Director: Armando Iannucci.
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Friend. France/UK 2017. 107 mins.
The internal political landscape of 1950s Soviet Russia takes on darkly comic form in a new film by Oscar-nominated writer/director Armando Iannucci (Veep, In The Loop, The Thick Of It). In the days following Stalin’s collapse, the machinations of senior party officials and courtiers kick into overdrive. Some want positive change in the Soviet Union; others have more sinister motives. But behind all the collusion, backstabbing and strong-arming, the jostling ministers have one thing in common – they’re just desperate to stay alive. Based on the graphic novel by French writer Fabian Nury, Iannucci’s script is loaded with acerbic, politically incorrect conversation, which is delivered by some of the finest and funniest character actors from both sides of the pond.
