Despite the film having been shot in 2016 prior to Donald Trump’s electoral college win, at the time of its premiere in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival “The Death of Stalin” was immediately hailed as a finger-on-the-pulse political satire. How could it not be? Coming from Armando Iannucci, one of the great humorists of his generation, known for capturing government in all of its obscene clumsiness in the U.K. with “The Thick of It” and “In the Loop,” as well as across the pond in the U.S. with the hit TV series “Veep,” “The Death of Stalin” marked the first time the writer/director took on actual history.
Based on the French graphic novel, “La Mort de Staline,” the film is a comedic interpretation of the social and political power struggle that followed the death of Russian leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Andrea Riseborough, Jason Isaacs, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Michael Palin, and many others, “The Death of Stalin” often plays as a horror film, tracking the public and behind-the-scenes backstabbing that is immediately dispensed when an opportunity presents itself.
In a recent interview with Politico’s West Wing Playbook newsletter, prior to President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race and endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, Iannucci discussed the new relevance the film took on following Biden’s debate performance and the resulting three weeks of chaos.
“The scene I always remember is that committee scene at the end of the film where they are all voting on what to do. And of course, no one wants to be the first person to put their hand up in case they’ve got it wrong and will be shot. Everyone is looking to what everyone else is saying before they put their hand up to vote,” Iannucci said. “And I think that’s what’s happening as well, isn’t it? Everyone is thinking, ‘Yeah, he’s not up to another four years.’ But nobody wants to be the first person to say it. I imagine no one wants to be the first one of his close, close associates to actually say, ‘It’s not going to happen.’”
Iannucci may have been on to something, as it took Biden many weeks to come to a decision others came to immediately following his performance against Trump at the end of June. However, with Biden’s graceful choice to bow out and pass the torch to the next generation, one is reminded of the true resonance of “The Death of Stalin,” which is that the tyrants shouldn’t be allowed in the door. Real leadership is egoless, for the good of the people, the kind many will say Biden is currently displaying. The same can’t be said for would-be insurrectionist Donald Trump, whose influence, Iannucci worries, has corrupted our country writ-large.
“We made [‘The Death of Stalin’] before Trump [was sworn into office]. But I think what’s happened since then is that facts are now irrelevant. We’ve retreated into these camps where we only speak to people who agree with us and only get news that gives us the stories we want to hear,” said Iannucci to West Wing Playbook. “We’re all now being conditioned into thinking that what we believe is the only truth that there is and that is what any autocratic and totalitarian government has participated in. It just tells you that there is only one authentic truth, and therefore anyone who disagrees with you is unpatriotic, is a traitor.”