This was a bleak and surreal time in history when tens of millions of innocent people lost their lives. This makes turning it into a comedy difficult. However, comedies should not be taken too literally. Comedies are lampoons of human nature. Obviously, most of the actors were Brits and Americans. Some things they got right is showing the mood of the people who were stuck in a society that had completely turned against the people. One senses how horrible it was to fear every word and every action one makes. That is how it was. It was terrible. The leaders were politicians. They were always manuevering and scheming against one another. They were brilliant in their terribleness. Although, I don't know how well the politicians knew American celebrities, I see it very possibly that they did. The elites were well aware of what was going on outside of the USSR. They were trapped by the own insanity that they created. Krushchev was not portrayed as a great liberator, either. He was just calmer, more rational, and more shrewd. One thing not correct. Stalin's son was killed within hours of Stalin's death by soldiers. He was an alcoholic and had a lot innocent soldiers sent to camps. The film showed the clear tension between the soldiers and the middle class, educated leaders. It was a relationship of fear, but also one where soldiers and ordinary people knew that their leaders were elite. Kruschev was the first leader who came from peasant background.
Review of The Death of Stalin
