The World is Run by Saturday Morning Cartoon Villains and Armando Iannucci Has Proof

Despite being someone who is yet to find the time to watch Armando Iannucci's highly regarded TV projects such as 'The Thick Of It' and 'Veep' in full, I was aware of his distinctive style and was excited to see it translated to this zany, historically inaccurate account of 'The Death of Stalin'. This was achieved, for the most part, spectacularly, the improvisational dialogue and wobbly, handheld camera work creates a remarkable sense of spontaneity within the film, making a movie filled to the brim with lots of walking and talking feel pacy and action packed. From the first scene, Iannucci had established what kind of film it was going to be, matching story and style perfectly. Yet there is a downfall to Iannucci's handheld feel, which may not be as prominent on TV but in the cinema can be a huge turn off. The shakiness of the camera, specifically during any scene in which the characters are running, tended to make me feel slightly nauseous on the big screen. Perhaps this is something that would be eliminated once put onto a smaller screen and it doesn't take anything away from the film, just added an uncomfortable dizziness for a couple of scenes. What makes this film shine however, more than Iannucci's directing, are the performances of everyone involved, from the antagonistic Beria, as played by the glorious Simon Russell Beale, who deserves a lot more recognition than he gets, to any of the nameless guards and soldiers who were given the odd line. Everyone in the film feels like a real person that you could feasibly meet and shake hands with. This is an achievement given the outlandish nature of many of the lead roles. Beale plays a snarling, manipulative monster ripped straight out of a Batman comic, Jeffrey Tambor's Malenkov is slow to a cartoonish level and yet the film makes you believe these characters could be put in charge of an entire empire. Steve Buscemi's character, Nikita Khrushchev, is the one we spend most of our time with and, despite him being as scheming and despicable as the rest of them, Iannucci manages to make him feel more relatable. By the time we've been introduced to the main cast of insane leaders, all it takes for us to attach to one of them is to be given the idea that they are down on their luck and trying to make a good impression with their boss, which is basically what Khruschev's more relatable aspects consist of. Inversely, all it takes for a villain to arise from this gaggle of dastardly people is for one of them to be revealed as a murderer, a rapist and a paedophile, all of which Beria is revealed to be throughout the course of the film. This hits even harder in this current age of powerful men being outed as sexual predators, especially with the accusations being made against members of parliament as Beale plays his character with all the mannerisms we've come to associate with the lying, empathy-lacking ruling class. The most interesting character choice made in the film is the way they choose to portray Stalin himself. Iannucci and actor Adrian McLoughlin could've easily have fallen into the trap of keeping Stalin in an air of mythical mystery, as it is shown that the other characters regard him in such a way but they knew that this depiction would have clashed with the style of the film. Instead, Stalin is played as a sleazy, little man, seen in plain view for the audience to see. He almost feels reminiscent of Del Boy Trotter from 'Only Fools and Horses' and his death is reminiscent of Vizzini's from 'The Princess Bride'. Making a mockery of this historical figure, obviously revered and feared by the majority of those on screen (really everyone but Olga Kurylenko's underused, rebellious pianist), only adds to the sense that the situation the whole of this fictional depiction of the Soviet Union has found itself in is simply ridiculous. It also makes Stalin seem merely like someone you'd meet at your local pub, spouting misogynistic nonsense with a pint of Carling in his hand, which is hugely effective in making you understand many of the characters' frustrations with him, it makes everyone's situations feel that much more human because you know how you and those you know react to that sort of person. By making these absurd characters feel tangible, Iannucci makes the audience reflect on the absurdism of those in power currently, and realise that these characters would have been laughably unrealistic in a not so distant time when the world wasn't run by comic book super villains. As much as this film is hilarious and made me laugh out loud to myself in the almost empty cinema, there is something of a Brechtian effect that makes you question what it is you are laughing at that may have been lost had we not found ourselves living in such an outrageous situation. This is not to say that the film will find itself outdated once the current state of the world blows over, the jokes will stay funny and the drama thrilling. The talent on screen is fantastic and the off screen work is just as good despite the sometimes dizzying camera work. I believe this film can stand it's ground as a clever comedy and a comment on the world today, even as today passes on. My final thought would be that any film that brings Monty Python's Michael Palin back onto the big screen is fine by me, I highly recommend this film if you love Iannucci's previous endeavours and to anyone who wants a good, thought provoking laugh.

This goose really has teeth.