FILMMAKER MOVIE REACTION!! The Death of Stalin (2017) FIRST TIME REACTION!!

Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to The Death of Stalin. :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: The Death of Stalin (2017)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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[@JamesVSCinema]

All the petty is available here in this film lmaooo! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema OBLIVION FIRST TIME WATCHING will be uploaded Wednesday! Enjoy the day!

[@BlackbirdSJ]

Very ironic that you're watching Oblivion seeing as that the two lead actresses are in this too

[@JamesVSCinema]

Oh snap really?

[@phoenixcross6481]

So to answer the question....yes all the Actors spoke in their normal accent. they didn't want the actors to have in Russian accents, there's a channel called History Buffs they do an analysis video on this film

[@welovecheshirecats4557]

Olga Konstiantinivna Kurylenko......yep!

[@francisdufreak915]

YES! I just rewatched this movie recently. You have a keen eye for the classics.

[@nocturnalcove9736]

Not so fun fact: Beria was so terrifying that Stalin wouldn't leave his daughter alone with him. Apparently people who were remodeling his house years later found skeletons in his garden of missing children and young women. Not sure if it's true or a rumour but...yeah.

[@JamesVSCinema]

I hope to everything that’s just a rumor..yikes

[@TheJrr71]

Beria certainly has an awful reputation, so much so that it can't all be put down to Soviet propaganda.

[@roytore5062]

They found five bodies of girls in the pipes. People said they were seeing ghosts of screaming girls there for forty-fifty years before they found them.

[@brandonlyon730]

Apparently in one story one time when word got out that Stalin’s daughter and Beria we're in the same house that together, Stalin himself order troops to watch the two from afar and if they saw Beria so as much as touches his daughter, they were ordered to gun him down without mercy or hesitation. So even Stalin himself knew much about the evil bastard, Beria himself was smart enough to know to not mess with his own boss's daughter.

[@bobkilla430]

In a deleted scene a girl tries to escape and gets blown up my a mine. Beria just goes on about his way. Another party deleted scene is Beria goes into a room with a girl and you see her on a bed. It's really depressing. where I think in the movie he just opens the door then a quick cut, but it's implied.

[@alexa.english174]

Jason Isaacs made the movie for me. As a History student, the film offers a fun alternative to the grim reality.

[@JamesVSCinema]

I agree, which means a new form of educating history truthfully

[@firebladenut]

If you watch history buffs, this is amazingly almost all true as well. Its insane lol

[@dyskordian]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iniQpXpjjNRjetE

[@dannydethanos6994]

There’s comedy everywhere in the world even when it’s too dark to see it’s brightness there were silly parts in the real events, As they involved adult humans scrambling like children and throwing tantrums those parts just don’t get talked about as much and aren’t as important in the long run.

[@SVTDI]

@@firebladenut Some things are some things are not

[@drnerdrage2535]

General Zhukov was one of the few people that would openly argue and contradict Stalin. He knew Stalin very well due to his position as a general in the Soviet Army and had to meet with Stalin on multiple occasions. Zhukov also became something of a national hero and Stalin supposedly was envious of Zhukov in that regard. The man did not give a flying fuck and the actor really nailed that in this film.

[@jarhead21100]

Apparently Zhukov was the only person in stalins inner circle who wasn't afraid of dying in a gunfight. Therefore he was dangerous to all the cowardly yes men.

[@graceskerp]

Also helped he had the Red Army at his back.

[@frankgesuele6298]

@@graceskerp The NKVD was not gonna win that fight & they knew it😱

[@JoshSweetvale]

Zhukov also didn't fuck with Stalin's domestic policy as long as Stalin kept the army supplied. Having a competent, _neutral_ army appealed to both men.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

Apparently Zhukov had _waaay_ more medals on his tunic from his extensive history as a soldier but the director toned it down because they felt it would be unbelievable to the viewer.

[@EDTGO1]

History Buffs made a review of this movie and it’s crazy how accurate it actually is to real events. From the way Stalin died and the guards too scared to check up on him, to the orchestra having to redo the set because they did not record it originally and brining in people from the street. It’s freaking crazy. In the words of Charlie Murphy: “Who the fuck could make up that shit”

[@danjudex2475]

Or as Mark Twain said. “Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense.”

[@slowerthinker]

This film does a great job of simultaneously being hilarious whilst not making light of how unpleasant living in Stalin's USSR could be (although there are a few liberties taken with historical accuracy). Armando Iannucci's work eg- The Day Today, The Thick of It, & In the Loop, are invariably great satires and very close to the bone.

[@JamesVSCinema]

It’s pretty excellent in that regard!

[@Mocsk]

a few liberties? that's putting it mildly

[@NeilLewis77]

@@Mocsk most of the events are accurate, the forced re performance of the concert on the radio happened. Stalin lay dying of a stroke while people were to scared to go in. The backstabbing. The plotting. The monsters of men. Obviously the conversations weren't as funny.

[@VideoMask93]

@@NeilLewis77 Probably the biggest liberty was of timeline--The coup against Beria took six months or so.

[@hukama6911]

in the loop isn't as good as the thick of it

[@baronnishi641]

Zhukov was, in fact, a badass. A ruthless badass, but a badass nonetheless. Beria was probably one of the most loathsome men in history, one might get some satisfaction from the fact that he allegedly died crying and pleading for his own life. The only character here that feels slightly off is Maria Yudina, the real Yudina was no stunner (and Olga is, as you say, breathtaking) but she remained stubbornly open in her Orthodox faith in the face of considerable risk and is very highly regarded in the Orthodox Church. One story is that, on being awarded the Stalin Prize, she donated the money to the church to prayers for Stalin's sins.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Zhukov was also on good terms with Kruschev IRL.

[@edubvb5193]

@@TamaCinema69 soviet* Beria was from Georgia, just like Stalin

[@samconner2011]

Beria was a pedophile and used his position to force himself on any number of women. Stalin told his daughter never to be alone with Beria, and never to stay at Beria's home. After Beria's death numerous unmarked graves were found on his estate that were apparently the corpses of women he abducted, had sex with , and then had killed. All true. Beria was several steps beyond loathesome.

[@edubvb5193]

@@samconner2011 on of the most despicable men in the Soviet Union for sure, if not the most

[@RenegadeSamurai]

Zhukov was friends with Eisenhower too and he was basically invulnerable. He could say anything even "no" to Stalin, Stalin was scared of him^^

[@rikkilleen3169]

The events portrayed in the movie: redoing the concert, Stalin's guards being too terrified to check in on him, the "trial" of Beria are all true; they're just retold in a deeply sarcastic manner. Also, the director told all the actors to speak in their native accents.

[@Crissy_the_wonder]

Totally the right directorial call to have the actors use their own accents rather than mess up a generic Russian accent

[@mysticsaxophone4181]

The yorkshirey accent of Jason Isaacs was absolutely fucking top idea. Can't imagine him without it

[@matthewhearn9910]

The timing of the events is the biggest fiction in the movie: they all happened, but mostly over the course of months, not days (though the days around Stalin's death were certainly chaotic about half the events portrayed in that timespan happened significantly earlier or later).

[@monkeymox2544]

@Krister L Which Scottish accent? I don't remember one of those

[@cutthr0atjake]

@@mysticsaxophone4181 Isaacs was told the cast were to use their own accents and he asked Iannucci if he could play Zhukov with a Yorkshire accent as the he was very blunt and the bluntest people Isaacs could think of were Yorkshireman. :-D

[@Autechltd]

Zhukov was not just A general, he was *THE * general. He rolled the Japanese army so hard in Mongolia that it made a Japanese invasion into Russia impossible, he then turned around and pushed the German army back to Berlin after Barbarossa. He was so well respected in the Soviet Union that Stalin could not outright kill him, and the NKVD could not reach him since they had to literally get through the entire Red Army to get to him. Notice that when the coup happened, it wasn't just Zhukov and some random soldiers. It was him and the entire general staff.

[@lavrentivs9891]

While he was a good general, he gets too much credit. While he won the battle of Khalkin Gol, his units suffered very high losses in the process and he was generally a ruthless leader that would sacrifice his men without a second thought, the Rhzev "meat grinder" being the best/worst example, not to mention how he sacrificed his men to try and reach Berlin before Konev. In my opinion he wasn't the best soviet general, that would most likely fall on Rokossovsky (who had polish ancestry and spent time in a "gulag", so was not the kind of person Stalin wanted to show off as the premier soviet hero), but Zhukov managed to be at the right place at the right time and serving with men like Rokossovsky who knew how to use Zhukov's strengths for the best effect.

[@ravenhull]

In the movie, one of the ones next to him was Brezhnev, who would replace Khrushchev in 10 years, though don’t know if he was really there personally.

[@sultankebab1587]

@@lavrentivs9891 I mean, it worked.

[@lavrentivs9891]

@@sultankebab1587 Doesn't mean that it couldn't have worked better with a different commander.

[@sultankebab1587]

@@lavrentivs9891 yes, my point is that most great leaders and generals werent exactly the best people at anytime in history, and its sad to admit but thats exactly what made them capable. They all scrificied "lesser" men for their purposes and for what they believed was best for the people.

[@darthjarjar511]

Didn't realise the actor for Marshall Zhukov was Lucius Malfoy first time I watched this.

[@EDTGO1]

To a lot of people he is Lucius, but to me he will always be the bad guy from The Patriot, one of the all time movie villains

[@grizzlygamer8891]

Zhukov... Definitely the best character "You should see your fucking face" 😂

[@eduardokarusky7210]

i didn't realise until i read your comment.

[@SSgtJ0hns0n]

From Avada Kedavra to Avtomat Kalashnikov

[@brandonlyon730]

He was also the voice of Admiral Zhao from Avatar the last Airbender, the evil general guy from the Patriot, and even played as Captain Hook in the 2003 live action Peter Pan movie,

[@MagusMirificus]

That "It never ends" note that the film ends on is especially chilling considering that *it never did*. With the possible exception of a brief window in the 90s, Russia has without respite continued to be grabbed for power by one snake after another, all the way up to Putin himself.

[@1998Cebola]

@@Pobeda-Budet-Za-Nami get payed good at the troll farm? Beat any gay people up lately? Maybe asked the political opposition about their "freedom"? Looked at the status of the russian economy? Neoliberalism is shit, I agree, but Putin and his likes are definetly not a better alternative.

[@AaronHatcher]

@@Pobeda-Budet-Za-Nami that is a insane way to think about that. How did the west allow yall to be able to set up a democracy but at the same time mad yall become a authoritarian dictatorship again? Yall let the wrong person get the power. Take his fucking power from him now cuz yall are the only ones that can do it now. And right now he's weak. Strike while the animal is wounded. It's the perfect time for yall to organize an stand in unity and March on the Kremlin and take his ass out of the seat of power along with all the oligarchs who are all hoarding theory they steal from you every single day. Then have a real and fair election and pick the right person (do NOT pick a Russian nationalist candidate though that's exactly what putin was and it would end up the exact same.

[@nikolaicccp3972]

Soviet Union would've been greatest economic powerhouse if it wasn't for the USA strategically destroying and murdering all of the Soviet Unions allied nations and their people all because USA wasnt making money from those allied countries labor.

[@MagusMirificus]

@@nikolaicccp3972 Comrade, I'm an anarchist. You don't want to do this here.

[@goldboy150]

There are degrees though - it’s difficult in a society not accustomed to liberal democracy to move from a single man centralising power to anything resembling western democracy. So while I agree with your “it never ended” notion, I think it’s important to recognise, for example, Khrushchev and Gorbachev for making steps in a better direction. Basically, the reformers deserve their recognition even if they didn’t force permanent change.

[@spencerhanni6984]

The reason Beria had roses in all the scenes where young girls were present was that he would kidnap young girls and obviously do horrible things. When released, accepting the rose meant it was mutual (obviously not) but refusing it basically meant you were taken away and killed or sent to a gulag. Also, the real Marshal Zuhkov had way more medals in real life but the director thought the audience would think it was unreasonable so he toned it down haha

[@grontelp77]

Stalin's daughter actually immigrated to the U.S. after his death in real life. She lived the rest of her life here in relative obscurity.

[@metetural9140]

And Stalin's granddaughter is an Antiquarian living in Portland iirc

[@VsevolodSidorenko]

Yep and her grandchildren live in US now

[@saagabragi6938]

She got a lot of money at one point, a memoir i think, but then people lost interest. She changed her name at some point. I saw a documentary on Netflix(?) where Svetlana's daughter or granddaughter was interviewed, but she stayed anonymous.

[@tigqc]

Jason Isaacs stole the show for me lol. Wish they had given him more scenes.

[@slowerthinker]

They certainly shouldn't have cut out any of the extra lines he had: "urgh where did you get that [vodka] from? A Polish flamethrower? "

[@JamesVSCinema]

Hahaha the performances were really damn great

[@streaky81]

Jason Isaacs is such a legend, I wasn't really aware of him until The OA, but he's such a talent. He was also amazing in Discovery.

[@schmuck.on.wheels]

Honestly one of the most underrated Harry Potter cast members too, such a legend

[@lavrentivs9891]

@@schmuck.on.wheelsThe almost constant bad guy in everything from Harry Potter to the Patriot to the old Highlander TV-series =P

[@matrixv01]

Completely underrated film. So glad to see this here.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Happy to have it here too!

[@matrixv01]

@@JamesVSCinema awesome reaction. The way it handles the balance between dark comedy and seriousness of the history is masterful. Nice comparison between the vibe of this and The Favourite. I totally agree with you about Olga Kurylenko. She's a real presence. She was kind of blowing up in the mid 2000s being a Bond girl in 'Quantum of Solace', Natasha in the Mark Wahlberg "Max Payne" movie, in the first Hitman movie, in the Tom Cruise movie 'Oblivion'. She stars in a new French Netflix movie called "Sentinelle" .

[@corvus4350]

Beria truly was as much of a monster as the film makes him out to be, probably even more so in real life. Stalin did not want his daughter anywhere near the man. There was actually an incident where Stalin realized that his daughter Svetlana was alone with Beria in his house. Stalin freaked out and ordered an NKVD kill squad to Beria's house to collect Svetlana with the orders to shoot Beria if he so much as looked like he had laid a hand on her. Beria of course knew how bad for his health messing with Stalin's daughter would be so he kept his hands to himself. It is theorized by some historians that Beria himself was behind Stalin's death, using his vast spy network to poison him. When Stalin died Beria supposedly began to bad mouth him immediately and spat on the corpse. In the end, Beria died crying demanding his rights, and was gagged, a fate just like the ones he dished out to many of the regular populace.

[@BlackbirdSJ]

Yes!!! This movie is honestly one of the most disturbing I've ever watched because the real events were just as messed up but minus the comedy

[@JamesVSCinema]

Exactly!

[@zombiesingularity]

"real" events

[@jayclean5653]

@@zombiesingularity ?

[@zombiesingularity]

@@jayclean5653 The movie isn't exactly historically accurate.

[@christucker7655]

@@zombiesingularity its somewhat accurate in many ways

[@brettcraigie6976]

i feel like philip seymour hoffman would have been in this movie, were he still alive in 2017. RIP the god

[@JamesVSCinema]

That would’ve been perfect wow.

[@PeterEvansPeteTakesPictures]

To be fair to Kruschev, he was basically the first Soviet leader to not kill his rivals and just demote them. Er, as far as I'm aware anyway. Beria was indeed a monster, a sadist responsible for the deaths of millions. Ironically he wanted to avert a Cold War with the US and planned on easing tensions upon gaining power. The others were right to move to get rid of him, had they not they would have been picked off one by one. It was a time of genuine madness. If you were in charge of the department of postage stamps you'd have to denounce and sign death warrants because the best way to perpetuate such a system with all its terror was by ensuring that you were complicit in it. Everybody had to bloody their hands to a degree in a position of power, or you'd be labelled a counter-revolutionary and killed yourself. The only thing I think that didn't happen was the execution of the staff of Stalin's manor out in the country - or dacha. This may have been put in to reinforce to the viewer the murderous habits of the system, but I don't think that particular killing happened. Anyway, tremendous film. Buscemi kills it and it's a lot of fun to see Paul Whitehouse as the 'wideboy' aparatchik as well. Oh and yes, Zhukov was pretty much a bad-ass. He's the one who conquered Berlin. As much as it's fashionable to say that power corrupts yadda yadda nothing in democracy even remotely compares to the surreal Terror of the Soviet system under Stalin.And now I'm trying to imagine the period coming of age children's story Little Women as a murderous backstabbing court-intrigue retelling. Excellent. Laters!

[@JamesVSCinema]

Hahaha that last line gave me a good laugh haha

[@PeterEvansPeteTakesPictures]

@Krister L Not denying that. If I had to list everything it'd be a Wikipedia article. His farms collectivisation policy led to the deaths of many.

[@Ailurophile1984]

#NotRealCommunists /s

[@lavrentivs9891]

Should add that Zhukov was one of the two generals who conquered Berlin, Konev was the other and both their fronts combined conquered Berlin. Zhukov became the most famous soviet general though, so tends to get all the credit for any victories he was involved in (even if he was subordinate someone else, such as Rokossovsky, or working with several fronts, like with Konev). I think this film has solidified that position and made him something of a meme too =)

[@saagabragi6938]

​@@JamesVSCinema I'd pay to see that

[@MadBoyChes]

So Zhukov was actually on Stalin's kill list but he could never go through with it because pretty much the entire army would not stand his death and more than likely try to overthrow him if he actually had him killed also Beria was such a monster Stalin straight up refused to have him alone for any reason with his daughter

[@lawrencegillies]

Armando Iannucci said in an interview that they toned down the absurdity from real life as no one would believe it. You can see an example of this in Zhukov's medals - in real life he wore many, many more than he does in the movie.

[@karlmortoniv2951]

Yeah, and I think the guy who ended up conducting the re-recording in real life was the THIRD guy they tried rather than the second. That incident didn’t happen the night Stalin died, but it did happen.

[@saagabragi6938]

No, the medals were because the actor's chest wasn't as wide as the real Zhukov's - there was no space

[@twohorsesinamancostume7606]

Field Marshal Zhukov was an absolute badass and totally deserved that entrance. He oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories during WWII. Battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kurks and Berlin were all his.

[@mattg6574]

Simon Russell Beale steals the show for me. His portrayal of Beria was so spot on and terrifying.

[@richieclean]

Paddy Considine in the opening scene is fantastic, and hilarious. A world away from his frightening performance in Dead Man's Shoes, which you must watch at some point.

[@ComradeCommissarYuri]

Ah yeah dead mans shoes

[@scd3987]

Hes terrifying in dead mans shoes.

[@tornoutlaw]

Funny, when I saw Olga Kurylenko in this, I had the same reaction: Didn't recognize her, but was stunned!

[@JamesVSCinema]

she’s like..way too damn beautiful.

[@kildogery]

@@JamesVSCinema Bond girl in quantum of solace.

[@eldeano9964]

Check her out in hitman

[@jackbylsma1816]

My 2 favorite movies with her are oblivion and the November man

[@tombaxter6228]

Great choice, James. The craziest thing about this film, is actually how accurate it actually is. The film compresses the timescale greatly. Beria was actually denounced and arrested some months after Stalin's death, and interrogated for some time after that, before his execution. If anything, the film plays down, just how terrifying a person he was. It's a period of history, that I'm darkly fascinated with, and this film does it justice, I feel.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Hey thanks Tom!!

[@NiteOfTheWorld]

Did anyone else notice the pun at the end when Steve Buscemi says "I will bury you (bury ya/Beria) in history." It's almost like a pun that's not supposed to be a pun because the humor of the film at that moment (when Beria is shot) has completely drained away and all we're left with is the dark, ugly aftermath.

[@JamesVSCinema]

That scene was oddly grim haha

[@kevinbaconwasntinfootloose1742]

That was the funniest part though.

[@brandonlyon730]

The original, “We will bury you” quote was actually somewhat mistranslated. The original meaning of the line was that U.S/capitalism will eventually die out on its own while the Union lives on to witness it, like going to a relatives funeral as you watch the body being buried and after that's done you move on with your life. Course ironically the exact opposite happened in 1991.

[@TheArkTheArkTheArk]

To expand “We will bury you” is a famous Khrushchev quote from a speech he gave in front of the UN. Buscemi’s line was not meant to be a bury ya/Beria pun, but a reference to one of the real life political figure’s most famous quotes.

[@TheM16NdPregnant]

Field Marshal Zhukov was by all definition, a badass. He was a war hero in WWI and WW2. He was one of the only few that legitimately had the best interests of the Soviet people at heart.

[@cassu6]

Yeah I think he is the only not bad person in the main cast.

[@lavrentivs9891]

He was a ruthless leader though and responsible for the bloodiest battle of the eastern front, the Rzhev 'meat grinder'. So his humanitarian side is greatly exagerated.

[@scottlette]

“I think something dark just happened there.” - A concise History of the Soviet Union; 1918 - 1989. “Wealth inequality now is greater than during the Gilded Age.” - Chris Hedges.

[@choomah]

"... Look at your fuckin' face!" hahaha gets me Every. Single. Time. Jason and Steve absolutely killed it in these roles, everyone in this film did.

[@HarborLockRoad]

Exactly. Id love for this cast to parody all the american presidential administrations from roosevelt to biden in successive movies. I can only imagine ford, the bushes, carter....

[@CTNZ2000]

Jason Isaacs as a Yorkshire Zhukov was absolutely hilarious.

[@tristanhandley1622]

The actress is Olga Kurylenko, and you're right about her screen presence. You should watch Quantum of Solace or Oblivion for great watches with her in them.

[@minsapint8007]

She co-stars again with Angela Riseborough in Oblivion.

[@idhunepijl2398]

The irony is so beautiful. His paranoia and strategy of "being feared is better than being loved" is what ultimately killed him. PS Shoutout to the Blazing Sandals. Love that band.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Lmfaooooo

[@idhunepijl2398]

@@JamesVSCinema Oh btw the girl was in Oblivion with Tom Cruis I think.

[@JellothePallascat]

I love the fact of the accents as the Soviet Union was a large place of many different regions with their own accents from around Russia and it’s satellites (Stalin came from Georgia and had a thick peasant accent hence his why they went with what they chose for him) and that letting actors use their own accent I think can better represent this fact then generic shitty Russian accent. It’s also one of my favourite historical flicks as the biggest in-factual parts that where not for “Hollywood” where for moments that the producers thought would be to ridiculous for audiences to take seriously. So they toned it down for them. Edit: Baria would give the young girls he raped a bouquet of flowers to the family afterwards. As if they took it with them it made it “Consensual” if you didn’t well there was always more room for the lists…. And Zhoukov “won” the WW2 for the Red Army. And he was such a chad, he had Eisenhower set up a deal with Coke Cola to smuggle in crystal clear Coke disguised as Vodka behind Stalin’s back

[@adamwarlock1]

Yes, I've loved films that just let people have their own accents ever since Amadeus and Last Temptation Of Christ.

[@theemperormoth5089]

I am half-Russian and my dad defected from the Soviet Union practically just before it fell, and I was raised on C&C Red Alert. When I asked why no one had any accents my dad pretty much said "Well, they're not actually speaking Russian" and it just completely wiped away an entire lifetime of funny Russian accents. Now I think Death of Stalin's approach should be more mainstream, especially for serious works.

[@JellothePallascat]

​@@theemperormoth5089 Absolutely Right!! silly fake accents have there time and place. I hope in other cases as well too. Not just Russian. Focus the Legitimacy on other areas then accents if they don't hold any key part of the story.

[@brandonlyon730]

@AB Wasn’t Pepsi a big thing in late Soviet times? One of the few things that was sold from the West to the Union.

[@davidwright7193]

The women who didn’t take the flowers ended up in his flower beds.

[@taylordinney1484]

I love the scene when Vasily fights the guard for his gun and everyone just stands around waiting for him to lose the struggle since hes Stalin's fuck up son.

[@ericmarley7060]

As the great Russian writer and prison camp survivor Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: *"I suppose, if you live in a graveyard, you can't weep for everyone."* Black comedy is necessary to explain the horrors of the Soviet Union, from Lenin to Gorbachev.

[@deanprowell7947]

Fun fact about Zhukov, *he had more medals*

[@SpiderandMosquito]

The one moment in this movie that made me laugh out loud like as in not just out loud but like actually caved in ribs laughing... was when Stalin's kid comes in with the gun and then there's a pitiful struggle with him as it's wrestled out of his hands and everyone just stands their idly watching at best looking mildly embarrassed. I don't know why but that is like just so fucking funny to me just there was no music no tension no ambience to the scene the like I don't know it's just Stalin's son is about to go postal on the other politicians and just the lack of any seriousness or threat in the moment. It's like watching a badly performed bit of middle school stage combat it's so awkward the struggle they had. And again nobody jumps in they just let it happen XD

[@JamesVSCinema]

That was done so perfectly xD

[@dmtry9359]

The craziest thing about this movie is how historically aqurate it is. There are a few cinematic licences taken but in general this is pretty much how it all went down.

[@YorkshireLen]

The reality of the regime starts off-camera, then moves to the edge of frame, before ending front & centre. You laugh a lot, then question why you're laughing at all. The director, Armando Iannucci, is probably the most respected man working in British comedy today. His track record over the last 30 years is truly impressive. Incidentally, one of the writing team, Ian Martin, has worked with Iannucci for years and was initially employed because of his ability to think up inventive insults, some of which you enjoyed during your reaction.

[@GremlinHunter]

I know I'm a year overdue for this comment but Zhukov was the ONLY commander for the most part to not get purged during the interwar purging by Stalin. Not to mention he ran the entire Red Army through the "Great Patriotic War" (WW2's name in Russia) and was the only man Stalin actively FEARED. So...its an understatement to say he was a badass and could get away with whatever he felt like lol.

[@slowerthinker]

For a *dark* comedy set during the cold war, then you want to see _Dr Strangelove: Or How I yadda yadda yadda_ . Comedy doesn't get much darker than a nuclear WW3, and film doesn't get much better than Stanley Kubrick.

[@rollingstoneworks3183]

Oh, yes…oh, please, yes…

[@keeperofthecheese]

I was surprised by how great Michael Palins acting was in this film. I mean hes an old fella now, not in films very often, but he actually outshines most of the actors in the film in just a few lines.

[@Ale-mv3gr]

That last scene with Brezhen eyeing Kruschev is simply magnificent.

[@ollihro82]

in reality zhukov had even more medals but the director decided to cut the number down or people wouldnt believe it.

[@JH-lo9ut]

Shoutout to Andrea Riseborough who plays Svetlana. She is absolutely amazing in her performance. The range of emotions she can express in a single scene...

[@ballache5171]

"you're not a person , you're a testicle" God damn I love language. Also, t-shirt.

[@andtheneverythingchangedwh5234]

If you like dark comedies you might like "Gross Pointe Blank" 1997. Admittedly it's not nearly as dark as this, but still a fantastic film

[@russzolti6825]

Maybe the best John Cusack film.

[@vioozie]

He actually died like that. From a stroke, in a puddle of his own piss. Karma gets everyone. Also that "I'll make it up to you, fetch the mattress, get her washed" line refers to Beria being a sexual predator, which they mention during the "trial". Occasionally he would ask to fetch some random girl for him from the streets while driving around the city.

[@scriptos9698]

Unfortunately, the really dark stuff that the movie portrays Beria doing are true to life, he had hundreds of victims from what we know of and many were killed after he'd used them.

[@OaktownPirate510]

True fact: the REAL Marshal Zukhov had EVEN MORE MEDALS on his coat than Jason Isaacs wore on his costume. They had to dial it back for the movie because they thought the real thing would be too unbelievable.

[@lawrencegough]

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" (Acton). So no. No one should ever have that much power. I could write a lot, as my degrees are on Soviet history, and I've lived in the former Soviet Union. But I'll limit it to saying this is one of my favourite films. And I wholeheartedly appreciate all your Olga Kurylenko love! You're so right.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Hahaha she’s so beautiful!

[@lalitthapa101]

True. Thats why in a modern democracy the judiciary does the job of keeping the people in power in check. But once the judiciary is corrupted,then the entire system falls to one man rule.

[@louisc.gasper7588]

Let's get it right: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

[@toddkindron8506]

Stalin quote is: "the death of one person is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic". Careful who you relate with. But I hope we are all cool. Peace.

[@ecusss]

Film got banned in Russia, cus commies were malding. Watched it anyways with my friends, and it was hilarious, especially if you somewhat know the history

[@JamesVSCinema]

Hahaha perfect example to why this film is great

[@Mocsk]

It was banned in Russia because it's not just historically inaccurate, but it mocks and makes fun of the most tragic part of Russian history. Satire is one thing, but this alternative history steaming pile of ideological garbage is simply insulting. That's why it's banned. Modern Russia is quite strongly anti-communist, so "commies" have nothing to do with it.

[@deathtoraiden2080]

@@Mocsk Settle down Vladimir

[@KSEOUT]

@@Mocsk "Modern Russian dictator bans movie making fun of Old Russian dictator"

[@elenavorobeva6747]

@@KSEOUT you absolutely right

[@Rob_Fordd]

You have to understand that to many, many Russians at the time, Stalin was genuinely loved, not just feared. There were still many alive who remembered life under the Czar, when things were even worse, when they were literal peasants. Stalin had been a major player in the revolution and the Russian civil war fighting Monarchists trying to take back power with aid and literal armies from the US, Britain, and others. And they had all lived through a war under him (which claimed the life of one of his sons) against Nazis literally bent on their extermination (Himmler casually estimated 30 MILLION people would be killed in the east for Generalplan Ost on top of the 25 million killed in the war, with the survivors becoming chattel slaves on plantations to feed the Third Reich). There was good reason many saw Stalin as a rock, misguided as that was in many ways.

[@IMOReviews]

I love how hilarious this film is and how accurate it is at the same time 👌 The chemistry between the cast is electric and really makes the witty dialogue jump out at you 🙌

[@JamesVSCinema]

They blend the line really well with the screen writing and smart cinematography

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

Jason Isaacs is the only actor who puts on an accent for the movie.

[@brettcoster4781]

Glad you liked this movie (and Olga Kurylenko, who's in your next movie reaction/review, Oblivion). As others have said, its history is basically accurate for a movie although on a condensed timescale, and has plenty of humourous parts that immediately bite back -- hard. Keep up the great work, I'm enjoying your journey through all these movies.

[@durzoblint6532]

History buff here and in regards to this bit here ( 16:15 ) all of those medal, unlike other leaders of dictatorships, are all well earned. If there was anyone you could call a true honest to god hero in the Soviet Union, it was him. Being the lead general who led the red army on the push to Germany, even taking part personally in several battles, he earned every medal on his uniform. In fact, the film had to cut down on how many medals were on him cause in reality, there were so many that people wouldn't have believed it. Also as shown later, he had a personal hatred towards how the nation he bled for was run to the point where kruschev suggested the Coup, he more or less took personal charge of the whole affair.

[@Martin-rh6bn]

There are at least 3 minutes of him just simping over her lmao 🤣

[@JamesVSCinema]

I’d gladly go for 30 😭

[@Martin-rh6bn]

@@JamesVSCinema lmao understandable mate,great reaction and thoughts as always, was very fun to watch

[@sesfilmsllc]

Stalin alledgedly Refered to Beria as “My Himmler” for how ruthless he was with prisoners and “enemies of the state.”

[@jcraigie]

James commented that people "respected" Stalin out of fear. While there was definitely a lot of that, especially in the upper echelons of society, many genuinely appreciated Stalin because he improved their lives so much. Going from serf like poverty to having an apartment and some stability will do that.

[@Doodsrsly]

When Buscemi tried to switch positions during the funeral, I was howling.

[@jackmclean7792]

I imagine you get an insane amount of recommendations, but I need to see you react to The Leftovers. One of HBO’s best and most overlooked series, and one of my favourites alongside Dark

[@thebag1981]

This film perfectly captures the madness of a regime where doing the wrong thing will get you killed, but no one knows what the right thing is.

[@GhostEye31]

Always found the funniest thing about Jason Isaacs is that they actually toned down the amount of medals that he wore.

[@freebornjohn2687]

It didn't go down well in Russia, Putin is a Stalin fan and doesn't like criticism of the Soviet Union / Stalin. The film had a great script and outstanding acting. It was made for adults which makes a change as a lot of films are aimed at adolescents. Simon Russell Beale who played Beria is an exceptional actor - I saw him in The Lehman Trilogy. I think it was the best live performance I have ever seen. Sadly, the play has had its final performance.

[@brandonb.5304]

No one should have singular power like Stalin did, good or bad. That's way too much influence for a single person. Doesn't matter how horrible or pure the person's intentions are, it's dangerous to give a single figure that much control over a government and its people. As the famous quote goes: ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."

[@JamesVSCinema]

Great answer Brandon!

[@timjones9952]

You've GOT to check out In the Loop

[@ahlishaholloway233]

Please do! No one has ever reacted to In the Loop, and it's one of the best political satires ever made

[@nocturnalcove9736]

Then he needs to do all of Season 3 and 4 of The Thick of It. Season 1 and 2 haven't aged well compared to the later seasons!

[@SSgtJ0hns0n]

More people need to watch and react to this movie. It's so hilariously dark yet true to the spirit of the historical context about the power struggle that occured in the wake of Stalin's (well deserved) passing. On the topic on Zhukov and why he can get away with so much, he was one of Russia's most formidable generals who had the honor of helping push Germany back from Moscow to Berlin; even Stalin couldn't really touch him. He did get demoted fir a bit, but then rose back up the ranks shortly after Stalin's death. And yes, there were A LOT more medals on his chest IRL then what we saw in the film.

[@Ken-ij4ry]

I didn't know a movie could be this hilarious and deeply horrifying at the same time. Could you watch THX 1138?

[@mickeyrube6623]

I suggest that fans of this channel be called Blazing Sandals.

[@GKinslayer]

Man James opening up "The Death of Stalin" - I was looking for something dark, but then I see it's a comedy. Oh you are in for a surprise....

[@BenShares]

This movie is amazing! Checkout Armando’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield”. One of the best films in the last few years for sure!

[@nickwhiteside4035]

Yes! Just a joyous film.

[@ayubnor0]

Could you react to Phantom Thread?

[@jabariweathers309]

I second, third, fourth and fifth this into oblivion.

[@bgdancer100]

The crazy thing about this movie is that they TONED DOWN how bad Beria was. Armando Ianucci thought that if they showed just how cartoonishly evil he was, no one would think it was real. Also, Zhukov really was that big a badass. Those medals he wears in his intro? THAT'S NOT ALL THE MEDALS HE WAS ENTITLED TO WEAR.

[@Valp85]

Ah sweet. This movie is so good! (Hello to Jason Isaacs!)

[@idleyorkshireman3962]

A fellow Kermode and Mayo fan!

[@Valp85]

We are indeed everywhere!

[@saagabragi6938]

Everybody's claiming that the movie Zhukov doesn't have all his medald because _"the director thought the audience would find it unrealistic"_ are lying. The real reason was that the actor's chest and shoulders aren't as broad as the real Zhukov's were, so there was no space.

[@saagabragi6938]

In real life Beria openly gloated over Stalin's body and claimed to have killed him, but most propably he didn't. Every involved person's story about how Stalin died varies beyond the stroke and piss details.

[@saagabragi6938]

Also they left Stalin lying for hours, still alive, because nobody wanted to do anything and doctors were too scared he'd kill them if they couldn't heal him perfectly

[@harrywhittingham7753]

One of the most intelligently written comedies ever with a stellar cast to execute and interpret the script.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Agreed!

[@dylanbollinger6872]

Olga is beyond gorgeous. She has been a Bond girl once for DC

[@dansmart3182]

Every high ranking member was caused a lot of death, but Lavrentiy Beria was truly a fucking monster. They found a bunch of unmarked graves when his house was renovated to be used as an embassy.

[@LuminalSpoon]

You have to watch The Thick of It. Ianucci's best work.

[@luke33luke]

16:23 Marshall Zhukov was a BADASS. He survived the civil war, he survived Stalin's purges, he defeated the Nazis, and he defeated Beria. BADASS XXL

[@ethanperreault7470]

Great Soundtrack as well. The funeral for Stalin plays Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, 4th Movement. Its known with some controversy as Tchaikovsky's "Suicide Note." After the premiere of the symphony, he died 9 days later in 1893.

[@marmaladevenus3230]

man i just watched this for the first time myself recently and freakin loved it. Probably the best political comedy around.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Great way for educating history honestly hahaha comedy is king with that

[@cascade1873]

That woman is Olga Kurilenko

[@motionpictures6629]

Beria was probably one of the top 10 worst human beings in history.

[@motionpictures6629]

@Krister L Kruschev is my favourit sowjet of all times.... Just listen to his talks with nixon. He won Stalingrad and he ended stalis terror regim.

[@motionpictures6629]

@Krister L i know that he was ukrainien but he wasnt in power in the 1930s, he was still in school in the beginning of the 1930s and spend most of the decade in moskau building the subway system. Stalin was a evil bastard for his Holodomor. i like Kruschews reasoning for beeing the greates russian leader of all times; he was the only one that survived leading russia....

[@ChappieCrosby]

To answer your question James, absolutely not.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Thanks for answering!

[@Chiggins_]

If you loved this, you definitely need to watch the writer's TV show The Thick Of It, and its film version In The Loop that was made halfway through the series.

[@EzioHanitore]

The best thing about this movie is that despite it being a comedy and having a couple of liberties taken with the timeline, it's pretty damn accurate to the actual historical events

[@Knowingspy]

Apparently they had to TONE DOWN the amount of medals Jason Isaac's character wore because they thought the audience wouldn't believe the realistic number. By far my favourite character in the film.

[@Protoman85]

"You're Moscow's finest and nearest conductor"

[@ЕгорПещерский]

Hey James. Guy from putlerland here. Watched the movie, laughed my arse of it. But here's the point. Me and me' dad watched together two movies this year, first is "Fall of Berlin" from 1940's, made by Stalin's order and cringe as heck. Even my dad called it a propaganda and he's born and raised in USSR. And slept through half of that movie because it was crap despite everything was crashing and blowing up, only Hitler and his cronies were actually fun to watch there. The second movie we watched is "Death of Stalin". My dad, a soviet man, said he didn't liked it. But *he watched it whole* . Cheers.

[@CC-8891]

Olga Kurylenko is one of my alltime crushes. She's ridiculously gorgeous. Absolute perfection. She's Ukrainian too so I'm sure this movie hit her more than the other British or US actors.

[@jinchoung]

zhukov was the guy that was largely responsible for beating hitler out of the soviet union and then chasing the wehrmacht back to germany so yeah, he has a LOT of cache. olga kurylenko - she's in that tom cruise sci fi movie and also a quantum of solace. yes. she's beautiful.

[@mikkosimonen]

I don't believe in the saying "power corrupts." I think rather that power reveals. So some paragon of virtue might have absolute power and it could be fine. But I'd rather not take that chance. I'd rather no one have power over others because after the revelation it might be too late to do anything about it.

[@DJhinckley]

Where to start? First a vastly underrated film mainly due to many people not watching it in the first place due to it's title and not realising it's actually a very dark comedy. It obviously dramatises and satires the actual events of Stalins death and the struggle for power in the Politburo following that. The cast is superb with US giants Steve Buscemi and Jeffey Tambor alongside UK comedy greats of Michael Palin (a Python!) and Paul Whitehouse (probably not well known in the US but massive in the UK), and excellent UK character actors in Jason Isaacs and Simon Beale. The lass you was perving over is Olga Kurylenko and 'Svetlana' was played by Andrea Riseborough, who both interestingly acted side by side in Tom Hanks 2013 film Oblivion. Obviously Isaacs steals the film with his lines which sound so much better when delivered in the Yorkshire accent (he's actually from Merseyside but doesn't really speak with a scouse accent anymore) and even though you know they're coming every time I watch this film, still has me rolling around. Interesting filming fact the amount of medals Isaacs wore on his chest were actually reduced from what Zhukov actually wore as it would look too ridiculous.

[@REVAN2338]

This movie totally gets the vibe of stalin era Soviet life. Look up Cannibal island/ The Nazino Tragedy if you don't want to sleep for a night.