a big fan of Ianucci but this was nowhere near as funny as it could or should have been.

MilesMorales1

I loved it!

pumpkin4life

I thought this was excellent.

Great performances, pitch black jokes, scabrous and really original too. The movie's turn in its second half into something much darker was extremely well done as well.

Reminds me of something like Withnail and I or Four Lions; being advertised/starting off as a pure comedy before taking a turn into something way more serious and sinister later on.

One of the best of the year.

spurious

What was even funnier was looking up some of the more ludicrous events in the film to find out they actually happened.
I really thought the replaying of the concert was just a scene setter.

FunLover18

Absolutely loved this, perfectly captured the madness and dark comedy of the situation. The cast were all on top form, Tambor, Isaacs and Rupert Friend were standouts for me.

Telecaster58

Hate to emphasise the point, but when I saw it, I never heard one person laugh, and there were walkouts. Just can't get it.

FunLover18

Telecaster58 wrote:

Hate to emphasise the point, but when I saw it, I never heard one person laugh, and there were walkouts. Just can't get it.

Audience I saw it with were in stitches. Can't get how you found it flat but there you go, different strokes. Out of curiosity have you enjoyed Iannucci's other stuff?

FunLover18

FunLover18 wrote:

Audience I saw it with were in stitches. Can't get how you found it flat but there you go, different strokes. Out of curiosity have you enjoyed Iannucci's other stuff?

Just read your previous post where you said you are a fan, I dunno man. I though this was the exact same kind of humour as The Thick Of It and In The Loop.

mrsdewinter

Yes, I loved it too. I wasn't impressed with the trailer but hearing Armando Ianucci interviewed on Kermode & Mayo prompted a rethink and I'm happy I went to see it now. I'm no history buff, so I've spent the last half-hour Googling the shiz out of the various characters. Mad stuff altogether.

Telecaster58

FunLover18 wrote: »

Just read your previous post where you said you are a fan, I dunno man. I though this was the exact same kind of humour as The Thick Of It and In The Loop.

That was one of the reasons I was so eager to see the film. Loved The Thick of it and In the Loop, and both stand up to repeated viewing.

Victor

Note that the film is satire and not necessarily a comedy as such.

I thought it was quite good, although the acceleration of the timeline was a bit excessive. The events of about 9 months are compressed into about a week.

While some of the casting was good facially, others were very off, e.g. this is Beria (on left) in real life: http://beautifulrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/beria-stalin.jpg

Telecaster58 wrote: »

Hate to emphasise the point, but when I saw it, I never heard one person laugh, and there were walkouts. Just can't get it.

Might it be age dependent?

HandsomeBob

mrsdewinter wrote: »

Yes, I loved it too. I wasn't impressed with the trailer but hearing Armando Ianucci interviewed on Kermode & Mayo prompted a rethink and I'm happy I went to see it now. I'm no history buff, so I've spent the last half-hour Googling the shiz out of the various characters. Mad stuff altogether.

The Russians aren't happy with the accuracy of the film apparently. I would have thought the fact that you have American and English actors knowingly keeping their accents in character was a hint not to take it seriously but there you go!

Easy Rod

I thought it was great. Crowd in the lighthouse were very appreciative too and plenty of laughs.

pixelburp

Belatedly got to see this before it left the cinema. Very reminiscent of Iannucci's other works, which is why I was surprised to learn it wasn't technically an original work from Iannucci himself (rather, a French comicbook of the same name); and while it shared a similar genetic link with his other material such as The Thick of It or Veep, with its sharp skewering of the endemic incompetency and farce found within circles of power, Death of Stalin slowly fed into its narrative a darker strain; it never shied away from the reality & horrors of Stalinist Russia, the tragedy and brutality slowly becoming so predominant that the laughs faded to the background (also, the presence of Michael Palin as a face of smiling benevolence within a despotic regime called to mind 1985's Brazil). To the point where the last act was vicious, harsh and quite shocking, it was quite masterfully done really; Iannucci taking the audience by the hand, offering plenty of wry chuckles at the expense of these apparent dimwits clamouring for survival and/or power, only to pull the rug out from under us by the end, showing the brutality in all its terrible, immediate 'glory'. The balance of comedy & tragedy has rarely been this effectively accomplished.

Smegging hell

Lots of laughs when I saw it in Galway.

It's a pity Bob Hoskins is no longer around or he could reprise his role as a cockney Khrushchev in Enemy At The Gates.

I never realised Khrushchev was himself forced from power. Although at least he did avoid Beria's grizzly end.