| The Death of Stalin | |
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 British theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Armando Iannucci |
| Written by |
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| Screenplay by | Fabien Nury |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Zac Nicholson |
| Edited by | Peter Lambert |
| Music by | Christopher Willis |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million[2] |
| Box office | $24.6 million[3] |
The Death of Stalin is a 2017political satireblack comedy film directed byArmando Iannucci and written by Iannucci,David Schneider andIan Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novelLa Mort de Staline (2010–2012), the film depicts the internal social and political power struggle among the members of theSoviet Politburo following thedeath of leader Joseph Stalin in 1953.
The French-British-Belgian co-production stars anensemble cast that includesSteve Buscemi,Simon Russell Beale,Paddy Considine,Rupert Friend,Jason Isaacs,Olga Kurylenko,Michael Palin,Andrea Riseborough,Dermot Crowley,Paul Chahidi,Adrian McLoughlin,Paul Whitehouse, andJeffrey Tambor.
The film premiered on 8 September 2017 at theToronto International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in theUnited Kingdom byEntertainment One Films on 20 October 2017, inFrance byGaumont on 4 April 2018, and inBelgium by September Film Distribution on 18 April 2018. It received critical acclaim and various accolades, including nominations for twoBritish Academy Film Awards, one of which was forOutstanding British Film, and 13British Independent Film Awards, four of which it won. There was fierce opposition to the film inRussia, where it was seen as "anti-Russian propaganda", and it was banned there, as well as inKyrgyzstan, for allegedly mocking theSoviet Union and its past.[4][5]
On the night of 1 March 1953,Joseph Stalin calls theRadio Moscow director to demand a recording of the live recital ofMozart'sPiano Concerto No. 23 soon after its conclusion. The performance was not recorded; not wanting to anger Stalin, the director hurriedly refills the half-empty auditorium, fetches a new conductor to replace the original one, who has passed out, and orders the orchestra to play again. PianistMaria Yudina initially refuses to perform for the cruel dictator, but is ultimately bribed to comply.
Stalin is hosting a tense, but rowdy, gathering ofCentral Committee members at his home, theKuntsevo Dacha. AsForeign MinisterVyacheslav Molotov leaves,NKVD headLavrentiy Beria reveals toNikita Khrushchev andDeputy ChairmanGeorgy Malenkov that Molotov is to be part ofthe latest purge. When the concert recording arrives, Stalin finds a note Maria slipped in the record sleeve, admonishing Stalin and expressing hope for his death. He reads it, laughs, and suffers acerebral haemorrhage. Despite hearing him fall, Stalin's guards do not enter his office, fearful of being punished for disturbing him.
Stalin's housemaid discovers him unconscious the next morning. The members of the Central Committee each learn about the situation through their own networks and rush to the dacha. Beria, the first to arrive, finds Maria's note. Once Malenkov, Khrushchev,Lazar Kaganovich,Anastas Mikoyan, andNikolai Bulganin arrive, the Committee finally decide to send for a team of doctors. Most of the best doctors in Moscow have been arrested for being part of the "Doctors' plot" and so the doctors who can be found are not impressive. After a brief bout ofterminal lucidity, Stalin dies. As the members of the Committee return to Moscow, Beria orders the NKVD to take over the city's security posts held by theSoviet Army.
Beria and Khrushchev vie for the support of Molotov and Stalin's children,Svetlana and her unstable, alcoholic brotherVasily. Beria has Molotov removed from the list of those to be rounded up, and hasPolina Zhemchuzhina, Molotov's wife, released from prison. The Committee names Malenkovchairman. A puppet of Beria, Malenkov further exerts control by hijacking Khrushchev's proposed reforms, such as releasing political prisoners andloosening clerical restrictions. Khrushchev is relegated to planningStalin's funeral.
After Beria learns that Khrushchev and Maria are acquainted, he threatens Khrushchev with Maria's note. To create problems for the NKVD, Khrushchev reverses Beria's order to halt all transport into Moscow. When 1,500 arriving mourners are killed, the Committee wants to blame junior NKVD officers. Beria angrily dissents, believing that would amount to blaming him, and threatens his colleagues with documents detailing their involvement in variouspurges.
Irate over the supplanting of the military by the NKVD,MarshalGeorgy Zhukov agrees to support Khrushchev in acoup against Beria, provided it occurs afterStalin's funeral the next day and Khrushchev can get the rest of the Committee on board in time. Khrushchev fails to find time to discuss his plan with Malenkov but he tells everyone else that the decision is unanimous, and they commit themselves. Khrushchev gives Zhukov the greenlight, and the Soviet Army reclaims its posts from the NKVD. Zhukov, assisted by a group of soldiers led byKiril Moskalenko andLeonid Brezhnev, storms into a meeting of the Committee and arrests Beria.
Malenkov does not intervene and reluctantly signs Beria's death warrant, horrified at what Beria had done to his victims. At Beria'semergency trial, Khrushchev accuses him ofcounter-revolutionary activities,sexual assault, andpaedophilia, and immediately declares him guilty after evidence of the final accusation is delivered by the Soviet Army. Beria begs for his life but is summarily shot in the head, and Zhukov has his body burned in the courtyard. Despite Svetlana's protests, Khrushchev sends her toVienna, while keeping Vasily in Russia, where he can be watched. He concurs with Kaganovich that Malenkov is too weak to lead. In 1956, Maria is once again performing the Mozart concerto. Having triumphed over other members of the Committee to become the new leader of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev attends. Brezhnev, who will eventually succeed Khrushchev in 1964, eyes Khrushchev from his seat.
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The film's credits reveal that several other historical figures are depicted in the film in small roles, among themZhou Enlai (played by Dave Wong) and MarshalIvan Konev (played by Daniel Fearn).
During the2016 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that production on the film was set to begin in June, and thatJeffrey Tambor,Steve Buscemi,Olga Kurylenko,Timothy Dalton,Toby Kebbell,Michael Palin,Simon Russell Beale,Paddy Considine andAndrea Riseborough were in "advanced talks to join the project."[6] By the time filming started on 20 June,Adrian McLoughlin andPaul Whitehouse had joined the cast, andJason Isaacs had replaced Dalton as Georgy Zhukov, whileRupert Friend had replaced Kebbell as Vasily Stalin.[7][8][9] Production wrapped on 6 August 2016.[7]
Scenes were shot on location inKyiv (exterior scenes and the exteriors of the Public Enemies building and the NKVD building),Moscow (theRed Gate Building), and the United Kingdom (Blythe House,Battersea Park,Mansion House,Fulham Town Hall,Goldsmiths' Hall,Shoreditch Town Hall,Freemasons' Hall,Alexandra Palace, andHammersmith Town Hall in London,Mongewell Park inOxfordshire,Black Park inBuckinghamshire,[10] andWrest Park inBedfordshire).[11] The film'sscore was composed byChristopher Willis, who tried to write in the style of Soviet composerDmitri Shostakovich.[12][13]
The Death of Stalin was screened in the Platform section at the2017 Toronto International Film Festival.[14] It was released in theatres byeOne Films in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2017, and byIFC Films in the United States on 9 March 2018.[15][16][1] The film grossed $8 million in the United States and Canada and $16.6 million in other territories (including $7.3 million in the UK), for a worldwide box office total of $24.6 million.[3]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 254 reviews, with an average score of 8/10; the site's critics consensus reads: "The Death of Stalin finds director/co-writer Armando Iannucci in riotous form, bringing his scabrous political humor to bear on a chapter in history with painfully timely parallels."[17] OnMetacritic the film has aweighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 43 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]
Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian gave the film 5/5 stars, writing that "fear rises like gas from a corpse in Armando Iannucci's brilliant horror-satire" and that it "is superbly cast, and acted with icy and ruthless force by an A-list lineup. There are no weak links. Each has a plum role; each squeezes every gorgeous horrible drop."[19]Sandra Hall ofThe Sydney Morning Herald gave the film 4.5/5 stars, describing it as "a devastatingly funny dissection of power politics, stripping the mystique from it and those who worship it."[20] Donald Clarke ofThe Irish Times gave the film 4/5 stars, writing that it "starts in a state of mortal panic and continues in that mode towards its inevitably ghastly conclusion".[21]
Tim Robey ofThe Daily Telegraph also gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "Depending on your point of view,The Death of Stalin is either a sly, wintry satire on Armando Iannucci's usual theme of squawking political idiocy, or an insidious attempt to destabilise the Russian establishment with relentless dagger-blows."[22] Peter Howell of theToronto Star gave the film 3.5/4 stars, writing: "Shifting eastwards from the Anglo-American japes ofIn the Loop andVeep, director/co-writer Armando Iannucci doesn’t stint on brutal truth — or lethal legend."[23]
Christopher Orr ofThe Atlantic praised the film's humour and performances and wrote that it "seems precisely attuned tothe current moment: a capricious, unpredictable leader, basking in acult of personality; the introduction of 'alternative facts'; the swift, party-wide swerves on subjects as various asnegotiating with North Korea,paying off porn stars, and evenRussian efforts to subvert a U.S. election."[24] Anthony Lane ofThe New Yorker wrote that the film was "ten times funnier, by my reckoning, than it has any right to be, and more riddled with risk than anything that Iannucci has done before, because it dares to meet outrage with outrage."[25]
Raphael Abraham of theFinancial Times wrote: "As this coven of vampiricapparatchiks feasts on the remains ofStalinism, the unremitting blackness of the situation at times threatens a full comedy eclipse. But the discomfiting balancing act of humour and horror is precisely Iannucci's game—and only he could pull it off with such skill."[26] Thomas Walker, inThe Objective Standard, agreed, adding that the film "dives deep into the psychology of those living under such a system and lays bare the self-destructive mind-set of those who grasp wildly for power."[27]
Matthew Norman of theEvening Standard gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "For all [Iannucci's] dream-team cast and assured direction, despite capturing the laughable sycophancy of the apparatchik the film isn't that funny."[28] Peter Debruge ofVariety wrote: "If only the end result were as funny as the idea that anyone would undertake a film about the turmoil surrounding the Soviet despot's demise."[29]
Former U.S. PresidentBarack Obama includedThe Death of Stalin on a list of his favourite films of 2018.[30]
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 323.[31]
Nikolai Starikov, head of the RussianGreat Fatherland Party, calledThe Death of Stalin an "unfriendly act by the British intellectual class", and part of an "anti-Russian information war".[5] In September 2017, the head of the Public Council of theRussian Ministry of Culture said Russian authorities were considering a ban on the film, alleging that it could be part of a "western plot to destabilise Russia by causing rifts in society".[32] Russian online newspaperVzglyad called the film "a nasty sendup by outsiders who know nothing of our history".[5] TheCommunist Party of the Russian Federation called the film "revolting", andAlexander Yushchenko, a spokesman for the party, said it was an attempt to spark discontent.[32]
On 23 January 2018, two days before the film's scheduled release in Russia,[33] a screening was attended byState Duma MPs, representatives of the Russian Historical Society, members of the Ministry of Culture's Public Board, and film industry members. Two days later, the Ministry of Culture withdrew the film's distribution certificate. Several cinemas screened the film in late January, and, though they claimed they had not heard the exhibition license had been revoked, the Ministry sued these theatres.[4]
According to the results of a poll conducted by the state-runRussian Public Opinion Research Center (VTSIOM), 35% of Russians disapproved of the Ministry of Culture's decision to keep the film from Russian screens, while 30% supported the ban and 35% were neutral. 58% of Russians said they would be willing to watch the film in cinemas if the ban were lifted.[citation needed] According to Iannucci, by January 2019, the film had been illegally downloaded 1.5 million times in Russia.[34]
A group of lawyers from Russia's Ministry of Culture; Era Zhukova, the daughter of Marshal Zhukov; cinematographerNikita Mikhalkov;Vladimir Bortko; and Alexey Levykin, head of the RussianState Historical Museum,[35] petitioned Culture MinisterVladimir Medinsky to withdraw the film's certification, saying: "The Death of Stalin is aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, violating the dignity of the Russian (Soviet) people, promoting ethnic and social inferiority. We are confident that the movie was made to distort our country's past so that the thought of the 1950s Soviet Union makes people feel only terror and disgust."[36] The authors said the film, set to be released on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the end of theBattle of Stalingrad, denigrated the memory of RussianWorld War II fighters, with theRussian national anthem accompanied by obscene expressions and offensive attitudes, and historically inaccurate decorations.[35]
In addition to Russia, the film was banned inKazakhstan andKyrgyzstan.[4]Armenia andBelarus were the only members of theEurasian Economic Union to allow its release: in Armenia, it premiered in two cinemas inYerevan on 25 January 2018, while, in Belarus, it premiered after an initial delay.[37] In Kazakhstan, the film was only screened at the Clique Festival.[38]
| Year | Award | Category | Subject | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | British Academy Film Award | Outstanding British Film | The Death of Stalin | Nominated | [39] |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Armando Iannucci,Ian Martin, andDavid Schneider | Nominated | |||
| 2017 | British Independent Film Awards | Best British Independent Film | The Death of Stalin | Nominated | [40] |
| Best Director | Armando Iannucci | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, & Ian Martin | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Simon Russell Beale | Won | |||
| Steve Buscemi | Nominated | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Andrea Riseborough | Nominated | |||
| Best Production Design | Cristina Casali | Won | |||
| Best Costume Design | Suzie Harman | Nominated | |||
| Best Make Up & Hair Design | Nicole Stafford | Won | |||
| Best Music | Christopher Willis | Nominated | |||
| Best Casting | Sarah Crowe | Won | |||
| Best Editing | Peter Lambert | Nominated | |||
| Best Effects | Nominated | ||||
| 2018 | European Film Awards | Best Comedy | The Death of Stalin | Won | [41] |
| 2017 | Magritte Award | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | [42] |
Several academics have argued there are historical inaccuracies inThe Death of Stalin. Iannucci has said "I'm not saying it's a documentary. Itis a fiction, but it's a fiction inspired by the truth of what it must have felt like at the time. My aim is for the audience to feel the sort of low-level anxiety that people must have [experienced] when they just went about their daily lives at the time."[43]
The historianRichard Overy wrote that the film "is littered with historical errors", and called it "entertainment, but poor history". Among his examples are,
Overy wrote that those killed in theGreat Purge or sent toGulags "deserve a film that treats their history with greater discretion and historical understanding". Iannucci said he "chose to tone down real-life absurdity" to make the work more believable.[45][44]
TheRadio Moscow portion of the film is a retelling of an apocryphal story first recorded inSolomon Volkov's bookTestimony (1979), which Volkov claimed were the memoirs ofDmitri Shostakovich. InTestimony, Maria Yudina is awakened in the middle of the night in 1943 or 1944, not 1953, and brought in to record, and the recording brings Stalin to tears, moving him to pay Yudina 20,000roubles in appreciation. The story served as the loose basis forThe Stalin Sonata, a 1989 BBC radio play byDavid Zane Mairowitz. While, like the film, the original story has Yudina send a letter to Stalin, its contents are different, as she supposedly wrote to thank Stalin for the money, adding that she would donate it to the restoration of a church and would be praying for his sins to be forgiven.[46] While the real Yudina was fired on one occasion for her ideological disagreements with Stalin's regime, her family was not killed.
Dr. Lydia Timashuk is described in the film as a willing accomplice in theDoctors' plot, which is discussed as a past, rather than current, event, and is portrayed as an eager agent in the arrest of Moscow doctors for Stalin's care, who, in a deleted scene, dies in a minefield around Stalin's dacha after her sexual advances to Beria are rejected. In reality, she had no involvement in the events surrounding Stalin's death, and was an unwilling pawn in the Doctors' plot, after which she became embittered by the labels of informer and anti-Semite that followed her until her death in 1983.[47]
Bogdan Kobulov is depicted in the film as being shot dead during Beria's arrest by officers acting under orders given by Zhukov. In reality, he was arrested and killed with Beria months later.[48]
In the film,Vasily Stalin andAnatoly Tarasov are seen at a practice of theSoviet Union national ice hockey team, which has been depleted by a recent plane crash. Therereally was a plane crash in which 11 players on theVVS Moscow ice hockey team died, and star playerVsevolod Bobrov really did survive because he missed the flight, but the crash happened on 5 January 1950, more than three years before Stalin's death.
TheNKVD was superseded by theMVD in 1946, almost seven years before the death of Stalin.[49]
Samuel Goff of the Department of Slavonic Studies at theUniversity of Cambridge, though opining that the film's historical discrepancies could be justified as helping to focus the drama, wrote that turning Beria into "an avatar of the obscenities of the Stalinist state" missed the chance to say "anything about the actual mechanisms of power", and argued that Iannucci's approach to satire was not transferable to something like Stalinism, and the film is "fundamentally ill-equipped to locate the comedy inherent to Stalinism, missing marks it doesn't know it should be aiming for".[50]
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