It was a trip for me because I best knew Beale from a series of documentaries on religious music. Going from a narrator on religious music to Beria was a big jump! He’s incredible in this.
6:43 This DID happen, but slightly differently. The pianist was roused from her bed to make another recording at Stalin's demand, and paid the 20,000 rubles as a tip from Stalin. They did actually have to find a replacement conductor. In fact, they had to find two. One fainted, one was too panicked to perform, and the third finally saved the day (although not in his bathrobe). They originally had it that way in the script, but it was deemed to be *too* absurd for the opening scene of the comedy.
That anecdote about the re-recorded concert is taken from "Testimony" ,a book by journalist Solomon Volkov: Same story, except Volkov's version claims it happened around 1944. A made-up story, regardless of the year. They'd later incorporate it into the "Death of Stalin" comics from 2010/12. The movie is based on those.
@@MrJamaigar Volkov is notoriously unreliable. After he left the USSR he basically made a career out of making stuff up. Unfortunately some naive people still take him seriously.
@@migmit Much of the stuff happening in this movie comes partly from the comics, partly from accounts, memoirs from former soldiers,etc. -The musicians being forced to re-record the concert, and having also to bribe Maria Yudina to get her to play. -Yudina later leaving a note with the records, where she calls Stalin out for his tyranny. -Beria was already making his first moves while Stalin was on his deathbed: he sided with Deputy Malenkov, for whom he was planning to play the part of "advisor": i.e. Beria would manipulate Malenkov into both changing laws, and passing new ones. The whole time Beria would subtly dictate his every move, and once he'd rallied enough support, he'd take Malenkov out in a coup. Him and anyone else who could pose a threat. Kruschev and co., who knew Beria well, turned to the Red Army for help. So, Marshall Zhukov would immediately arrest Beria and his cronies, and have them all shot. 😈 (It was the Red Army and NKVD's rivalry that helped Kruschev bring Marshall Zhukov on board. Much like in the movie, the real man hated the secret police, and was just as aware of Beria's threat.)
Walked around every scene like he was 12 feet tall and bulletproof, which after Stalin's death is a fantastic way to portray Zhukov because he might as well have been.
Someone might've pointed this out before, but possibly the first US citizen to hear word of Stalin's death was an US Air Force sergeant posted in West Germany, intercepting and decoding Morse code messages from Soviet transmissions. That sergeant was called John Cash. "Johnny" to his friends. Yes, THAT Johnny Cash. This at least according to his daughter, to whom he told the story many times over the years.
Stalin's cockney accent in this movie is brilliant because the real Stalin spoke Russian with a very thick and very noticeable Georgian accent as he himself was not a native Russia. He was basically a bumpkin that sleazed and murdered his way all the way to the top.
Yup, not a true ideological believer, more like a gangster who manipulated and murdered his way to the top, creating a terror state that was all about preserving his own power.
@@DomR1997 He loved cowboy films, so he may have understood the irony himself, forcing his subordinates to stay up into the early morning watching them for fear of ending up on a list was a real thing.
Honestly there was very little 'making' it anything, dictatorships are usually a 40/60 mix of horrific atrocities and comedic dysfunction, just varies which is which (and which one the adaptation focuses on).
It wouldn't make sense for them to have Russian accents anyway. You have a "Russian accent" only if you're speaking another language than your native Russian, which these characters wouldn't be doing. It always annoys me in movies, series and video games when they have accents when they're actually supposed to be speaking their own language, translated for our benefit.
This is certainly not the only film in which English-speaking actors use their own accents. Amadeus, the Hunt for Red October, and Dangerous Liaisons are only three examples.
Russia is the most ethnically diverse country in Europe. The Soviet Union even moreso. Stalin himself was Georgian and spoke with a thick Georgian accent his whole life so giving him a Cockney accent is actually very historically authentic in a hilarious way.
The most disturbing thing about this movie is how accurate it is to some historical events. Stalin would keep his cabinet up almost all night watch cowboy movies and getting everyone drunk. The smashing a tomato in the pocket was a thing he would enjoy. And all these guys were in charge of one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world.
Stalin would compel others to binge drink vodka to lower their inhibitions and compromise themselves. Even worse, his drinks were really watered down so he would stay relatively sober at the same time.
@@dlxmarks what’s the credibility to this? Is it actually evidenced, or is it like all these stupid stories we hear about North Korea and how they have to push the trains?..
Russians don't speak English with a Russian accent. Audiences are smart enough to understand that the characters in this film are all Russians without being constantly reminded of it with dialect. Also, Steve Buscemi's portrayal of Khrushchev was enhanced by the Brooklyn accent.
I personally like it, it feels more like the actors can genuinely emote in the accent they feel comfortable using rather than them all have to put on a Russian or Georgian accent and have one or two of them be noticeably worse at it to a distracting degree (think Costner in Robin Hood for example). Chernobyl does it too and it works.
I wonder now if this decision influenced the making of the _Chernobyl_ television miniseries just a couple of years later. Most of the (largely British, plus Stellan Skarsgard) actors spoke in their own accents in that show.
@@DavidAntrobus Good shout, although from what I remember their reasoning behind it was slightly different. They said they didn't wan't the series to sound like a satire, which it possibly would have if everyone spoke with bad Russian accents.
Well before stalin as leader in USSR was 108 million people when he dead in USSR was 210 million people with statistics in the world of population civilians in the world
I’ve heard that the one time Beria ever looked truly scared was when Stalin found his daughter was at Berias house and raced over there in full anger mode.
@@arnyarny7991where 108 million number came from? In 1926 - 147 million, in 1959 - 208 million. Granted: - Famine of 1932-1933 for which Stalin was heavily responsible with his glorious industrialization and collectivization plans claimed 6-9 millions (Kazakh, Ukrainians and Russians). - Great Terror for which this piece of sh*t was main driving force took between 1-6 million. Real talk, George *sigh* 60 millions really? Stalin & co certainly killed more than Communists of China in the 1930s, but maybe you mistook him for Austrian painter? - WWII killed... well, hard to say, but numbers thrown around were between 22-40 million. Overall, screw him. Would be awesome to see condemnation of Stalin from Georgians, specifically. While you still outside of authoritarian club.
9:00 Russia banned this movie for "mockery of history and real persons", but some cinemas showed it anyway, no one was arrested, only fined One of the best trash comedies of last decade, among with Borat and Dictator Maximum ridicule of all stereotypes and prejudices and raising everything that happens to the level of absolute absurdity - nowadays such comedies are extremely rare
Almost as if the guy who was a former KGB ghoul who now runs the country doesn't like the idea of the regime he used to be part of being mocked by the West. Funny how that works.
Only theatrical and television releases were forbidden, the movie itself is not banned. You can buy it, you can watch it, you can share it up to this day. The cinemas that showed it were fined for non-compliance with the law, not for the movie itself.
Iirc an old Russian lady went to see it and she said in an interview that it was very accurate from what she remembered from her childhood and that it was hilarious.
The decision to have the actors not put on Russian accents but just speak in their normal voices was based on the fact that the people they’re playing came from across the USSR and so would have different regional accents
Jason Issacs “right I’m just going to steal the whole film as Zhukov with broad Yorkshire accent” His amazing performance stands out and given who he’s cast with makes it even greater
Jason Isaacs so owns every scene he's in, that you forget he's not in every scene. That introduction with the medals is a 10/10. This and Jojo Rabbit are how all dictators should be treated: with utter ridicule.
The unusual accents by the different main characters are all deliberate choices. It's to invoke in us the same reaction that Russians of the time had to hearing them. For instance, Stalin's real life Georgian country bumpkin accent is "translated" as Cockney. The reaction you're having to them is exactly what was intended.
The actors are speaking in their own natural accents (rather than usual ones) instead of trying to put on a Russian accent which probably wouldn't have sounded great 😅
@@neilbiggs1353 And supposedly, Zhukov's accent was the stereotypical blunt russian accent whenever he spoke english, which was surprisingly a lot of the time considering he later retired and moved to the US.
One of my favorite comedies ever. The cast is perfect, absolutely no weak points, and everyone gets to be funny in their own way. I can watch it over and over.
Jason Isaacs as Zhukov stole the show for me. Also the great part about this movie is it's not even THAT exaggerated as to what a clusterfck it was when ol Joe finally dropped dead, sometimes history really IS that absurd.
This is the best Cold War comedy not named 'Doctor Strangelove'. Buscemi was already a favorite of mine, seeing him pull off Nikita Khruschev was freaking brilliant. (Edit : spellcheck doesn't like Slavic names)
Cold War propaganda, you mean. Cold War comedy would be about how western citizens stil eat the whole shit show of our western fascism not being the sole cause of the Cold War to try to finish what Adolf had started, simply under a new Führer: the USA.
I am so glad You guys understood the message of all the scenes in this movie. The moment George realised the dark humour behind the first scene with the phone, I knew it's gonna be a good reaction :D
As someone who grew up with Harry Enfield and Chums and The Fast show I just loved seeing Paul Whitehouse in this amazing cast. Because he's so funny people sometimes forget he's also a brilliant actor
Jason Isaacs' Zhukov was the most memorable performance. And that's saying something, because everybody acted the s**t out of their roles in this movie.
I appreciate George's knowledge of world history. I'm an elderly US citizen who lived through some of this history and am painflully aware the the vast majority of people George's age in this country are clueless about any of this.
It's crazy to me how Stalin killed so many people he made Hitler look like Mr. Rogers, yet people rarely talk about it and there are almost no movies about him. This was a rare exception.
"I appreciate George's knowledge of world history" Really?)) George starts with "Deaths...60 million I think..." so George must be joking. Even for Stalin this would be too much))
@@Str52849 , The funniest thing is how he puts on the air of liking things to be logical but is willing to make statements of claim without any understanding of the knowledge. When you say "I think..." it often means "I don't know."
It really is. When I have bad days, I cue up their reactions to movies like Tropic Thunder just to see them absolutely lose it at some of the situations in the movie. This is now going to also join the list.
Great pick for a reaction. I love how all the party bigwigs essentially act like the Mob. Loved watching George and Simone giggle their way through this. It's a dark, dark comedy and one of my favorite movies.
I have a very relevant family story about fake crying. My aunt walked in on her school teacher using onion to induce tears on the day death of Stalin was announced. He hugged her and said I know that you won't tell anyone (my grandfather was arrested in 1947). She did tell, but years later.
Hey George the History Buffs channel did a video on how accurate this movie (and many other historical films) are to actual history, I recommend checking it out for both insight and laughs. Great reaction as always, this movie is incredible with how absurd the political theatre and infighting was.
To answer George’s question at 9:00. It was banned and when a theatre held an airing of the film in defiance of the ban the screening was raided and the theatre owner arrested.
In real life Zhukov had Coca-Cola smuggled in by Eisenhower (they were buddies). They mixed it without any coloring, and hid it in vodka bottles. Now, imagine being in the Red Army at some event and watching Zhukov, war hero, straight up pounding a liter of vodka and not even seeming a bit buzzed!
This movie really surprised history enthusiasts on how accurate it was to both the spirit of its history as well as some seemingly minor details. 1) As many have pointed out, a lot of the events were either compressed or moved around to fit the movie's timeframe (the concert recording, the funeral and the coup against Beria, etc) 2) Khrushchev really had his wife write down all of the jokes that hit or crash landed with Stalin just to keep on the boss' good side. Khrushchev's joker antics was a real tactic he used to get people to underestimate him until he pulled off the coup. In the finale Svetlana alludes to this with the line, "Never thought it'll be you." 3) Stalin did have a short lucid moment after the stroke which made the politburo collectively (see what I did there?) shit their pants. _Especially_ Beria who IRL actually shit-talked Stalin in the presence of his unconscious body and the rest of the politburo. As seen in the movie, he didn't say anything and randomly pointed at stuff which no one knew what that meant, if anything at all. 4) The purge of Stalin's home never took place nor the liquidation of the staff, thankfully. The look-alikes and body doubles were real though. 5) Beria was a much, MUCH worse monster as portrayed. The girls he, 'interacted' with can be seen gifted flowers, essentially as a form of forced 'consent'. If they rejected, they'll disappear; if they accepted it, it was seen as mutual therefore no crime had taken place. Stalin once nearly had a heart attack when he learnt that Beria visited his home when young Svetlana was there, essentially alone. Stalin sent two agents with explicit orders to have Beria shot should he have so much as touched his dear Svetlana - Beria of course was smart enough not to even be anywhere close to her. 6) Molotov IRL genuinely loved his wife and never ever backbited her in contrast to his movie portrayal. Even though he never faulted Stalin, he also never forgave himself for letting her be taken and always told his servants to set his dinner table for him and his wife as a painful reminder. In fact, during the funeral day (which was also Molotov's birthday) Beria jokingly asked him what he wanted as a present. Molotov, with sheer contempt and barely restrained fury asked for his wife Polina back. The next day Beria released her. 7) Svetlana lived in various places in the Soviet Union, Europe and even India following her father's death, but eventually defected to the US in 1967. Her life was a rollercoaster of various dead husbands and estranged children, but by all accounts had a happy life. Some of her grandchildren are still around today. 8) While Russia did ban the movie, several more liberal voices had relatively nicer things to say about it. Especially after one Moscow theatre defied the ban and showed it to the public, to 'ok' reception. Shortly afterwards in typical Soviet fashion the police and government raided and closed the theatre investigating the owners and staff for various 'crimes'.
Nonsense, the movie is a ridiculous joke when it comes to history. History enthusiast see it more like a funny way to portray how western propaganda paints Russian history.
@miriamweller812 Well I'm a history enthusiast (with a specific academic interest in this period of history) and that is most definitely not my take on it. Moving things around to fit the movie timeline doesn't make it 'a ridiculous joke' or make the events it portrays any less real. The purpose of the movie is to use humour to show just how extreme, horrific and absurd actual historical events from that period were and it does that admirably and with accuracy _where accuracy is important._ No amount of petty whining about specific dates, who did exactly what, when or what someone would have been wearing is going to change that; it just demonstrates that the point of the film has sailed over your head. And pretending your specific myopic take is shared by many others doesn't make it so.
Oh gosh...cannot believe CineBinge are reacting to this one...I am sure they will LOVE it! And if they don't love it, the Supreme Soviet will MAKE them love it! 😜😂
Armando Iannucci is great at reducing people in power to show how small they really are. Definitely recommend In the Loop. It's a spin off from The Thick of It, but you don't need to have seen that show to follow it.
Yes, there's not even continuity with the show (only Capaldi plays the same character). Capaldi and Gandolfini having a scene together in that film is such a gift, it's my version of De Niro and Pacino together in Heat.
There's an apocryphal story that as Stalin laid on the bed, following the stroke that eventually killed him, Beria actually let the act drop and let his hatred of Stalin be heard. As this happened, Stalin's eye-lids flickered as if he might awake, and Beria immediately fell to his knees in terror and kissed the Leader's hands in apology. Once it was clear to all that Stalin would not recover, Beria said what the rest were undoubtedly thinking about Stalin, both the man and the criminal, with the sort of honesty that would have gotten one killed only a few days prior. This act, and the naked ambition showed by Stalin's most bloodthirsty henchman, is likely what sealed Beria's fate - he appeared to believe the others were still as cowed as they had been under Stalin's ruthless, authoritarian fist. He found out the truth at his own sham trial by revolutionary tribunal, followed by a bullet to the forehead. The executioner had to stuff Beria's tie in his mouth to stop the pathetic and incessant cries and lamentations for mercy prior to squeezing the trigger. His ashes were unceremoniously dumped in a Moscow sewer, solemn testament that an atrocious society, lacking in justice for the most heinous of crimes, could occasionally punish those that deserved it.
So happy someone finally watched this! I love this movie. This is how you counter terror and tyranny, you show it as ugly as possible but also it’s pointless decisions. Also there’s a great video on UA-cam about Khrushchevs trip to the US where he toured the country and met with Eisenhower.
You mean be making fun of western terror, tyranny and the propaganda it uses to sell both? Because the movie is mainly that: a persiflage of western propaganda.
Beria is acknowledged to be one of the greatest monsters of human history, who worked for a fairly monstrous man in his own right. Stalin himself had warned his daughter to NEVER be alone with him for any reason, and for many years after his execution the bodies of women and girls continued to be discovered at properties owned or occupied by him. The events as they unfold in this film are only slightly satirized and condensed for time. Needless to say, this film is banned in Russia.
Love this film, a perfect encapsulation of a system where doing the wrong thing will get you killed but no one can agree on the right thing because of that.
The response from the powers-that-be in Russia when the movie came out was that it made the Politburo look like "a bunch of gangsters"; Pretty accurate!
Love this film, its one of my favourites - the overall historical accuracy is really good without it becoming a documentary. Using dark comedy to show the horrors of the Stalin regime but also the fact that the central committee did behave like a mafia family carrying out horrific decisions while protecting themselves was an inspired move. Dark humour was part of the communist experience itself, the Soviet Union being the only regime to have produced its own brand of jokes - about the regime. Jokes became essential and acted as low level resistance, the only way citizens could let off steam. Communism was a humour-producing machine. Its economic theories, bureaucracy, over employment, rules and regulations and system of repression created inherently funny and farcical situations. 'What is colder in a Siberian winter than cold water?" "Hot water!"
Really one of the worst people of the modern era. The fact that lots of folks have forgotten him is kinda sad, though on the other hand at least he has fewer fanboys than Stalin.
The director was one of the creators of the character Alan Partridge who is one of the true comedy greats. Alpha Papa is one one my go to comedy flicks, so stupidly funny
Brilliant film. BTW, the director, Armando Iannucci, is now directing a stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove in London. I hear it's fantastic, will also be performed in Dublin, and will be in cinemas in March 2025.
When it comes to Lavrentiy Beria he was absolutely one of the worst human beings to have ever existed. In fact I believe it was during the 1990s when they were doing renovations of his mansion, they found several female skeletons all of whom were believed to be his victims
The two decorations worn on Zhukov's uniform tunic left side are his Orders of Victory. Only 20 were made in total, and only 4 are on display outside Russia. I went to see the one awarded to Montgomery in London last month. I collect Soviet decorations, but these are absolutely priceless. Pretty much the only decorations that can not be bought and sold, whereas top tier decorations like the Victoria Cross, Hero of the Soviet Union, gge Medal of Honour are all available for the right price.
The Radio Moscow debacle is based on a real event; it just happened several years earlier. Many of the major beats are accurate on their own. They've just been chronologically compressed to fit in the scope of the film. And this was banned in Russia. 😂
Obviously, it's a western propaganda movie trying to sow chaos by the usual rewriting of history. Smart people don't fall for that of course and see it as what it is, at best a funny movie about how stupid western propaganda is. But stupid people take it seriously and don't know how much BS that is that got nothing to do with history, especailly not all the bad parts, starting with Stalin being a creation of western fascism constantly trying to genocid all Slavs to rob Russia's immense amount of resources (and never stopped to try).
"the court of the red tsar" -- by Simon Sebag Montefiore gives a detailed description of the hermetic world of the politburo during the final years of Stalin. Increasingly lengthy and raucous dinners/parties that nobody really wanted to go to, other than Stalin. They became increasingly bizarre, and the human dynamics of the period immediately after his death were truly fascinating.
The accents are deliberate and cleverly done. Stalin has a cockney accent because Stalin was a lower class / working class man. Svetlana and her brother are Nepo babies born into privilege, hence the outrageously posh accents. Zhukov has a hardy northern accent to also show his class and his "man of the people" persona.
Nah, Isaacs chose the broad Yorkshire accent because he considered it "the most blunt", and Zhukov was blunt as hell, both in terms of speaking and actions.
@@Andrew-jb2ib Tbh russians can think what they want. We knew their lies very well during the 45 years of communism. The westerners ignorance is ridiculous when they cry about Hitler 24/7 and murderer scumbags like Stalin and his pet Zhukovs doings are swept under the rug...
27:48 "These stairs are like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro" Well he would know, Michael Palin actually HAS climbed Kilimanjaro as part of a documentary 😀 Nice little inside joke.
Exact numbers are a bit muddy for obvious reasons, 60 mil figure comes from all the losses combined during WW2 not by Stalins hand. Around 18 million passed thru the work camps were approximately 3 million died. Another 5 million from the starvation in Ukraine, also 2-3 million "Kulaks" or rich peasants if you will. Most experters and authors estimate around 20 million deaths because of Stalin and his policies. Most of those sources come from NKVD documents stored in Kiev and luckily for us they're still there available for researchers
From a purely scientific perspective I would call anything Kiev related a biased source. There was and (now for obvious reasons even more) a nationalistic narrative trying to portray the USSR as the main cause of troubles and that if the soviets didnt keep Ukraine down they would be something like France and blah blah blah. The reality is that most probably Poland would have move in (Possibly Hungary too) and they would be just a sliver of land with an economy based on agriculture. The rushed collectivization and industrialization policies of Stalin, caused disruption and starvation in many places within the USSR, not just Ukraine as they try to sell it.
The movie was banned in Russia, the Radio Moscow event happened but was in the early 1940s while the 20,000 rubles were a gift from Stalin and the letter was much less direct, there was no mass shooting or cancelled trains but there was a crowd so large that several hundred people died from crush injuries in Red Square, and Krushchev’s coupe was several years after Stalin’s death not the day after the funeral.
For the most part this film is completely based on factual information and events. The details and timing of events were skewed to highlight the dark comedic absurdity of all the horrors.
The main man behind this movie, Armando Iannucci, is mostly known by me as the mastermind behind the BBC comedy "The Thick Of It", and its sister HBO comedy "VEEP". In case you need two great (and dark) comedy TV series to get into.
Fantastic reaction, I've never watched another movie as much as this one, I think 5 times in one year and I very seldom watch movies more than a couple of times and usually many years apart, there is so much going on, they absolutely nail the terror and ridiculousness of living under complete tyranny, the acting is top notch, brilliant cast !
In the UK, Armando Ianuuci is well known for a number of projects, but his show "The Thick of It" is absolutely brilliant, I now George will love it. It's a comedy based inside a government department and is absolutely brutal. It includes a character "Malcolm Tucker" played by Peter Capaldi. Malcolm is based on Tony Blair's advisor/henchman Alistair Campbell and is an absolute beast. Very quickly, Malcolm Tucker was named as one of the greatest TV characters in UK comedy history. In fact when Peter Capaldi was announced as the the new Dr Who, there was a certain level of disbelief that "Malcolm" could play such a role. The Thick of It is filmed documentary style, it fast paced and hilarious - it is also the first TV show that claimed to have brought in a writer just to beef up the swearing. The insults, contempt and frequent uselessness of the "staff" is brilliant. I think there are three series, and there was a three part special - like most UK shows, very short series, but more dialogue than the bible in most episodes
@@sergeityrrellp3496 In 30 years someone should make a comedy of Putin, with the Prigozhin mutiny and lots of really, really long desks. It would make a great trilogy with this and 'The Great'.
9:00 it was generally well recieved by ordinary Russians and Georgians, but obviously a lot of the usual suspects condemned it as propaganda and slander.
In college I took a Russian history course. We read ‘Stalin Court of the Red Tsar’. I think someone in our reading group summed it up best ‘I feel like I’ve come to deeply know someone… that I really don’t want to’. This movie honestly toned things down. There are so many dark humor moments in Stalin’s reign it’s incredible if it wasn’t so horrible. Stalin went through 3 secret police chiefs. Beria, Yagoda, Yezhov… and they were always short people, it’s like Stalin combined his court dwarf and secret police head. I remember a story where a couple who just got released from the gulag went back home and were shell shocked and settling back into their home… and the door rings and Stalin and Beria show up all smiles like they are old friends visiting and act like nothing happened and the couple just has to act like they are all friends when the two people who tortured them are with them laughing and joking. Another moment Stalin met a military officer and noticed he had no fingernails. Stalin joked saying ‘seems to be a lot of people without fingernails these days’ and the officer just dryly agreed. And Stalin’s son was captured by the Germans in WWII and they tried to ransom him to Stalin but Stalin refused to take him back and essentially disowned him as he was so disappointed in his son. There are so many stories from that book but those are the big ones I remember now.
I am so glad that this movie is being reacted to here.... Ever since I first saw this move I have always believed that it is been underrated and I am happy to so just how much George and Simone are enjoying it!!!
Stalin's regime is estimated to have killed around 20million people of which around 1 million were judicial executions. A further 18 million are estimated to have gone through the Gulag system.
And they actually likely killed far more than that if you count the millions who died due to the famine and starvation caused by the collectivization of the farms in the 5 year plans. And the general purges of people killed by Stalin solely because he didn’t like them. And all the Jewish doctors he had murdered, which is why they couldn’t find any good doctors to look after Stalin after his cerebral hemorrhage (as shown in the film). Oh and the millions who died in World War 2, which is what Zhukov is famous for, as he was the general in charge at Stalingrad. Molotov is also famous because of the 1) the Molotov cocktail, which is named after him, and, more importantly, 2) the Molotov-Ribbentrop Compact, which was famously negotiated before the start of WW2 and is the reason why the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany jointly invaded and conquered Poland together
There really was an incident where a pianist sent Stalin a letter telling him to repent for his crimes. His aides were furious and wanted her shot but Stalin was actually impressed that she had the guts to do that so he didn't do anything to her.
@@christopherwall2121 Considering what happened before (Cultural Revolution and death of Lin Biao) and after (death of Chou En-Lai and arrest of the Gang of Four) the death of Mao they gave the Soviets a good run for their money in the craziness stakes..
Jason Isaacs is absolutely the MVP of this movie. And Simon Russell Beale as Beria is terrifyingly good.
@paulsuter5816 he steals the movie from his first appearance, it's awesome
It was a trip for me because I best knew Beale from a series of documentaries on religious music. Going from a narrator on religious music to Beria was a big jump! He’s incredible in this.
Beria might be the most appalling character ever in a comedy, and the actor knocks it out of the park
so like DeNiro
@@kingleech16he is fantastic in the BBC radio adaptions of the George Smiley books - Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy etc
6:43 This DID happen, but slightly differently.
The pianist was roused from her bed to make another recording at Stalin's demand, and paid the 20,000 rubles as a tip from Stalin.
They did actually have to find a replacement conductor.
In fact, they had to find two. One fainted, one was too panicked to perform, and the third finally saved the day (although not in his bathrobe).
They originally had it that way in the script, but it was deemed to be *too* absurd for the opening scene of the comedy.
That anecdote about the re-recorded concert is taken from "Testimony" ,a book by journalist Solomon Volkov:
Same story, except Volkov's version claims it happened around 1944.
A made-up story, regardless of the year. They'd later incorporate it into the "Death of Stalin" comics from 2010/12.
The movie is based on those.
@@MrJamaigar Volkov is notoriously unreliable. After he left the USSR he basically made a career out of making stuff up. Unfortunately some naive people still take him seriously.
@@MrJamaigarI'd say, unconfirmed. It's not something that couldn't happen; but, as there is only one account, it's doubtful.
@@migmit
Much of the stuff happening in this movie comes partly from the comics, partly from accounts, memoirs from former soldiers,etc.
-The musicians being forced to re-record the concert, and having also to bribe Maria Yudina to get her to play.
-Yudina later leaving a note with the records, where she calls Stalin out for his tyranny.
-Beria was already making his first moves while Stalin was on his deathbed:
he sided with Deputy Malenkov, for whom he was planning to play the part of "advisor": i.e. Beria would manipulate Malenkov into both changing laws, and passing new ones. The whole time Beria would subtly dictate his every move, and once he'd rallied enough support, he'd take Malenkov out in a coup. Him and anyone else who could pose a threat.
Kruschev and co., who knew Beria well, turned to the Red Army for help.
So, Marshall Zhukov would immediately arrest Beria and his cronies, and have them all shot. 😈
(It was the Red Army and NKVD's rivalry that helped Kruschev bring Marshall Zhukov on board. Much like in the movie, the real man hated the secret police, and was just as aware of Beria's threat.)
@@MrJamaigar The comics get much much darker with Beria, although that makes them more accurate, as the man was literally a serial killer.
You almost forget how little of this movie Jason Isaacs is in because of how thoroughly he dominates it once Zhukov does show up.
There’s a reason he’s competing with Daniel Craig as my favourite actor.
Jason looked like he was enjoying every minute playing it up as Zhukov 'from Yorkshire'. It was a stellar performance.
"I fucked Germany" 😅
Walked around every scene like he was 12 feet tall and bulletproof, which after Stalin's death is a fantastic way to portray Zhukov because he might as well have been.
Very true.
When Malenkov is comparing his portraits and says “I would like… that one destroyed” my theater laughed for 30 seconds straight
And they _really_ make the photo look like IRL Malenkov's "official photo" ( see stuki-druki.com/biofoto4/georgiy-malenkov-01.jpg )
Someone might've pointed this out before, but possibly the first US citizen to hear word of Stalin's death was an US Air Force sergeant posted in West Germany, intercepting and decoding Morse code messages from Soviet transmissions.
That sergeant was called John Cash. "Johnny" to his friends.
Yes, THAT Johnny Cash. This at least according to his daughter, to whom he told the story many times over the years.
Makes the legendary badass Johnny Cash even more legendary
He was Air Force not army
@@shawnmiller4781 oh, whoopsey-daisy. Fixed it ^^
@@shawnmiller4781 whoops. Fixed it ^^
good ol' Johnny!
Stalin's cockney accent in this movie is brilliant because the real Stalin spoke Russian with a very thick and very noticeable Georgian accent as he himself was not a native Russia. He was basically a bumpkin that sleazed and murdered his way all the way to the top.
Yup, not a true ideological believer, more like a gangster who manipulated and murdered his way to the top, creating a terror state that was all about preserving his own power.
@@wyldhowl2821In other words, a fascist.
Sounds like a true American tale, which is super ironic, lmao
@@DomR1997 He loved cowboy films, so he may have understood the irony himself, forcing his subordinates to stay up into the early morning watching them for fear of ending up on a list was a real thing.
@@wyldhowl2821😂 Stalin - gangster, m'kay 😂
"How will they make the death of Stalin funny?" The movie: hold my mountain of beer, it's incoming!
"I'm the only one kneeling in piss, yes!?"
History is stranger than fiction, especially in the soviet union.
Honestly there was very little 'making' it anything, dictatorships are usually a 40/60 mix of horrific atrocities and comedic dysfunction, just varies which is which (and which one the adaptation focuses on).
what else expect from west?
The decision to let the actors use accents was genius, makes it such a unique film.
It wouldn't make sense for them to have Russian accents anyway. You have a "Russian accent" only if you're speaking another language than your native Russian, which these characters wouldn't be doing. It always annoys me in movies, series and video games when they have accents when they're actually supposed to be speaking their own language, translated for our benefit.
This is certainly not the only film in which English-speaking actors use their own accents. Amadeus, the Hunt for Red October, and Dangerous Liaisons are only three examples.
Well the characters are speaking Russian, so it makes sense to let the actors use their natural voices rather than do a fake Russian accent.
Russia is the most ethnically diverse country in Europe. The Soviet Union even moreso. Stalin himself was Georgian and spoke with a thick Georgian accent his whole life so giving him a Cockney accent is actually very historically authentic in a hilarious way.
The most disturbing thing about this movie is how accurate it is to some historical events. Stalin would keep his cabinet up almost all night watch cowboy movies and getting everyone drunk. The smashing a tomato in the pocket was a thing he would enjoy. And all these guys were in charge of one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world.
Incoming Trump Administration is gonna make these guys look like the Delta Force.
Stalin would compel others to binge drink vodka to lower their inhibitions and compromise themselves. Even worse, his drinks were really watered down so he would stay relatively sober at the same time.
@@andrewcrowder4958 don't talk pish.
If you read all kinds of propaganda, then of course it will look like what you described.
@@dlxmarks what’s the credibility to this? Is it actually evidenced, or is it like all these stupid stories we hear about North Korea and how they have to push the trains?..
Russians don't speak English with a Russian accent. Audiences are smart enough to understand that the characters in this film are all Russians without being constantly reminded of it with dialect. Also, Steve Buscemi's portrayal of Khrushchev was enhanced by the Brooklyn accent.
I personally like it, it feels more like the actors can genuinely emote in the accent they feel comfortable using rather than them all have to put on a Russian or Georgian accent and have one or two of them be noticeably worse at it to a distracting degree (think Costner in Robin Hood for example).
Chernobyl does it too and it works.
I remember a critic comparing it to the "Boris and Natasha" accents of Red Sparrow. I agree this was definitely the better way to do it.
I wonder now if this decision influenced the making of the _Chernobyl_ television miniseries just a couple of years later. Most of the (largely British, plus Stellan Skarsgard) actors spoke in their own accents in that show.
@Jeff_Lichtman
They're not all Russians though (especially the titular character) ; they're all Soviets.
@@DavidAntrobus Good shout, although from what I remember their reasoning behind it was slightly different. They said they didn't wan't the series to sound like a satire, which it possibly would have if everyone spoke with bad Russian accents.
Even Stalin warned his daughter about Beria.
Well before stalin as leader in USSR was 108 million people when he dead in USSR was 210 million people with statistics in the world of population civilians in the world
I’ve heard that the one time Beria ever looked truly scared was when Stalin found his daughter was at Berias house and raced over there in full anger mode.
@@arnyarny7991where 108 million number came from? In 1926 - 147 million, in 1959 - 208 million. Granted:
- Famine of 1932-1933 for which Stalin was heavily responsible with his glorious industrialization and collectivization plans claimed 6-9 millions (Kazakh, Ukrainians and Russians).
- Great Terror for which this piece of sh*t was main driving force took between 1-6 million. Real talk, George *sigh* 60 millions really? Stalin & co certainly killed more than Communists of China in the 1930s, but maybe you mistook him for Austrian painter?
- WWII killed... well, hard to say, but numbers thrown around were between 22-40 million.
Overall, screw him. Would be awesome to see condemnation of Stalin from Georgians, specifically. While you still outside of authoritarian club.
That's wild. Your dad, who is STALIN, is like "that guy creeps me out, don't be alone with him".
@@ReplicaateStalin also introduced Beria as ‘He’s my Himmler’ that pretty much tells you all you need to know about Beria and Stalin.
"It's just me here, kneeling in the piss, yeah?" is funnier because he's the Labor Secretary.
9:00 Russia banned this movie for "mockery of history and real persons", but some cinemas showed it anyway, no one was arrested, only fined
One of the best trash comedies of last decade, among with Borat and Dictator Maximum ridicule of all stereotypes and prejudices and raising everything that happens to the level of absolute absurdity - nowadays such comedies are extremely rare
Almost as if the guy who was a former KGB ghoul who now runs the country doesn't like the idea of the regime he used to be part of being mocked by the West. Funny how that works.
Only theatrical and television releases were forbidden, the movie itself is not banned. You can buy it, you can watch it, you can share it up to this day. The cinemas that showed it were fined for non-compliance with the law, not for the movie itself.
ITS NOT BANNED
I think "trash comedy" is not a good description for this very clever movie.
Iirc an old Russian lady went to see it and she said in an interview that it was very accurate from what she remembered from her childhood and that it was hilarious.
The decision to have the actors not put on Russian accents but just speak in their normal voices was based on the fact that the people they’re playing came from across the USSR and so would have different regional accents
Also there are distinct English working class vs middle class accents
Not sure what accents Stalin and Beria would have had....... what would be the English equivalent of a Georgian accent?
@@peterireland4344 maybe some kind of Indian accent. In any case an accent of someone perceived as foreigner
@@peterireland4344 Indian would be the closest in perception really as an accent of a (former) colony
Quite right-having the actors speaking in their own natural voices was a good way to portray the reality of the Soviet Union.
Jason Issacs “right I’m just going to steal the whole film as Zhukov with broad Yorkshire accent” His amazing performance stands out and given who he’s cast with makes it even greater
Armando Iannucci is a satirical genius, love his creative work.
As a fellow Scot I love his work and find his dry humour amazing.
Jason Isaacs so owns every scene he's in, that you forget he's not in every scene. That introduction with the medals is a 10/10. This and Jojo Rabbit are how all dictators should be treated: with utter ridicule.
And that was with half the medals that Zhukov Actually had
Jason is such an underrated actor, he steals every film he’s in.
@@shawnmiller4781 They already put a pillow under his shirt already, any more and it would look ridiculous.
The unusual accents by the different main characters are all deliberate choices. It's to invoke in us the same reaction that Russians of the time had to hearing them. For instance, Stalin's real life Georgian country bumpkin accent is "translated" as Cockney. The reaction you're having to them is exactly what was intended.
The actors are speaking in their own natural accents (rather than usual ones) instead of trying to put on a Russian accent which probably wouldn't have sounded great 😅
@@chrisnorman1902 Isaacs puts on a Yorkshire accent, since he considered Yorkshire people among the most blunt!
@@neilbiggs1353”Right! Proper dead!” 🤣
It’s also is a good way of pointing out how diverse the Soviet Union was, since most folks by default think of it as just being Russian.
@@neilbiggs1353 And supposedly, Zhukov's accent was the stereotypical blunt russian accent whenever he spoke english, which was surprisingly a lot of the time considering he later retired and moved to the US.
One of my favorite comedies ever. The cast is perfect, absolutely no weak points, and everyone gets to be funny in their own way. I can watch it over and over.
When Kruschev was removed from office he was allowed to retire. He said that people being to lose power and not get shot was his biggest achievement.
Jason Isaacs as Zhukov stole the show for me. Also the great part about this movie is it's not even THAT exaggerated as to what a clusterfck it was when ol Joe finally dropped dead, sometimes history really IS that absurd.
One of the best parts?
Zhukov had more medals!
@ Yes! They had to remove a bunch for the costume cos they thought “nobody’s gonna believe this was his REAL outfit”.
This movie is fantastic "How can you run and plot at the same time?"
This is the best Cold War comedy not named 'Doctor Strangelove'. Buscemi was already a favorite of mine, seeing him pull off Nikita Khruschev was freaking brilliant.
(Edit : spellcheck doesn't like Slavic names)
Cold War propaganda, you mean.
Cold War comedy would be about how western citizens stil eat the whole shit show of our western fascism not being the sole cause of the Cold War to try to finish what Adolf had started, simply under a new Führer: the USA.
Buscemi actually said once that Khrushchev was his dream role,because he was mostly typecast as gangsters or tough guys
I am so glad You guys understood the message of all the scenes in this movie. The moment George realised the dark humour behind the first scene with the phone, I knew it's gonna be a good reaction :D
As someone who grew up with Harry Enfield and Chums and The Fast show I just loved seeing Paul Whitehouse in this amazing cast.
Because he's so funny people sometimes forget he's also a brilliant actor
Paul Whitehouse has been crushing it forever. One of my favorite actors.
This movie had a wonderful cast.
Jason Isaacs' Zhukov was the most memorable performance.
And that's saying something, because everybody acted the s**t out of their roles in this movie.
I appreciate George's knowledge of world history. I'm an elderly US citizen who lived through some of this history and am painflully aware the the vast majority of people George's age in this country are clueless about any of this.
I’m not American, only 40 and still think as you do.
It's crazy to me how Stalin killed so many people he made Hitler look like Mr. Rogers, yet people rarely talk about it and there are almost no movies about him. This was a rare exception.
"I appreciate George's knowledge of world history" Really?)) George starts with "Deaths...60 million I think..." so George must be joking. Even for Stalin this would be too much))
Yes, It helps immensely in the enjoyment of this movie if you are aware of the real life Beria, khrushchev and Zhukov et al.
@@Str52849 , The funniest thing is how he puts on the air of liking things to be logical but is willing to make statements of claim without any understanding of the knowledge. When you say "I think..." it often means "I don't know."
The location work in this is so good, it was (mostly) all filmed in and around London but you never for a minute think it's not Moscow in the 1950s.
George laughing hysterically is one of the best sounds in the universe.
It really is. When I have bad days, I cue up their reactions to movies like Tropic Thunder just to see them absolutely lose it at some of the situations in the movie. This is now going to also join the list.
Exactly!
Yeah, I love hearing both of their laughter. Listening to it always brightens my day.
@@MikeFromOz the Superbad reaction in my case :D
I can’t get enough of Simone’s laugh. I think she should react only to comedies from now on. 😂
"Out of my way you fffffaaaannnniiiesss!" 🤣
An absolutely amazing movie, so funny (and also terrifying), I am really glad you decided to watch this!
Yeah, Simones face from laughter to horror summed it up.
Great pick for a reaction. I love how all the party bigwigs essentially act like the Mob. Loved watching George and Simone giggle their way through this. It's a dark, dark comedy and one of my favorite movies.
I have a very relevant family story about fake crying. My aunt walked in on her school teacher using onion to induce tears on the day death of Stalin was announced. He hugged her and said I know that you won't tell anyone (my grandfather was arrested in 1947). She did tell, but years later.
Hey George the History Buffs channel did a video on how accurate this movie (and many other historical films) are to actual history, I recommend checking it out for both insight and laughs.
Great reaction as always, this movie is incredible with how absurd the political theatre and infighting was.
I second this! Would make for a great spin-off reaction!
Third…..
Agreed, I’d love to see them react to that just to see how much was true.
To answer George’s question at 9:00. It was banned and when a theatre held an airing of the film in defiance of the ban the screening was raided and the theatre owner arrested.
Really? Still? Even after Stalins death how every Soviet leader denounced him? I guess Putin wants to keep up that legacy
@ it was banned for being “anti-Russian propaganda” officially
@@mistersir-sz2gh bullshit , no one was arrested, these cinemas were just fined
@ my mistake then
@@wakkadakka9192 Yeah, but they halted further screenings. I'm guessing that if they hadn't, someone would have "fallen out of a window".
In real life Zhukov had Coca-Cola smuggled in by Eisenhower (they were buddies). They mixed it without any coloring, and hid it in vodka bottles. Now, imagine being in the Red Army at some event and watching Zhukov, war hero, straight up pounding a liter of vodka and not even seeming a bit buzzed!
There is some seriously good UK comedy talent in this film.
Made by the same guy who did The Thick of It, In the Loop, Veep, and other fantastic political comedies! All are recommended!
Since I'm first: "SVETLANA!!!"
SVETLANA!!
@t.c.thompson2359 No, you don't. SVETLANAAAA!
The race has started...
SVETLANAAA!!
[Archer voice] SvetLANAAAAAAAAA!
SVETLANA!!!
This movie really surprised history enthusiasts on how accurate it was to both the spirit of its history as well as some seemingly minor details.
1) As many have pointed out, a lot of the events were either compressed or moved around to fit the movie's timeframe (the concert recording, the funeral and the coup against Beria, etc)
2) Khrushchev really had his wife write down all of the jokes that hit or crash landed with Stalin just to keep on the boss' good side. Khrushchev's joker antics was a real tactic he used to get people to underestimate him until he pulled off the coup. In the finale Svetlana alludes to this with the line, "Never thought it'll be you."
3) Stalin did have a short lucid moment after the stroke which made the politburo collectively (see what I did there?) shit their pants. _Especially_ Beria who IRL actually shit-talked Stalin in the presence of his unconscious body and the rest of the politburo. As seen in the movie, he didn't say anything and randomly pointed at stuff which no one knew what that meant, if anything at all.
4) The purge of Stalin's home never took place nor the liquidation of the staff, thankfully. The look-alikes and body doubles were real though.
5) Beria was a much, MUCH worse monster as portrayed. The girls he, 'interacted' with can be seen gifted flowers, essentially as a form of forced 'consent'. If they rejected, they'll disappear; if they accepted it, it was seen as mutual therefore no crime had taken place. Stalin once nearly had a heart attack when he learnt that Beria visited his home when young Svetlana was there, essentially alone. Stalin sent two agents with explicit orders to have Beria shot should he have so much as touched his dear Svetlana - Beria of course was smart enough not to even be anywhere close to her.
6) Molotov IRL genuinely loved his wife and never ever backbited her in contrast to his movie portrayal. Even though he never faulted Stalin, he also never forgave himself for letting her be taken and always told his servants to set his dinner table for him and his wife as a painful reminder. In fact, during the funeral day (which was also Molotov's birthday) Beria jokingly asked him what he wanted as a present. Molotov, with sheer contempt and barely restrained fury asked for his wife Polina back. The next day Beria released her.
7) Svetlana lived in various places in the Soviet Union, Europe and even India following her father's death, but eventually defected to the US in 1967. Her life was a rollercoaster of various dead husbands and estranged children, but by all accounts had a happy life. Some of her grandchildren are still around today.
8) While Russia did ban the movie, several more liberal voices had relatively nicer things to say about it. Especially after one Moscow theatre defied the ban and showed it to the public, to 'ok' reception. Shortly afterwards in typical Soviet fashion the police and government raided and closed the theatre investigating the owners and staff for various 'crimes'.
Nonsense, the movie is a ridiculous joke when it comes to history.
History enthusiast see it more like a funny way to portray how western propaganda paints Russian history.
@miriamweller812 nope, wrong.
@miriamweller812 it's not a documentary
the irony of 8)
@miriamweller812 Well I'm a history enthusiast (with a specific academic interest in this period of history) and that is most definitely not my take on it. Moving things around to fit the movie timeline doesn't make it 'a ridiculous joke' or make the events it portrays any less real.
The purpose of the movie is to use humour to show just how extreme, horrific and absurd actual historical events from that period were and it does that admirably and with accuracy _where accuracy is important._
No amount of petty whining about specific dates, who did exactly what, when or what someone would have been wearing is going to change that; it just demonstrates that the point of the film has sailed over your head. And pretending your specific myopic take is shared by many others doesn't make it so.
OMG, can't believe you're doing this movie. So pumped! very under rated.
Jason Isaacs playing Zhukov as a no nonsense Yorkshire man is perfect.
Isaacs said that Yorshiremen are the bluntest people that he has met. He's right. Best wishes from a Yorkshireman.
Oh gosh...cannot believe CineBinge are reacting to this one...I am sure they will LOVE it!
And if they don't love it, the Supreme Soviet will MAKE them love it! 😜😂
For the motherland!
Armando Iannucci is great at reducing people in power to show how small they really are. Definitely recommend In the Loop. It's a spin off from The Thick of It, but you don't need to have seen that show to follow it.
That would be Lemon....lemon difficult.
Needs to do one on Lt. Bonespurs.
Yes, there's not even continuity with the show (only Capaldi plays the same character).
Capaldi and Gandolfini having a scene together in that film is such a gift, it's my version of De Niro and Pacino together in Heat.
@@sterow The confused look on Gandolfini's face when Capaldi says never to call him English again.
@@sterow Jamie is mostly the same, except I think in the TV show, he was obviously trying to undermine Malcolm
Listening to you two crack up is the most wonderful thing. Thanks for this.
There's an apocryphal story that as Stalin laid on the bed, following the stroke that eventually killed him, Beria actually let the act drop and let his hatred of Stalin be heard. As this happened, Stalin's eye-lids flickered as if he might awake, and Beria immediately fell to his knees in terror and kissed the Leader's hands in apology.
Once it was clear to all that Stalin would not recover, Beria said what the rest were undoubtedly thinking about Stalin, both the man and the criminal, with the sort of honesty that would have gotten one killed only a few days prior. This act, and the naked ambition showed by Stalin's most bloodthirsty henchman, is likely what sealed Beria's fate - he appeared to believe the others were still as cowed as they had been under Stalin's ruthless, authoritarian fist. He found out the truth at his own sham trial by revolutionary tribunal, followed by a bullet to the forehead.
The executioner had to stuff Beria's tie in his mouth to stop the pathetic and incessant cries and lamentations for mercy prior to squeezing the trigger. His ashes were unceremoniously dumped in a Moscow sewer, solemn testament that an atrocious society, lacking in justice for the most heinous of crimes, could occasionally punish those that deserved it.
17:20 according to a few hospice nurses i know, many times when terminal patients are nearing the end they do have one last burst of energy
I’ve been waiting so long for you to watch this. Jason Isaacs steals every scene he’s in, even with such an amazing cast.
So happy someone finally watched this! I love this movie. This is how you counter terror and tyranny, you show it as ugly as possible but also it’s pointless decisions.
Also there’s a great video on UA-cam about Khrushchevs trip to the US where he toured the country and met with Eisenhower.
You mean be making fun of western terror, tyranny and the propaganda it uses to sell both? Because the movie is mainly that: a persiflage of western propaganda.
Beria is acknowledged to be one of the greatest monsters of human history, who worked for a fairly monstrous man in his own right. Stalin himself had warned his daughter to NEVER be alone with him for any reason, and for many years after his execution the bodies of women and girls continued to be discovered at properties owned or occupied by him. The events as they unfold in this film are only slightly satirized and condensed for time. Needless to say, this film is banned in Russia.
Love this film, a perfect encapsulation of a system where doing the wrong thing will get you killed but no one can agree on the right thing because of that.
The response from the powers-that-be in Russia when the movie came out was that it made the Politburo look like "a bunch of gangsters"; Pretty accurate!
Love this film, its one of my favourites - the overall historical accuracy is really good without it becoming a documentary. Using dark comedy to show the horrors of the Stalin regime but also the fact that the central committee did behave like a mafia family carrying out horrific decisions while protecting themselves was an inspired move. Dark humour was part of the communist experience itself, the Soviet Union being the only regime to have produced its own brand of jokes - about the regime. Jokes became essential and acted as low level resistance, the only way citizens could let off steam. Communism was a humour-producing machine. Its economic theories, bureaucracy, over employment, rules and regulations and system of repression created inherently funny and farcical situations.
'What is colder in a Siberian winter than cold water?" "Hot water!"
Thank you for making Zhukov the thumbnail. Hello to Jason Isaacs.
The Death of Stalin! having requested this movie a number of times, I am delighted to see it turn up, thanks
Love this quirky little movie
also props to George for knowing who Lavrentiy Beria was
Really one of the worst people of the modern era. The fact that lots of folks have forgotten him is kinda sad, though on the other hand at least he has fewer fanboys than Stalin.
The director was one of the creators of the character Alan Partridge who is one of the true comedy greats. Alpha Papa is one one my go to comedy flicks, so stupidly funny
Quintessential British comedy has a name, and it's... Armando Ianucci?!?
@Johnny_Socko a wonderful Scottish man... 👀
Brilliant film. BTW, the director, Armando Iannucci, is now directing a stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove in London. I hear it's fantastic, will also be performed in Dublin, and will be in cinemas in March 2025.
I don't know who decided to give Zhukov a Yorkshire accent, but they deserve a raise.
@@WrathOfGrapesN7 Jason Issacs.
When it comes to Lavrentiy Beria he was absolutely one of the worst human beings to have ever existed. In fact I believe it was during the 1990s when they were doing renovations of his mansion, they found several female skeletons all of whom were believed to be his victims
8:31 did you just call Beria “Wario”? Bless this channel
It is common for people to recover temporarily from strokes. Nixon and the wife of president John Adams had the same experience.
The two decorations worn on Zhukov's uniform tunic left side are his Orders of Victory. Only 20 were made in total, and only 4 are on display outside Russia. I went to see the one awarded to Montgomery in London last month. I collect Soviet decorations, but these are absolutely priceless. Pretty much the only decorations that can not be bought and sold, whereas top tier decorations like the Victoria Cross, Hero of the Soviet Union, gge Medal of Honour are all available for the right price.
Please watch Four Lions (2010). I think you guys will love it.
Rubber dinghy rapids, bro. Fast track.
The Radio Moscow debacle is based on a real event; it just happened several years earlier. Many of the major beats are accurate on their own. They've just been chronologically compressed to fit in the scope of the film.
And this was banned in Russia. 😂
Obviously, it's a western propaganda movie trying to sow chaos by the usual rewriting of history.
Smart people don't fall for that of course and see it as what it is, at best a funny movie about how stupid western propaganda is.
But stupid people take it seriously and don't know how much BS that is that got nothing to do with history, especailly not all the bad parts, starting with Stalin being a creation of western fascism constantly trying to genocid all Slavs to rob Russia's immense amount of resources (and never stopped to try).
"the court of the red tsar" -- by Simon Sebag Montefiore gives a detailed description of the hermetic world of the politburo during the final years of Stalin. Increasingly lengthy and raucous dinners/parties that nobody really wanted to go to, other than Stalin. They became increasingly bizarre, and the human dynamics of the period immediately after his death were truly fascinating.
The accents are deliberate and cleverly done. Stalin has a cockney accent because Stalin was a lower class / working class man. Svetlana and her brother are Nepo babies born into privilege, hence the outrageously posh accents. Zhukov has a hardy northern accent to also show his class and his "man of the people" persona.
Nah, Isaacs chose the broad Yorkshire accent because he considered it "the most blunt", and Zhukov was blunt as hell, both in terms of speaking and actions.
"Man of the people" :DDD
Yeah. They sent millions of people tó their grave indeed...
@riveraharper8166 okay cool but ask any Russian what they think of him and they'll describe him as a hero.
@@Andrew-jb2ib Tbh russians can think what they want. We knew their lies very well during the 45 years of communism.
The westerners ignorance is ridiculous when they cry about Hitler 24/7 and murderer scumbags like Stalin and his pet Zhukovs doings are swept under the rug...
27:48 "These stairs are like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro"
Well he would know, Michael Palin actually HAS climbed Kilimanjaro as part of a documentary 😀 Nice little inside joke.
It's amazing that they pulled off a movie like this. And casting Buscemi as Krushchev is basically perfect.
I do love a good British Comedy. They just do it so much better than most others.
"Medic!" before the punch still gets me.
Exact numbers are a bit muddy for obvious reasons, 60 mil figure comes from all the losses combined during WW2 not by Stalins hand.
Around 18 million passed thru the work camps were approximately 3 million died. Another 5 million from the starvation in Ukraine, also 2-3 million "Kulaks" or rich peasants if you will. Most experters and authors estimate around 20 million deaths because of Stalin and his policies. Most of those sources come from NKVD documents stored in Kiev and luckily for us they're still there available for researchers
From a purely scientific perspective I would call anything Kiev related a biased source. There was and (now for obvious reasons even more) a nationalistic narrative trying to portray the USSR as the main cause of troubles and that if the soviets didnt keep Ukraine down they would be something like France and blah blah blah. The reality is that most probably Poland would have move in (Possibly Hungary too) and they would be just a sliver of land with an economy based on agriculture. The rushed collectivization and industrialization policies of Stalin, caused disruption and starvation in many places within the USSR, not just Ukraine as they try to sell it.
Yeah. Murdering 20 millions of your own people but We should debate on semantics...
Not many videos make me go “f@ck yes!” When I open up UA-cam, but this really did.
The movie was banned in Russia, the Radio Moscow event happened but was in the early 1940s while the 20,000 rubles were a gift from Stalin and the letter was much less direct, there was no mass shooting or cancelled trains but there was a crowd so large that several hundred people died from crush injuries in Red Square, and Krushchev’s coupe was several years after Stalin’s death not the day after the funeral.
There was a question if Stalin was Michael Palin in makeup. No, Michael Palin is the guy at 20:51 with Steve Buscemi.
The guy who looks like Michael Palin turns out to be Michael Palin.
For the most part this film is completely based on factual information and events. The details and timing of events were skewed to highlight the dark comedic absurdity of all the horrors.
“History Buffs” did a video on this for those interested in the history behind the movie.
I was going to recommend this as a companion piece. It is excellent
The main man behind this movie, Armando Iannucci, is mostly known by me as the mastermind behind the BBC comedy "The Thick Of It", and its sister HBO comedy "VEEP". In case you need two great (and dark) comedy TV series to get into.
I'm off to represent the entire Red Army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourselves.
Fun fact)Nikita Khrushchev is a man makes everyone laugh with funny jokes, so Stalin had him around
Imagine a class clown became a leader
Fantastic reaction, I've never watched another movie as much as this one, I think 5 times in one year and I very seldom watch movies more than a couple of times and usually many years apart, there is so much going on, they absolutely nail the terror and ridiculousness of living under complete tyranny, the acting is top notch, brilliant cast !
In the UK, Armando Ianuuci is well known for a number of projects, but his show "The Thick of It" is absolutely brilliant, I now George will love it. It's a comedy based inside a government department and is absolutely brutal. It includes a character "Malcolm Tucker" played by Peter Capaldi.
Malcolm is based on Tony Blair's advisor/henchman Alistair Campbell and is an absolute beast. Very quickly, Malcolm Tucker was named as one of the greatest TV characters in UK comedy history. In fact when Peter Capaldi was announced as the the new Dr Who, there was a certain level of disbelief that "Malcolm" could play such a role.
The Thick of It is filmed documentary style, it fast paced and hilarious - it is also the first TV show that claimed to have brought in a writer just to beef up the swearing. The insults, contempt and frequent uselessness of the "staff" is brilliant. I think there are three series, and there was a three part special - like most UK shows, very short series, but more dialogue than the bible in most episodes
I'm from Russia. This film was banned from showing in cinemas. So I had to watch it at home in an amateur translation. Yes, this is our reality
I'm from Russia. No, this is not our reality at all.
@@thecrimsonviscount5689 what not at all, asslicker? I'm from Russia too, so come on, tell us.
I'm from Russia too and I agree, our reality now is different. I mean, it gruesome in different way.
@@sergeityrrellp3496 In 30 years someone should make a comedy of Putin, with the Prigozhin mutiny and lots of really, really long desks. It would make a great trilogy with this and 'The Great'.
@@simonhibbs887 It's fascinating to see how you, people of the West, can casually plan something for 30 years ahead!
Yup, Jason put on a Yorkshire accent because "there's nowt more stubborn than a Yorkshireman". 🙂🇬🇧
It is insane how good this movie was!!!
Kolema prison was hell, more than any other on earth. The average temperature was -40° Fahrenheit.
18:32 I don't care how many times I watch this scene. I will laugh like Geroge every time I do.
Glad you enjoyed this...I've never seen a historical drama done like this but they absolutely knock the concept out of the park.
9:00 it was generally well recieved by ordinary Russians and Georgians, but obviously a lot of the usual suspects condemned it as propaganda and slander.
The spit moment is possibly my favourite moment of physical comedy ever
one of the funniest movies ever so happy you reacted to it
9:31 It's rumoured that the letter was poisoned which ended up causing the heart attack but no proof though.
26:47 YES this did happen!
In college I took a Russian history course. We read ‘Stalin Court of the Red Tsar’. I think someone in our reading group summed it up best ‘I feel like I’ve come to deeply know someone… that I really don’t want to’.
This movie honestly toned things down. There are so many dark humor moments in Stalin’s reign it’s incredible if it wasn’t so horrible. Stalin went through 3 secret police chiefs. Beria, Yagoda, Yezhov… and they were always short people, it’s like Stalin combined his court dwarf and secret police head.
I remember a story where a couple who just got released from the gulag went back home and were shell shocked and settling back into their home… and the door rings and Stalin and Beria show up all smiles like they are old friends visiting and act like nothing happened and the couple just has to act like they are all friends when the two people who tortured them are with them laughing and joking.
Another moment Stalin met a military officer and noticed he had no fingernails. Stalin joked saying ‘seems to be a lot of people without fingernails these days’ and the officer just dryly agreed.
And Stalin’s son was captured by the Germans in WWII and they tried to ransom him to Stalin but Stalin refused to take him back and essentially disowned him as he was so disappointed in his son.
There are so many stories from that book but those are the big ones I remember now.
I am so glad that this movie is being reacted to here.... Ever since I first saw this move I have always believed that it is been underrated and I am happy to so just how much George and Simone are enjoying it!!!
This movie is a gem and one of my favorite ones.
This movie is such an underrated comedy. The writing is absolutely brilliant and the cast perfection
Stalin's regime is estimated to have killed around 20million people of which around 1 million were judicial executions. A further 18 million are estimated to have gone through the Gulag system.
And they actually likely killed far more than that if you count the millions who died due to the famine and starvation caused by the collectivization of the farms in the 5 year plans. And the general purges of people killed by Stalin solely because he didn’t like them. And all the Jewish doctors he had murdered, which is why they couldn’t find any good doctors to look after Stalin after his cerebral hemorrhage (as shown in the film). Oh and the millions who died in World War 2, which is what Zhukov is famous for, as he was the general in charge at Stalingrad. Molotov is also famous because of the 1) the Molotov cocktail, which is named after him, and, more importantly, 2) the Molotov-Ribbentrop Compact, which was famously negotiated before the start of WW2 and is the reason why the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany jointly invaded and conquered Poland together
Do your figures included the people who died of starvation?
This is probably one of my favourite historical comedies 😂
There really was an incident where a pianist sent Stalin a letter telling him to repent for his crimes. His aides were furious and wanted her shot but Stalin was actually impressed that she had the guts to do that so he didn't do anything to her.
Simone's smile and George's laugh are just the best things, so yeah this was a good watch guys 😁😁😁
27:03 The man listening to the Vasily's Rambling is Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
Imagine the look on Mao's face when he got a report back about Comrade Stalin's funeral.
@@christopherwall2121 Considering what happened before (Cultural Revolution and death of Lin Biao) and after (death of Chou En-Lai and arrest of the Gang of Four) the death of Mao they gave the Soviets a good run for their money in the craziness stakes..