History Film / TheDeathOfStalin

* UndignifiedDeath: Stalin is forced to lie for hours on his office floor, soaked in his own piss, while his sycophants care more about saving their own skin.

** Played straight in the scene where an NKVD officer brings over a little girl for Malenkov's photo op, who then has to awkwardly stand there as the Presidium shouts and insults each other. When Malenkov says "All of you can kiss my Russian ass", the officer is seen covering her eyes in the background.
** A minor example occurs when Vasily tells his crazy conspiracy theories to foreign diplomats, and then Khrushchev and Beria enters the room and the former tells the foreign interpreter not to translate any of Vasily's incoherent ramblings.

* IncomingHam: Zhukov's arrival is marked with a bellowed "Right, what's a war hero got to do to get some ''lubrication'' around here?" This is followed by an epic slo-mo TheCoatsAreOff. Also when he bursts into the Presidium meeting wielding a rifle and threatening to shoot anyone who moves in the "fuckin' face".

* LiteralAssKissing: Malenkov tells the Presidum members to kiss his Russian ass.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: At Stalin's state funeral, Vasily tries to have a speech about how his father was a father bear to the Soviet Union's 15 republics. However, he's drowned out by the air show partway through, so he awkwardly stops, though if he had kept going and yelled through the performance, it would've been a pretty badass show of power.

* OminousAdversarialAmusement: The movie closes on a small smirk aimed at an oblivious Khrushchev by [[UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev a certain opera attendee]].

* OverlyLongGag: A drunken and enraged Vasily attempts to grab his escort's sidearm, but fails, and spends several minutes struggling weakly with his escort while everybody else stands around looking awkward.

* PottyFailure: Khrushchev entertains the group by sharing a story about Stalingrad, where a kid told them that if you stick someone's finger in a glass of water while they sleep, they wet themselves.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Of the charges against Beria, special attention is given to the charges of serial rape, much to the absolute disgust and anger of everyone there. Even Beria, who was [[DefiantToTheEnd spitting vitriol]] through all the other charges, doesn't have much of an answer to those accusations. While Beria was indeed a serial rapist, this was not actually one of the charges he was convicted of.

* KarmicDeath: Stalin had a fatal stroke in his bed chamber with everyone too scared to enter it to find out why he was late getting up until it was far too late for him to survive with any medical intervention, meaning the murderous dictator spent his last hours likely lying in his own urine in agony and in helpless despair before he died; the closest thing to a worthy fate for all his deeds as any of his enemies were going to get.

* EverybodySmokes: Almost entirely averted. The most notable exception, aside from Stalin smoking his famous pipe (a lifelong habit which would be the the real-life cause of his stroke, as heavy tobacco use had led him to develop atherosclerosis), is when Zhukov lights up after he lights up Beria.[[labelnote:context]]Although the early history of the Soviet Union was rife with anti-tobacco sentiment - Lenin thought it was decadent and looked stupid, and health officials decried it as "poison wrapped in paper". By the 1930's the USSR had developed a cigarette culture not dissimilar to America's, just [[{{Pun}} filtered]] through a lens of state propaganda rather than a commercial one; as the reasoning went, a worker who had time to enjoy the luxury of a cigarette was a worker who was treated well (and thus a more productive one), so smoke breaks became an almost mandatory social ritual.[[/labelnote]]

* EverybodySmokes: Almost entirely averted. The most notable exception, aside from Stalin smoking his famous pipe (a lifelong habit which would be the the real-life cause of his stroke, as heavy tobacco use had led him to develop atherosclerosis), is when Zhukov lights up after he lights up Beria.[[labelnote:context]]Although the early history of the Soviet Union was rife with anti-tobacco sentiment - Lenin thought it was decadent and looked stupid, and health officials decried it as "poison wrapped in paper". By the 1930's the USSR had developed a cigarette culture not dissimilar to America's, just [[IncrediblyLamePun filtered]] through a lens of state propaganda rather than a commercial one; as the reasoning went, a worker who had time to enjoy the luxury of a cigarette was a worker who was treated well (and thus a more productive one), so smoke breaks became an almost mandatory social ritual.[[/labelnote]]

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: At Stalin's state funeral, Vasily tries to have a speech about how his father was a father bear to the Soviet Union's 15 republics. However, he's drowned out by the air show partway through so he awkwardly stops, though if he had kept going and yelled through the performance, it would've been a pretty badass show of power.

* CapeSwish[=/=]TheCoatsAreOff: General Zhukov, the last major character introduced in the film, appears about halfway through, ostentatiously throwing off his greatcoat in a SlowMotion shot accompanied by a crescendo of dramatic music.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey / ALighterShadeOfBlack: While Khrushchev and basically everyone ''except'' for Beria are still tyrannical power-grubbing jerks who cynically want reforms after the man who wouldn't allow them is dead, they ''genuinely'' believe in the reforms - and they're not sadistic rapists like Beria. Notable during Beria's trial and execution -- Khrushchev and everyone [[TooDumbToFool but Malenkov]] are ''furious'' when Khrushchev announces evidence of Beria having raped hundreds of children. In any case, it should be pointed out that as per real life, most of the central committee members in the film are still Stalinists, but merely lacked his will to carry out purges in the name of pragmatism or power. Khrushchev was a full-on reformist, but still an authoritarian. Mikoyan, by contrast, went with whoever was clearly in power. Zhukov, however, is pretty much the TokenGoodTeammate of Khrushchev's crew, having not that much baggage on him aside from a few personality quirks and questionable actions in the war.

Also appearing in the film are Andrea Riseborough as Stalin's daughter Svetlana, Rupert Friend as his son Vasily, Creator/OlgaKurylenko as a pianist with a grudge against the dictator, Creator/PaddyConsidine as the director of Radio Moscow, and Creator/JasonIsaacs as Georgy Zhukov, Stalin's most victorious general and the man who [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII took Berlin]].

UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}}, 1953. UsefulNotes/JosefStalin has ruled the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] with an iron fist for three decades. The people live in constant fear of his state apparatus, which routinely arrests them in the middle of the night. His minions are [[ProfessionalButtKisser ass-kissers]] out to save their own skin, turning against anyone they need to in order to survive. [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath And then,]] he dies. In the aftermath, a power vacuum opens up and the remaining members of the Presidium (the governing body) aggressively manipulate, backstab, and plot against each other to figure out the SuccessionCrisis. This includes:

* ActorAllusion: Molotov says climbing the stairs of the Hall of Columns is like [[Creator/MichaelPalin climbing]] [[Creator/MontyPython Kilimanjaro]].

* SarcasmBlind: When Vasily announces that he wants to make a speech at his father's funeral, Khrushchev sarcastically responds, "And I want to fuck Creator/GraceKelly." Vasily fails to recognize the subtext, and responds that he's not interested in Khrushchev's fantasies.

** Lydia Timashuk, the main informant behind the Doctors' Plot, appears briefly in the graphic novel, when Beria orders her to assemble a list of "reliable" doctors who can be called to treat Stalin after his stroke. When she demurs, he reminds her that he knows full well that she [[TheStarscream ratted out her perfectly innocent superiors]] for not giving her a promotion, and he can "re-examine" the merits of her "evidence" at any time. Timashuk neither appears in the film nor is she mentioned.

* Lydia Timashuk, the main informant behind the Doctors' Plot, appears briefly in the graphic novel, when Beria orders her to assemble a list of "reliable" doctors who can be called to treat Stalin after his stroke. When she demurs, he reminds her that he knows full well that she [[TheStarscream ratted out her perfectly innocent superiors]] for not giving her a promotion, and he can "re-examine" the merits of her "evidence" at any time. Timashuk neither appears in the film nor is she mentioned.

* PetTheDog: Molotov is reunited with his wife after thinking she'd been executed.

** Everyone's reaction to Stalin's death, especially Bulganin who forsees the ensuing problems with a dull "Oh, shit". Beria, however, has one when Stalin momentarily recovers, as he's already begun plotting to take his place.

** Done on purpose. Everyone uses their natural accent or put on a regional accent from their home nation. Armando Ianucci didn't want the film to be bogged down by a slew of fake Russian accents. This leads to an amusing mix of British and American regional accents for the Soviet leadership, including a Yorkshire-accented Zhukov and a Cockney-accented Stalin. (This particularly works with Stalin, who was not Russian but was from the Soviet backwater of Georgia, and spoke with a strong Georgian accent.)

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Beria is a slight example: if anything, the film's portrayal is ''[[RealityIsUnrealistic too generous]]'' to him. In real life, he openly gloated over Stalin's body while the other politburo members were weeping, and even had a habit of gloating to fellow party members that he had ''killed Stalin'' ([[MilesGloriosus he almost certainly did not]]; scientists did find traces of poison in Stalin's body, but whether it actually caused his death is disputed, and even if it did, it's not all that likely Beria was responsible). Likewise, his [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist tendencies]] are, if anything, toned down. It also omits the fact that he showed up to Stalin's funeral [[InVinoVeritas absolutely blasted drunk]] and gave a mocking, upbeat speech about how Stalin was "[[HesJustHiding merely sleeping.]]"

* GenreShift: The execution of Beria adopts a hand-held camera, documentary-style.

** In real life Beria was married to a woman named Nina Gegechkori; she's not seen or mentioned at all in the film; neither are Beria's six associates who were put on trial with him.

* HateSink: Everyone in the movie is [[BlackAndGreyMorality either]] 1) a very bad man but with some redeeming qualities, 2) working for very bad men, or 3) trying to steal a very bad man's job and power and then have him killed, so it's very hard to dismiss anyone completely as totally evil, and certainly hard to root for anyone. Then there's Beria, who is a loathsome, sociopathic, and disgusting rapist and thus is the ''one'' person we can take great pleasure in seeing arrested, tortured, sentenced without a fair trial, and destroyed. [[TruthInTelevision This is not an exaggeration by the filmmakers]], [[RealityIsUnrealistic he really was that loathsome and unpopular in real life]] (and the film actually ''[[HistoricalVillainDowngrade toned down]]'' his vileness).
** In real life, Beria's rape habits were so notorious that Stalin flat-out ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness panicked]]'' when he realised that his [[MoralityPet beloved daughter]] Svetlana was alone in a house with Beria, and sent an NKVD hit squad to the house with orders to [[PapaWolf shoot Beria on sight]] if they even suspected he'd laid a finger on Svetlana. Stalin's fears were unfounded, since as awful as he was, Beria was also [[PragmaticVillainy smart enough]] to realise exactly what would happen to someone who [[TooDumbToLive tried to rape Comrade Stalin's daughter]].

** Khrushchev is a power-grubbing reformer, who, while genuinely believing in said reforms, ''really'' wants credit for it, and will do anything for it — if it means bullying Malenkov (who himself isn't a saint), underhanded backroom dealing, or ''outright purging'', albeit of Beria and his similarly reprehensible NKVD. He's genuinely livid at Beria's crimes, which motivates him towards said purge — but he is also [[NeverMyFault half-way responsible for the NKVD slaughtering the civilians trying to see Stalin by forcing the trains to reopen when Beria made it clear he still had the city on lock-down, and pins this responsibility wholly on Beria.]]

** When 1500 people are killed by the NKVD for trying to attend Stalin's funeral, Beria blames said people for being there against his orders. Khrushchev even calls him out on this.

* VillainousBreakdown: Beria seriously loses his cool before [[BoomHeadshot he gets shot in the head]]. And shortly before that, when he seems to sense the power dynamics tipping against him, he throws a red-faced screaming fit, telling everyone else around him that he has documents on each and every one of them, scrunching up said documents and throwing them at the feet of the bewildered Presidium. Humorously, the film actually tones down what ''[[RealityIsUnrealistic really]]'' happened — the real Beria was so emotional when he was begging, his executioner ''stuffed a sock in his mouth to shut him up before shooting him''.

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: A unnamed soldier with bushy eyebrows ("OK, let's go catch a pig for the pot") is part of Zhukov's forces in the coup. At the very end of the film, it's revealed that said man is Khrushchev's successor, Leonid Brezhnev, who eventually overthrew Khrushchev. The last scene of the movie is Brezhnev sitting behind Khrushchev at a performance, intently staring at Khrushchev's back all the while.[[note]]Brezhnev was responsible for ending the Khrushchev Thaw, and reintroducing policies from Stalin's era, which led to rampant oppression and corruption within the Politburo.[[/note]] [[TruthInTelevision Brezhnev really was a soldier who participated in removing Beria.]]

* ThisIsUnforgivable: It isn't like the Politburo members and the Red Army were very fond of Beria in the first place, but when Khrushchev reads charges of raping children against him during the KangarooCourt, everyone in the room doesn't leave any doubt that Beria doesn't deserve anything short of being shot.

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: A seemingly anonymous soldier with bushy eyebrows ("OK, let's go catch a pig for the pot") is part of Zhukov's forces in the coup. At the very end of the film, it's revealed that said man is Khrushchev's successor, Leonid Brezhnev, who gives an unsuspecting Khrushchev a dirty look at the end of the movie.[[note]]Brezhnev was responsible for ending the Khrushchev Thaw, and reintroducing policies from Stalin's era, which led to rampant oppression and corruption within the Politburo.[[/note]] [[TruthInTelevision Brezhnev really was a soldier who participated in removing Beria.]]

** The conductor and his wife saying their goodbyes after a knock as secret police raid nearby apartments, only to be called on to conduct the orchestra.

** A case of FreakierThanFiction: this version of Beria's trial is ''more'' dignified than accounts of his real execution, wherein he allegedly crawled on his hands and knees and sobbed into the dirt.

** Beria gets this as well. Having built an entire career of dragging thousands of Russians without evidence or trial for execution, Beria himself ends up getting dragged off to a KangarooTrial on exaggerated accusations (except for the charges of his rapes, which he truly deserved execution) and quickly shot. Making it better is how Beria dies blubbering and terrified.

* AlliterativeName: '''S'''vetlana '''S'''talina.