If you’re a fan of history, politics and British comedy, then you might be the very audience for this new trailer that has just hit the Internets. Armando Iannucci the comic mind behind the political satire of television’s The Thick of It and Veep has made a second feature, THE DEATH OF STALIN. Based on Fabien Nury’s graphic novel of the same name, the movie pokes fun at the bizarre political shennanigans that occurred in the aftermath of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953.
The cast is top notch and includes Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Friend and Steve Buscemi (as Nikita Khrushchev). None has taken on a stagey Russian accent to portray their role and seem instead to be using variants of their own voice. This will seem an annoying conceit to some and a blessed relief to others. The trailer indicates the movie is likely to contain the usual amount of sweariness found in productions from this team. Iannucci has directed numerous episodes of his tv shows; his debut feature was 2009’s IN THE LOOP, which was the spin-off from The Thick of It.
The movie will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and is set for a UK release in October, 2017. No word yet on release dates for other territories. Enjoy the trailer, comrade, that’s an order.
