The Death of Stalin (2017)

Directed by Armando Iannucci. Starring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Whitehouse, Rupert Friend, Paul Chahidi, Paddy Considine, Olga Kurylenko, Adrian McLoughlin. [R]

In the Loop director Iannucci delivers another brilliantly incisive satire in the political realm, this time dealing with the frantic, backstabbing power-grab in the Soviet Union after the sudden death of Joseph Stalin (McLoughlin). A skillful balance between the hysterical and horrific, sometimes separate and sometimes overlapping. Cast is pitch-perfect, finding just the right tone for the jet-black comedy by playing it straight-faced and anxious, but never fully sober; Tambor’s pathetic and vain Georgy Malenkov and Isaacs’ blunt and pompously aggressive Marshal Zhukov stand out, but there are no slackers (and it’s a treat to see Palin in pictures again). Won’t be for all tastes, especially those who have delicate sensibilities or are sticklers for historical accuracy, but it’s not for nothing that Iannucci (and co-writers Ian Martin and David Schneider) often had to tone down the irrational insanity of the actual characters and situations so that it wouldn’t seem so unbelievable. Understandably banned in Russia, but that’s their loss.

89/100