The Death of Stalin

[Dave]

I'm facing a long-haul flight later today and will be taking the opportunity to see The Death of Stalin. Partly because I'm interested in 20th century history, partly because it's got some great people involved in it (including Armando Ianucci, Steve Buscemi and Jason Isaacs), partly because of all the fuss it generated in the Russian media. I'll let you know how I get on with it.

[Dave]

Great film - so good I watched most of it twice and bits of it three times.

It wasn't all strictly true to the facts - there was plenty of compression, and a bit of invention too (beyond, obviously, the dialogue). But it did convey a sense of the absurdity and terror of life in Stalin's USSR, at the very top and for the general public.

Plenty of great performances. Stand-outs for me were Jason Isaacs' swaggering Zhukov, Steve Buscemi as a pragmatic Khrushchev, Michael Palin as a "Party first" Molotov and Jeffrey Tambor doing a hapless Malenkov.

If you're into political satire, this is well worth a watch.