Review: _The Death of Stalin:_ Brutal, irreverent, and funny

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I love a good, dark comedy. Especially when it's well done and based in fact. For some time I've been wanting to view this one and I was delighted when I spotted The Death of Stalin on the television in all of its uncut glory. Set in the dire days of 1953, Comrade Stalin has Russia in his iron grip, a land that is perpetually bleak and afraid. Late one night, Stalin receives a note tucked into a recording, and evidently it's enough to send him keeling over. Quickly enough, the coterie of men who run the country are swarming over the dacha, as Stalin lingers between life and death. Chief among them is Beria (Simon Russell Beale), head of the NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB, and utterly ruthless. Beria knows where all of the bodies are buried, literally, and he knows that he's going to have to neutralize or remove the others. First among them is Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), the evident successor, who is turning into a twittering idiot as reality sets in, and Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), a high-strung nervous sort, and Molotov (Michael Palin), who has plenty of brains, but has been in semi-exile. Let's just say that the bumbling about has started, as everyone is trying to grasp for power and stay alive. There is the obligatory laying in state, with bunting and drapes of red, people gathering to pay their respects, and who is really in charge a very uncertain prospect... Adapted from a comic book, this is a hoot to watch, with a serious levening of history tossed in for fun. The cast is outstanding, with Buscemi stealing nearly every scene he's in, with the exception of Jason Isaacs as the bold, outrageous General Zhukov, who strides heroically and without any filter on his speech. Directed by Armando Iannucci, this has great timing, art direction and a sharp script. What really surprised me was that this was filmed on location in Moscow, Kiev, and various locales in England. Watch this for the performances, plenty of mordant humour and great fun. I intend to add a copy of this to my collection of blu-rays. I give this one five of five stars, and so far, it's the best film that I have watched this year.