Drinker's Extra Shots - The Death of Stalin
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มี.ค. 2022
- The Death of Stalin is a comedy satire about the power struggle following the death of one of history's most notorious dictators. It's also hilarious, insightful, fascinating and generally, a great movie.
- บันเทิง
Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov was a masterful choice. He captures that 'I defeated Germany and I've survived under Stalin for longer then most of you. I fear nothing at this point.'
He also captures that came from the trenches attitude of a soldier that is most of the time just done with the BS of the political actors around him (especially those that "think" they're being savvy), though has risen high enough to know when to be savvy himself and when to be a wrecking ball.
And oh yeah, I have the Red Army in my holster. Try me.
@@benjaminbierley2074 And oh yeah, I survived the Eastern Front, WWI. Try me.
Sums up his apparently real life attitude. He knew he was too big for staking to take on and staying knew it too. Was careful not to push too far to trigger any need for retaliation but knew the reverse was true for stalin
Jason Issacs is great in everything anyway
He killed that role.
It's hard not to love Zhukov. The dude was such a breath of fresh air after you listen to the scared politicians all movie and he walks into the room like he could give a shit
Stalin was afraid to purge Zhukov because he was more loved among the russian people than stalin himself.
Zhukov survived Stalin's purges and went toe to toe with Nazi Germany and beat them back. If I did that, I would walk into a room like Zhukov.
Zhukov was the only man who could tell Stalin "no".
*couldn’t
Jason Isaacs is an international treasure
Fun fact: Zhukov actually has fewer medals in the movie than he did in real life because the filmmakers thought it would’ve looked too ridiculous
This reminded me of one of my school teachers during the CCCP. She was a russian bitč, "a war veteran" heavily medalled for sleeping around with important commanders and for creating the lists of the locals to imprison or exile to Siberia until 1980s.
She was always wearing wool jumpers/sweaters that stretched enormously with all the weight of the 20+ medals, lol
Everyone talks about how badass Zhukov is, but nobody talks about Vasily. He has some of the most genuinely funny scenes and lines in the entire movie. My personal favorite is his freakout during Stalin's autopsy, where he accuses the doctors of "not being real people" and how they're trying to steal his father's brain and "fill it with American lies".
there was no plane!
I couldn’t stop laughing when he accidentally shot stalin’s body
@@_sausageman_ oops, sorry, dad!
@@jaewok5G soviet planes dont crash !!
@@chiuvirakovina they do now. Slava Ukraine
Jason Isaacs absolutely nailed his performance in this film. It's a shame he's not in more things.
He is in Discovery and Harry Potter. The first one is rather unfortunate.
It's a shame he's not in better things.
Terminator ruined his chances sadly.
He is a nice guy I met him
He was in some strange show that tried to be sci-fi show a few years ago, don't bother trying to find it, it's utter garbage.
Gotta love the "Go away now" being said over a shot of Stalin dying.
You should see his how to be a youtuber video, he says free yourself, while showing dirt bikes stuck in the mud. He is either very good at editing or gets lucky sometimes.
Missed the chance to say "go away to Gulag now"!
I want him to review Er ist wieder da someday too! Pretty fitting with these times
Any time a communist dies the world gets a little brighter.
@@axelhopfinger533 was about to say the same thing.
It might be the best comedy of the 2010s, endlessly quotable:
“What’s a war hero got to do to get some lubrication round ‘ere?”
"I'm off ter represent the entire red army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yehselves."
@@CarrionCrow993 Right after "Right, that's me told."
"Hi boys, meet your dates for tonight."
"I'll take the tall blonde."
"Spit it out, Georgy. Staging a coup here."
"I fooked the Germans, I think I can take a flesh-lump in a weskit."
The real-life story of that pianist (Maria Yudina) is even more wild than the movie. Not only did she keep wearing her cross despite it being illegal, and not only did she read verses from banned poets at her concerts, but Stalin actually read her letter to his inner circle. For whatever reason, he just never got around to arresting her. When he was found laying on the floor, comatose from a stroke, Yudina's concerto was playing on the record player in his room.
Iirc, he specifically said not to have her disappeared because he liked her music too much.
Even Stalin wasn't above Simping, apparently.
History buffs said he really liked her music
Jason Isaacs as Zhukov might be the most outrageously awesome role anybody ever played.
*Admiral* Zhukov: the MOON SLAYER!
Cannot think of a better compliment than "outrageously awesome" and Isaacs as Zhukov was just that.
Completely stole the show.
@PirateCat91 Both of em stole the show. Their performances were outstanding. Had me rolling anyway.
Making him a Yorkshireman was a masterstroke too, lol
Honestly, we’ve gotten so many movies taking the piss out of Hitler and the Nazis, it’s practically a trope in of itself, so seeing a movie poke fun of the Stalin and the Soviet Union is kinda refreshing nowadays.
Yes!! More people need to realize how evil not only Stalin, but other dictators were. Not just Hitler
You know the Russian Empire is an absolute monarchy. and Joseph Stalin was not russian
It's like there's a reason that, say, there's a million holocaust movies but no Holodomor movies. Same thing with Hitler vs. Stalin (or any other dictator)
Effort to cleanse the sins of the left
People in the West are unfortunately are very ignorant of other genocides and brutal dictators that aren't a funny moustache painter
Buscemi is such an unsung hero. He's never the leading man in movies, but he carries every character in such impactful ways, they can never be overlooked. And this man has not one f*cking Oscar. Travesty.
Oh this is calamity! Calamity!
That's probably the reason why he was chosen to play Kruschev. No one expected him to survive, let alone become the new leader of the Soviet Union.
Agree but he is a scene stealer, will often watch a movie just because he is in it.
Agreed! Buscemi deserves greater recognition. He's a phenomenal actor!
"Fuck my boots" 😂
The accents crack me up most of all (and you're right, Jason Isaacs as Zhukov steals the show); Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev was hilarious too, because he was like the little, wormy "yes man" of the group. I also find it darkly ironic the way that Beria dies both in the movie and in real life. He sent so many other people to their deaths, yet when it was his time, he was a little bitch about it.
As portrayed, Khruschev was indeed a scared little wormy man - but the smartest guy in the room too. You can see how he survived when so many better men didn't and also how he could outmanouvre Beria, who was no fool himself. Of course they all look grey little men next to Zhukov ...
The actual events and circumstances of Beria's death in the film differ in some ways to how he was executed in real life, but the concept was very much there in spirit. In fact, the film actually _downplays_ how hysterical Beria really was when he was given communism's eternal reward.
Steve Buscemi played a VERY heroic role otoh in the 2009 John Rabe biopic.
None of them were "perfect" (I'm being mild here), but Beria was one of the most disgusting and hated, cruel, vile people in power at the time.
@@kitty6720 It begs the question “Does Stalin REALLY have no one better to run the internal police force?” (As he is famously AWARE of Beria being a rapist, what with the near-miss with his own daughter.)
So glad someone's finally reviewing this movie. Absolute gem.
Check out History Buffs channel, he does a 50 minute review on the whole thing, good watch
@@darthpepe2994 I was about to say the same thing.
History Buffs is an amazing channel that anyone who is even remotely interested in history, and wonders how accurate "based on actual events" movies are, should check out.
One of my favourite reviews he did was The Terror, got me really into the story of the Franklin Expedition because of how mysterious and terrifying that story appears to be. 2 ships, 130 sailors just completely vanished somewhere in the Arctic and we still don't know what happened to them
@@darthpepe2994 guess I'm not the only one who got invested in that tragic story thanks to that channel.
Many have covered it, go look
Zhukov steals the show in this movie: "I fucked Germany, I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat." The comic this movie is based on is pretty good too. There was a follow up produced called Death of the Tsar, just as satirical. Hoping the same team will turn that into a movie one day.
Would be cool if the writer ever made another comic on the power struggle after Lenin’s death, from what I know about it the power struggle after his death was just as crazy with Trotsky and Stalin.
I'm going to have to report this conversation. Any thing said against the party.... look at your fucking face
The whole scene with Vasily getting beat up by Zhukov is gold
“That’s told me then” I loved that line.
@@Nightdare Just Vasily shouting "medic!" gets me lmao
The ending of this film is pitched so masterfully - it’s like the writer who’s been laughing along with you for the whole movie suddenly stops and says:
“What’s so fucking funny?”
It’s a brilliant punch and it makes this movie even better.
Are you referring to Berias "trial"
@@jarhead21100 Has to be that part.
@@jarhead21100 or the credits, where hundreds of random people are erased from pictures, implication being that they were killed.
@@bno6156 not really implication. Yeah, they were either disappeared and sent to a gulag or killed, but Stalin was Infamous for doing exactly what was in the credits. He erased people from official record if or when they crossed or offended him, even if he got some wild, paranoid idea that you were out to betray him even if you weren't. One or the things he would do to erase people from history was remove them from photos. I don't remember the credits, but the photos shown may have actually been real photos that had people removed. The credits are very much literal and figurative at the same time.
Dead right. That whole situation was as serious as cancer.
There is an amazing scene where Kruschev loses his shit and forces Malenkov to sign a death warrant. It’s played completely straight even though the rest of the film is darkly comedic. Steve Buscemi should have won all the awards just for his performance in that scene
.
And yet he's never even been nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, people who have not only been nominated but actually won an acting Oscar in the last few years include such legends as Troy Kotsur, Ariana DeBose, Youn Yuh-jung, and Brie Larson.
I bet Buscemi is the actor, other actors want to be.
It's a criminal farce how Buscemi has never received an Oscar from the corrupt acadamy.
There isn't enough time, writing space, or eloquence to describe just how effin' awesome Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov is in this film. It's a dominating performance. He's like a prized stallion hired to come in and mount everyone in every scene he's in. Watch this film for this alone, and just enjoy the dark humor and sadly accurate take on what it's like to live in tyrannical cult of personality...
I loved how he didn't just walk into a room, he burst through the doors. LOL
It's even a pretty good take on Zhukov himself- the guy was one of the few in the Stavka that had the force of personality AND credentials to go toe-to-toe with Stalin whenever serious disagreements broke out about how to prosecute the war effort without getting gulaged.
I love how the movie goes out of its way to play him up too. First appearance, he busts down the doors and take his coat off in slow motion. That's movie language for "Introducing The Chad Master General."
His entrance alone is a work of art
Yessir!
Steve Busemi as Kruschev is one of the more underrated roles in this movie. Love his dry humour and witty lines.
One role I never imagined Busemi in.
Mr. Pinko
He's so reliably good in such reliably good movies. One of my favorites. The man delivers!
give him the right lines and he fucking nails it 😆
This is where I'm happy they went against type. Busemi doesn't look at all like Kruschev (at least the fat version later), but it was worth it.
I saw this in a theater on opening weekend that was packed with older Chinese immigrants who were laughing their asses off.
Their reactions changed the whole tenor of the movie.
It was one of my top movie magic in a theater moments ever.
Lol
Ew
This didn’t happen
they understand it on a whole different level vs. most Americans
@@sburn1919 Why? Do you think Chinese immigrants don't exist or watch movies?
The scene where Baria flips and starts screaming that he’s got dirt on everybody was hilarious. And when he’s walking away “only friends and comrades can yell at each other like that.”
I LOVE this movie. My degree is in Russian history and, inaccuracies aside, I still love it. I would totally watch an entire movie of Jason Issac's Zhukov from this.
Zelenskyy should be Man of the Year!!! This guy is a Real Patriot of the West!!!
Jason Issac was amazing in this. Hilarious.
I think this movie was just to get Westerners used to the idea of communism with non-Russian accents.... and 3 years later we had it!
When Jason finds something outside of his ‘typecast’ he usually has fun and takes us with him
Quick question... a certain historian I watch bashed the movie and claimed that the purges the film presents weren't happening in Moscow, but were happening in the eastern European countries under Soviet control. Is that fair and can you recommend some reading materials on the subject?
The poetically ironic part of The Death of Stalin is that while of course the scenes are tailored to make for comedy, the kernel of the incidents and even the discussions was actually factually correct, all the paranoia and abject terror the people felt was genuine and set the perfect groundwork to make fun of how preposterous everyone's position(s) were and how easily one could be a hero on Monday and an enemy of the state by Tuesday.
Even if you have no interest in the history at all, you owe it to yourself to watch The Death of Stalin just for the humor and "so ridiculous it must be true" scenarios that play out in the power vacuum formed.
_> actually factually correct_
An I am actually factually a ballerina, and you are actually factually not an inbred hillbilly
Spot on mate!
Much of it is proof that the truth really is stranger than fiction.
in our college we talk about the events about the Death of Stalin (the event, not the movie), our professor, a passionate Stalinist, didn't like we use parts of the movie in the in between of the explanation, conclusion, the USSR was a black comedy kind of goverment
@@rincontibio7664
Your professor is a smart man, you are - not so much.
You might as well believe "Lincoln vampire hunter" is a documentary.
I love the fact that they make Zhukov a Yorkshireman, it's oddly perfect.
I think that was actually Isaac's idea. He said in an interview that Zhukov was just a blunt, bull of a man and, he felt a thick Yorkshire accent was perfect for that.
It also demonstrates how Zhukov was from a rather rural part of the USSR, much like how Yorkshire is a rural part of the UK.
It's absolutely perfect
@@callummcintyre713 Zhukov was from Strelkovka, which is in Ukraine - Russians consider Ukraine to be a s&^thole and consider Ukrainians subhuman - monkeys. Remember, Stalin made war on the Ukrainians in the 1930s by starving them to death(3 million people died; it's called the Holodomor), So Jason Isaac's position of using a Yorkshire accent would have been spot on in terms of how he would have been viewed by Russian politicos.
One of my favorite films in the past several decades. One reason I think it plays so well is the age and experience of the cast. Since these are the rulers of the Soviet Union, there's barely a person under 40 in the film. This means a cast of old pros clearly having the time of their lives.
“Gold is heavy, it’s a compliment” absolute gem of a film and utterly hilarious.
"You would know how heavy it is, you looted enough of it you saucy little pirate" gets me every time
A lot has been said about Jason Isaacs as Zhukov, and it's an excellent scene stealing performance. However, Simon Russell Beale as Beria was the standout for me. His mischievous malevolence is brutally funny, plus he looks like my father in law which clinches it for me.
100% agree. I'll watch SRB in anything. He's one of my favorite actors.
Right? He plays a terrifying scumbag so well
Beria IS THE GREATEST
I was about to make this exact comment -- completely agree.
I lived in USSR. This film was freaking ACCURATE! I literally felt like I was watching the depiction of everything my grandpa would tell us about his life (when some of the worst of USSR atrocities took place, though my childhood wasn’t easy either).
It’s almost scary how well they got the behaviour, the way they dressed, the sets, the hypocrisy, the dramatic acting, the lack of any loyalty or backbone.
My great-grandma almost got raped by a soviet soldier, but my great grandpa was able to save her. They’re animals, worse even. The starvation my country went through, coupled with deportations, and cold blood murder… what you see in the film happened pretty much all the way up to my birth. I can’t explain what a f*cking shithole that was.
Beria was a monster, a rapist, a murderer, and the biggest coward there is. He’d behave all big and powerful with those inferior to him, but cower in front of others with more power. He was one of the biggest POS. Well, all of them were, but he, Stalin, and Lenin certainly took the f*cking cake.
Pretty funny how Eastern Europeans are triple hard basterds while those in charge were the weakest. My Polish grandad was put in a gulag as kid. He then got freed by ww2 alongside the polish bear wojchek at monte cassino. He got to go down Scottish mines for his reward while wojchek died of a mix of loneliness and eating/smoking fags/cigarettes in Edinburgh zoo. There's is now a statue of the bear in Edinburgh Princes Street Gardens. My grandad died at 78 after 5 heart attacks and then cancer. I've literally only had an ingrowing toenail for pain in my life but I give my endless admiration.
To some i might be tone deaf, but the more I read about Russia under the Tsars compared to the Soviets; the more I believe they'd been far better off with a constitutional monarchy following a White victory in the Civil War.
@@jaykilbourne1110 believe me, I’m of the same opinion.
Nothing ever changes in the Russian empire, as we have seen since they invaded Ukraine.
@@jaykilbourne1110 It's the culture; doesn't matter who rules them or how, they'll always be Russian.
Simon Russel Beale is a gem and needs to be in more things. He absolutely murders every Shakespeare roll I've seen him in (Falstaff, Richard II, Lear, Prospero). Such a great actor.
This movie was amazing lol
"Fuck off back to Georgia, dead boy!" Was my favorite quote.
"I'm knackered. It's been a busy old week." Was mine.
“I’m off to represent the entire red army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourself”
There are layers to these jokes that at first you don’t catch. But upon repeat viewing, you catch it, and it makes it all the funnier.
My favourite "I fucked Germany, I think I can handle a flesh lump in a waistcoat".
@@joshuasantana685 Yeah it sounds like a joke but Zhukov is pissed on how the Red Army was banned from the capital so he is literally the only representative of the Red Army in Moscow let alone the gathering. A nice added detail to the story
@@ntluck1592 I also took it that the troops were being fed poor quality food that Zhukov is going to the buffet to eat for them.
But your explanation is probably more accurate
Being relatively aware of the history of the Stalin regime and already aware of the chain of events and people involved, I was easily a half hour into this movie before i realized it was satire. Because the chain of events and who did what was so accurate, as well as the absurdity of the reality that was soviet Russia. Yes, it was that brutal and insane.
Some day there will be a movie about Trump Derangement Syndrome and d the complete upending of reality.
@@mrjeffjob I can't wait to see who get's cast as Nancy Pelosi and AOC.
@@VioletDeathRei There aren't any actors old enough to play American political leaders.
@@VioletDeathRei I hope I live long enough to see the films they make about Trump and his merry band of con men 😂
This movie shockingly historically accurate, other than a few small scenes which are made up for drama, the biggest divergence from the real history is the timeline. It’s mostly just a case of the timespan of events being compressed from months and years to about a week, with a the order of a few events being slightly rearranged for narrative cohesion.
One thing I love that the movie captured was that Zhukov was effectively untouchable, as the most decorated and talented general in the red army (plus the whole ww2 thing) nobody not even stalin could touch him, hence why he gives no shits in the movie compared to all the other ministers who are in a constant state of fear
And he wasn't afraid to get into a gunfight. Which gave him the biggest dick in a room of sniveling and cowardly acolytes.
I wonder why he survived this long. Did Stalin KNOW he was not a threat and too useful a too to waste? Untouchable? He could have "fallen out of a window" very easily. Who would have refused to throw him? It could have been done very easily, no chance of his surviving and raising the Red Army against Stalin. There is a scene in another movie/series in which Stalin froze after Hitler invaded. He froze for DAYS. When he came out he found everybody waiting for him to give orders. They were not blaming him for anything. He spoke with an officer and asked him why, and the officer(I THINK)told him that what was Russia without Stalin? Maybe it was Zhukov and since then Stalin trusted him.
@@xhagastZhukov was hugely popular with the Russian people following the war, so it would have been dangerous, even for Stalin, to openly purge him. However because of this popularity Stalin saw him as a potential threat, so Zhukov was shunted into non-strategic positions, where it would have been hard for Zhukov to making any moves against Stalin.
@@xhagast Zukov is the main reason we dont speak German.
The man was a legend of the red army that command at the battles of Moscu, the siege of Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk. (Only in those 4 battles you have more Axis soldiers death that in all the other fronts combined)
@@xhagast Zhukov wasn't just loved by the Russian people. He was worshipped by the Red Army. We forget that in the fifties that organisation was still several million men strong and well equipped. Rightly or wrongly Zhukov was seen as the man who had given it back its sense of purpose and confidence after the purges and the early failures in the war. Even Stalin knew there were limits to what he could taken on and the Red Army was one of them.
Why do you think Kruschev had Zhukov "retired" only two years later?
One of the most underrated comedies of the last five years. Then again, comedy has been pretty bad the last ten years. However, the casting was odd especially when you realize Steve Buscemi and Simon Beale should have traded characters based on historical looks, but it works somehow. The most annoying aspect of Death of Stalin is that the studio never released a Blu-Ray, and I am left with only a digital copy that like Malenkov can be erased from history. And when I saw the movie at the theater, it took till 2018 to get it in US theaters. Oh well, it was worth it to drive to the pretentious part of Dallas just to see a good comedy.
Burn the digital copy to DVD.
I bought it on blu ray in 2019 - it's absolutely brilliant. Perhaps it's a blu-ray region issue - the only blu-ray available on Amazon is Region B, so if you're not in Region B, you may need a multi-region player.
That Malenkov statement 😆
"Pretentious part of Dallas", lool! I'm from Berlin and it's so fucking annoying that every slightly bigger city has pretentious areas! 🤣👍
Yo ho...
From the Guardian article on the film's banning in Russia:
"Pavel Pozhigailo, a high-ranking culture committee member, said the film “insults our historic symbols - the Soviet anthem, orders and medals”. He also complained that Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet military commander, “is portrayed as a fool”.
"
From the clips I have seen I'd have thought Zhukov would have loved his portrayal. What Putin and his sycophants objected to was the portrayal of the politicians closest to their own characters.
Can confirm. But I think they also fear general desacralization of the status of rulers. This is why they banned Matilda too (which portrayed the Tsar as inapt, mildly speaking)
@lati long election results surely are a proper metric to check whether the current ruler is considered dictator or not
@@HelghastStalker yes. I was sarcastic
@lati long just because the majority of North Koreans doesnt consider Kim Jong ung a dictator doesn't mean that he isn't one.
That was because Buscemi was portraying putin rather than Khruschev
Jason Isaac: Cast your minds back back to the early 1990's, he was in a BBC drama called 'Civvies' about British soldiers returning from the Northern Ireland 'troubles' and how they were adapting to 'civilian' life. A fantastic show probably his first major starring role.
One of the best dark comedies of all time, I rewatch every couple of months with a nice whisky. Always has me in fits.
One of the best things about the Death of Stalin is many of the things you think we're jokes for the movie actually happened.
Because it's Stalin, it's both funny and terrifying at the same time.
Not funny for anyone from postcommunist country. From our point of view the only funny thing is that western world thinks that Hitler was more bloody... And hippies wearing Che on tshirts, guy that wanted homosexuals in concentration camps...
I know!! The fact he collapsed and pissed himself but the guards were too shit scared to knock and ask if he was OK. Then there no competent doctors because he'd killed them all 😂😂
@@crank1985 Sadly, that's the result of our own "long march through the institutions." My own teachers summed up Communism as "a fight for equality." The gulags and all of the death were barely mentioned. I didn't notice any of this at the time, living in a large city is like living in a bubble. When I read up on the Soviet Union later, I was absolutely horrified.
@@ratgrl81 well. If read about China, redKhmers and rest of the shit and realise that the total kill count by commies is between 125-200 mln victims, you realise that for the good of the world's future,every person saying "that was not a real communism, I would do better" should be shot on the spot.
Interesting thought before WWI Hitler, Lenin & co were hanging in Vienna's Caffè and talking as young idealists about a perfect world. Just like hippies, social studies students, etc. You never know if the young lefties, talking in Starbucks about perfect society isn't a next Stalin.
@@darthpepe2994 A persistent conspiracy theory is that the whole thing was a plot to assassinate Stalin because he was planning a new purge of the Party and everyone was sick of his shit...
Slight correction, they mentioned purging all the best doctors, which did happen, but mostly this was internal exile to regions like Siberia. Same result for these events though as there was no one capable to handle things available.
On another note, I'm surprised this was such a straightforward review, with no endorsements of Stalin's son's lifestyle choice, or mentions of Titania.
Doctors and pharmacists were deported to Crimea, although it doesn't really matter for all intents and purposes as it was an arid backwater s-hole back then.
It really does convey why they had no idea how to handle the situation. There were even rumors that the first person to find him on the ground was a maid/butler who immediately turned around and locked the door on their way out.
Don't forget the naked accusations of 'Zionism'...
It's spelt Tatiana. Titania was Queen of Faerie (Elves) in one of Shakespeare plays.
@@varthaner4617 My appologies to eastern European strippers everywhere.
Great film. I love the regional accents, particularly Jason Isaacs' Zhukov with all his great lines delivered in that broad Yorkshire accent.
Loved every dark, paranoid, vodka fueled minute of this film. So many heavy weight actors and they all played amazing together. Which is extra kudos for the director.
The movie takes a year’s worth of events and condenses them into a week, but it’s still fairly legit. It’s also funny as hell. I loved it.
You probably laugh at every dumb comedy that comes out. This movie was not funny.
@@aw9522 now that's almost hilarious.
Around a decade or more actually, the whole orchestra incident happened in 1944 iirc
Can we take a moment to appreciate the mad lad that walked into a room and made a pitch for a comedy English movie with Steve Buscemi about the death of a mass-murdering dictator? Or the even madder lad that agreed to finance it?
Absolutely! In the times of Marvelades and 'sjw shit shows, original and really provocative films like this are like finding diamonds in the mud.
I think the pitch was “In the thick of it” but in the Kremlin and Stalin has just died.
The choice of Buscemi as Khrushchev was absolutely inspired. This movie sits next to Jojo Rabbit on my shelf of favorite DVDs and I watch it over and over again. I am glad to see that the Drinker concurs.
This movie is amazing. I watched it on a business trip a few years back. Glad to see the drinker got around to it. It's a under rated little known comedy.
It's a testament to Jason Isaac's sheer presence when you realise he only comes in halfway through the film, and somehow manages to own the whole thing.
Jason Issac as the lej General Zuhkov with a Yorkshire accent and gruff / blunt persona was a masterclass in characterisation and comedy. Stalin with a cockney accent was pretty sublime as well. One of the best films in recent memory.
When Zhukov removes that jacket!!!!!!
Thank you for reviewing this one of my best movies ever
Great review dude. One of the most underrated films of the past 10 years. The ending is so powerful simply because it so jarringly abandons the humour that dominates the rest of the movie, without flinching or using any common trope to build tension. Love your channel mate
An hilariously black slice of sheer genius.
I love how nobody even bothers to try and sound Russian.
Jason Isaacs = legendary as Zhukov.
This movie made me laugh like a nerd. I'm glad you're bringing it to your audience's attention. I highly recommend the movie In The Loop by the same director.
Capaldi and Higgins are absolutely rocking it there. It has one of my favourite scenes outside of "The Thick of it" series.
I will check that out, thanks!
Absolutely, Dominic!
"Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your shitter with a lubricated horse cock!"...Jesus, Peter Capaldi has some of the most legendary lines I've ever heard, and delivered them all like a fucking legend!
This is a great movie. I saw it in a niche cinema and there were only two of us in the tiny theatre. It was so magnificent I spent the next 6 months trying to get an import copy of it to NZ.
It has the feel of one of those movies where the big stars knew it wasn't going to be a massive pay-day but that it was going to be a piece of work they'd be proud to have their names linked with. It's probably the best work I've ever seen Jason Isaacs do and that's fkn saying something.
I watched it a few months ago and it was hysterical.
I watched it again, not paying attention to the humour and it was frightening.
The second time around it is truly sinister.
You were right about Zhukov's lines, but Brezhnev's, _I'll take the tall blonde_ slayed me.
There is a great History Buffs review on it that compares the movie events to the actual history. I was surprise by how authentic it turned out being. Love this movie
Well, yes, but no. Turned out, he compared the movie not with real history but with the book this movie is based on. Which is just hilarious. When I realised he'd read literally ONE book on the subject and considered himself an expert, I started wondering how accurate his other reviews were. And unsubscribed.
@@RealFranzy Strong "Dark Skies" vibes. There you have another youtuber knowing nothing.
@@RealFranzy Why? He was honest about it. There is not much evidence for 100% factual events. Heck history itself often teaches us a lot of lies in school until we learn from different sources.
It was all so spot on, you were at risk taking it as real history in stead of the satire it really was.
Are you seriously suggesting the authenticity of a subject that none of the people involved ever wrote about? Russians are known for dark comedy, but just the first scene is FAR more darkly comic in reality-Stalin DID want a recording of the concert, but nobody was knocked unconscious, the conductors were too nervous to conduct, which actually would be FAR funnier. And of course this night occurred nine years before Stalin actually died.
"In the film, the incredibly brave Yudina, whose family was killed by the dictator, slips a note into the recording sleeve, telling Stalin just what she thinks of him. In reality, Stalin sent her a gift of 20,000 rubles after receiving the record, and she responded with a thank-you note saying, “I will pray for you day and night and ask the Lord to forgive your great sins before the people and the country.” Ordinarily such lèse-majesté would mean certain death, but Yudina was never arrested. Her courage has made her grave a place of pilgrimage for Russian dissidents since her death in 1970."
This was based on a COMIC BOOK, which ought to say it all. The good thing about it being about Russia is that it shows just how brutally psychotic such politicians are, when for comedies about 'our' politics, Ianucci tends to defer to them being incompetent, stupid, and 'comic'. When they are just as malignant as any soviet leader.
I never found the movie very funny at all, there was lots of historical events that could have been used that would have made it far funnier. Why there are so few comedies nowadays in film are that the best writers are going to television and frankly the REAL world is now so insane that satires pale against the reality. Actually LISTENING to Trump is far more hilariously insane than SNL trying to make fun of him. If only it weren't ALL fiction it would be funnier but that such people actually run the world makes satire pretty much tragic.
Really loved this movie, it's great to hear the Drinker's thoughts on it
That was the most brilliant opening line of any Drinker video I’ve seen yet. I laughed my ass off. Bravo, my friend. 👏👏👏
One of my favorite movies of all time. I've seen it around 10 times and still laugh hard at so many scenes. The dialog is brilliant and the cast do such a remarkable job of seeming more like the members of a local Condominium board than the cabinet of ta superpower. Buscemi is brilliant, as is Jason Issacs and wow, Simon Russel Beale has you actually liking Beria one minute then being chilled to the bone the next. Yes, this is a brilliant movie. Cheers for talking about it.
Great review as always, Drinker. But you forgot the best line by Zhukov: ''I'm in, I'm in. That fucker thinks he can take on the Red Army? I fucked Germany, I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat.''
My favourite scene from his is when the defense minister walks into the room and Zhukov goes "Shoot him. No, just fucking around". Hilarious.
@@josephstalin2829 I think the bit that makes that scene is the relieved/annoyed "Fuck's sake!" from the man.
This is one of a handful of actually funny comedies in the past 10 years. I'm happy to see this getting a little bit more attention.
This is one of my favorite movies of the past decade. I randomly caught it on a flight, and I was amazed that I'd never heard of it before then.
Thank you for this video. I absolutely love this film and have seen it a few times. It's very underrated and not many people know about it.
I remember being intrigued by the trailers, but never getting around to seeing it. This popped up on Amazon Prime last year, so I gave it a watch and then watched it three more times. Way better, way funnier than I expected.
You have a subscription to Amazon Prime? Jesus
I just put it in the same Hollywood propaganda basket as Jo Jo Rabbit and skipped it.
@@rovhalt6650 You'll note I used the words "last year".
Jason Isaac's has some of the best swearing I've heard since R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket and it's even funnier with a northern accent
The way the darkness bubbles up through the comedy to the point where you're not sure to laugh or be shocked at points was really well done in this film. Enjoyed it back when it first came out on rental.
Thanks for reviewing this! It's one of my favorite movies because so many young people have no clue just how evil Stalin was. The first 15 minutes are so powerful it's impossible to look-away. This movie should have won a crazy amount of awards!
This film is one of the best historical comedies and a fantastic example of why you don't go communist.
Plus cockney Stalin, that's worth watching it alone.
More like 'don't go authoritarian'. Plenty of Socialists and Communists despise Stalin and the Soviet Union for good reason; the Soviet Union was more like a fascist state which heavily adopted left-wing aesthetics into its propaganda
Edit: just correcting a typo
@@robertwinslade3104 Socialists maybe, but I haven't seen many communists against him. The difference is, with communism you have implied authoritarianism. In other words, you need authoritarianism for it to work. Socialism can be operated with democracy, although it has to be somewhat light, it can't be full on socialism. The biggest issue for both socialism and communism is that people who feel they could do better elsewhere just leave, and that drains you of talented, innovative people. With socialism, you can sort of acknowledge that fact and do something about it, but with communism "everyone is equal" so these people who want more are subversives, which means you have to force them to stay rather than rewarding them to stay. All the talented people of the USSR and China were idealogues, threatened or were actively looking to leave. All communist countries punish your family if you flee, so you have to be prepared to see multiple generations of family put to death or sent to camps if you defect. The people who defected were usually older or had little to no family to begin with.
@@garrick3727 democracy and anti-authoritarianism are ESSENTIAL to both Socialism and Communism; and they are absolutely not about the state just controlling everything and enforcing equality, in fact one of the defining features of a Communist society is the abolition of the state in favour of a much more decentralised society
I think they based him on Lord Alan Sugar.
@@robertwinslade3104 That's in theory , in practice.....dear god the body count.
I put communism in the category along with utopias, yeah that sounds great but add humans and that's a lot of dead bodies.
Jason Isaacs absolutely killed it as Zhukov in this movie. I also had been unaware of this particular part of Russian history, as many documentaries I've seen on the USSR seem to skip over the in-between of Stalin and Khrushchev. This was one of those historically based movies that encouraged me to learn more on the actual subject.
Zhukov was such a REAL-life badazz. One of the greatest generals EVER.
Possibly my favourite film of the last ten years.
One of the few genius films to hit the market in the last while. Absolutely hilarious, engaging and still thought provoking. One of the films I recommend constantly.
Such a well made movie that I was sad when it ended. It would have been great if they made it as a multi-episode miniseries.
While not any kind of comedy, if you are interested in more Stalinist shenanigans, then check 1992 HBO tv-movie Stalin, starring Robert Duvall. It's almost 3 hours long, and covers Stalin's life from Bolshevik revolution to his death. Duvall is chilling as calculating human monster.
I’ve seen this movie a dozen times. It’s so well written and acted - it’s amazing!
I actually saw this TWICE in the theater. I've watched my DVD more than a dozen times. Always leaves me in tears.
That intro 🤣🤣thank you for reviewing this have been recommeding this for a while
"Are you blaming the dead for their own deaths?!" I love this movie. Ever since I read Tom Rob Smith's Leo Demidov trilogy in highschool, I've had a morbid fascination with The Great Terror era of Soviet Russia. In fact (although I would have a better chance of going to the moon at this point considering recent global events) I've always wanted to go to Russia and tour the gulags. Especially the Vorkutlag. Even though this movie took some dramatic license with history, it was a great portrayal of a communist regime at its peak.
Tbf the biggest liberty really was the condensing of the timeline. It took three years before they managed to get Beria.
Aside from that it's more accurate than some actual documentaries I've seen...
I agree. By most accounts, between the Russian citizens, the citizens of other USSR added countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine) anywhere from 60 to 100 million people died in the gulags.
The reason this wasn't brought up was after WW2 no one had the will or balls to take Stalin to task for his treatment of people.
@@aussiewanderer6304 Um, 60-100 million from communism in general and all its various regimes(especially the various purges, Russian and Chinese famines, pol pot, etc. Not in the gulags themselves.
But I’d put the number around 40-50 million throughout the world in the 70+ years communism existed.
The only reason to go to those places is to mourn the dead
@@aussiewanderer6304 what the fuck? Where are you getting your numbers, no half the people of the soviet union didnt die in Gulags where did you read that they did?
Thanks for this one Drinker. I’ve been really down and miserable today and this Video just lifted my spirits. I was so surprised how good this movie was when I saw it. Glad to see you appreciated it as much as me.
"Comrade Detective" series on Amazon Prime is a great 1-season series if you enjoyed Death Of Stalin.
Wonderful dark humor mocking the 80s Communist regime in Romania, in the form of an '80s style buddy cop show. Superb.
Cooool
I watched this movie on a whim not knowing at all what to expect and I was glad I did. This movie was so engaging from start to finish with every line landing. The writing and performances of everyone including the extras
A cinematic gem. I have watched it at least five times and will watch it again. I am so glad this was made.
Fuck I loved this movie, never heard of it til I watched History Buffs review of it, when I heard it got banned in Russia I had to watch it! Loved Drinkers take on it too!
Everyone should go watch History Buffs vid after this one. Things didn’t happen in quite the same order or for the reasons the films suggest, but in the main the things in the movie did happen. It’s crazy how little needed to be added.
Yeah I know they really condensed a lot of history into what appears to be a few short days/weeks when in fact it happened over years. Still a great movie though and it's mind boggling how much of the bat-shit insane moments were actually true!!! History Buffs is a good channel too! Not as funny as Drinker but really knows his history
Zelenskyy should be Man of the Year!!! This guy is a Real Patriot of the West!!!
@@darthpepe2994 If you want funny History Buffs - watch his reviews of Mel Gibson's movies, particularly Breaveheart.
The real events of The Death Of Stalin took place over a few months. IIRC, Beria was dead by the end of the summer of 1953.
@@jasonmilton Just because Putin is a dictator it doesn't automatically make anyone who opposes him a hero - see also Stalin vs. Adolf.
One of my favorites! History Buffs did an awesome job on this
Thanks for the recommendation! I immediately watched it on TH-cam, and it was everything you said. Hilarious, tragic, crazy.
An absolute classic. Zhukov is indeed an absolute legend in this. I'm not sure about Buscemi playing Krushchev though, because the latter is a league in his own when it comes to outrageousness.
I can see him doing the shoe on the table at the UN bit
"The Death of Stalin" alternative title is "Stalin Finally Becomes a Good Communist".
Thanks man; I was scaling the mountain deciding whether to give this flick a watch. But based on your recommendations I think I will.
I loved this film when I found it on streaming a while back. Watched it a few times and it's great each time and easily re watchable and just as enjoyable
What can only be described as an amazing cast working with a great script and from some of the interviews I've seen what we see onscreen came from a cast that got on and really enjoyed the project together.
One of the best "sleeper" films imo
The decision to play Zhukov with a Yorkshire accent was a stroke of genius
I know that here in British advertising some accents are seen as having different qualities. For example, unfair as it might be in reality, Cockney/Essex accents are perceived (by media anyway) as a bit snide and untrustworthy - cockney wideboy-ish and too clever for their own good. A similar attitude is taken with Scouse (Liverpool) accents. Yorkshire accents are seen as bluff, no nonsense and warm, a bit more honest. West Country accents are seen as slow, stupid but friendly. Scottish accents as blunt but trustworthy and (no surprise) parsimonious. Geordie/North East England accents as friendly and open if a little incomprehensible. The list goes on.
I wonder if the decision to have Scouse actor Jason Issacs play Zhukov with a Yorkshire accent had any bearing on this. Bluff and no nonsense would suit Zhukov's character in this film down to the ground.
Such an absolutely brilliant film. The acting, directing, writing and cinematography are all perfect. It's a 10/10 from me. It's one of those films I will always be happy to watch again.
It closely follows the play it is based on. Many of the actors performed thieir roles on the stage.
The Drinker is always keying me in to movies that weren’t even on my radar! Definitely gonna check this out.
Thank you for the suggestion, Drinker. I will add this to my must-see list.
Coincidentally just rewatched this movie recently, and have to quibble with one thing in this review. Isaacs is a lot of fun, but Simon Russell Beale as Beria gives the best performance in the movie . It is a very demanding role that requires an enormous amount of range--alternating between cold calculation, humor, sympathy, cruelty, white-hot anger, and pathetic begging, and Beale pulls it all off without a hitch. Was not familiar with him before this, and hopefully he starts turning up in more movies that make their way stateside.
This film rules. Armando Iannucci is an absolute legend.
I cycled to a smll local cinema which was the only place showing this when it came out. It was utterly worth it and I ended up laughing the whole way home.
Ah drinker, I’ve been waiting for you to review this since it came out a few years ago. As you said, by unanimous vote, sheer fucking brilliance comrade.
One of the best films hands down from the 2010’s, and personally one of my very favourite films. Your reviews always entertain me for a few minutes on an often mundane weekday…cheers!
Man, you had a perfect opportunity to say "idi nakhuy now" at the end... But still an excellent video, as always. Keep doing a great job, Drinker!
This is one of the few movies made in the last decade that I've seen more than once. The score is also fantastic--composer, Christopher Willis, channels Shostakovich, which is perfect for the story's setting. (It's also a refreshing break from the character-less, Zimmer-lite sound of most recent scores.)
Wouldn't even know this movie existed if not for this channel. Now I need to find it.
Thank you for this superb analysis!
Entire movie is surprisingly accurate while being hilarious. It's brilliant.
Pure masterpiece
Absolutely loved this film. Fabtastic script and brilliant cast. 10/10
I never thought such dark subject matter could be made into such a hilarious comedy. This toker definitely recommends