Meagan Ford, National Interest: Moscow Lashes out against Stalin Film
Banning "The Death of Stalin" reflects the current Russian government’s unwillingness to give an inch to Western powers when it can help it.
On the eve of a presidential ballot widely expected to re-elect Russia’s president Vladimir Putin for a fourth term in office, Moscow is once more engaged in a battle with history. This time, it is Scottish writer and director Armando Ianucchi and his film The Death of Stalin—which opened in the United States on March 2—who has provoked official Russian ire.
Ianucchi’s film is set in Russia in 1953 and several of its principal characters are Soviet officials: Nikita Khrushchev, played by Steve Buschemi, Vyacheslav Molotov, played by Michael Palin, and Lavrentii Beria, played by Simon Russell Beale. The movie has been adapted from a French graphic novel and is based on real events surrounding Stalin’s death and the subsequent crisis over who would succeed him.
Read more ....
WNU editor: When I saw this film last year I laughed myself silly. Because there is a lot of truth to it. And what really annoys these Russian ultra-nationalists and pro-Stalin idiots is that everyone is not only laughing publicly at Stalin and the system that this lunatic put together .... but more to the point .... a lot of this laughter is being directed at them. But truth be told .... there is nothing to laugh about when it comes to Stalin. Millions perished because of his policies, and the horrors that he inflicted on the citizens of the former Soviet Union will be remembered for all time.
6 comments:
Why is Moscow upset? They've repented of "Stalinism." To endlessly flog tnem over this is counterproductive and is psychological "cruel and unusual" punishment. To tnose who wish to continue this, it says more about you than it does about the Russians. GET OVER YOUR SELVES!! You are NOT that important!! Russia isn't that worried about you.
As for "you," you won a war against Japan by use of two nuclear weapons
. "You" would've been easily defeated defeated by Japan had "you" not miraculously developed these weapons. Japan and its leaders know this. You know this. Americans and their leaders know this as well. Hence we have allowed Japan to use and abuse us. I could go on. Maybe we should stop feeling so guilty about merely being allowed to live. Pwrhaps we can be a great country someday. While unlikely, maybe someday we can be on tne level of Canada. Few Americans darev dream of being worthy of your Canadian manifest magnificence.
Yes, a very funny movie! And yes, there is a lot of truth to it.
B.Poster, are you saying that Japan would "easily" defeated the US if the US had not "miraculously" developed the A-bomb? You seriously need to read up on the pacific war and the Manhattan project.
And now you think the west is bullying russia with history and should stop it because russia have "repented"? What!?
They should do a million movies about it! Banning this movie only proves it, people still dont know the facts and those who do, well they feel uncomfortable with it and bans it.
"Perhaps we can be a great country someday."
B.
The US will never achieve greatness until some neutral party comes up with a definition of what is required for a country, and its people, to be qualified for the "Great" descriptor and if on failing that definition puts in place a plan to achieve and actually achieves that level.
For example on one scale alone the US is in fact great, in fact really great, at causing untold misery of innocents in the world through useless and criminal wars.
Turn that completely around and the US may be on the road to real "greatness", not until then.
Mr. Huntley,
Thanks for the reply. "...in fact really great, at causing untold misery of innocents in the world through useless and criminal wars." The world is way to complicated to simply reflexively, America=bad. America's adversaries=good. Your reflexive anti-Americanism makes you wholly unqualified to lecture us or pretty much anyone for that matter. Thanks for sharing though.
Hans,
"Easily" may not have been the correct term. The Japanese front was very, very hard. Much of the focus was on the European front. I made a special effort to get to know many of the men who fought in the Pacific. Had a conventional invasion of the Japanese mainland been needed it would have been many times more difficult. So, yes it is my considered opinion that we would have been defeated had this been necessary. As I have stated here many times, we cannot "know" for certain as history did not work out in that manner.
Russia has dealt with their Stalinist history, has suffered immensely because of it, and has repented. It is time to move on. Essentially GROW UP!!
As for America, our past with the American Indians remains largely not dealt with. Our slavery past has been dealt with on some level. We had a Civil War. Now we have an extensive system of special perks and benefits that "people of color" can access that others can only fantasize about. The only thing preventing full closure are certain race hustlers. Without them we would have full reparations by now!! I'm getting off topic.
You may continue making such movies and continue needlessly provoking Russia and Russians. I don't think you are American. It is going to be America and Americans who will bear the brunt of a Russian reprisal, not you sir!!
Now I will attempt to define "greatness" that I think any reasonable person would agree on for a country. 1.)The nation is secure and has a military capable of defending it who is properly deployed to do so. 2.)A prosperous economy that has ample opportunities for the citizens to provide for themselves and to advance. 3.)The nation has a stable and secure supply of the natural resources it needs to operate. 4.)The regulations that businesses face to operate are reasonable.
The United States is lacking in all of the above areas. while there has been improvement in these areas under DJT, there remains much to be done.
As stated, reflexive anti-Americanism does not contribute positively to improvement. The world is far more complex to easily fit into one's ideology. There are clearly areas of US policy that need to be reset and frank debate needs to take place. As a starting point, I would suggest a goal of reducing American foreign military deployments by 99.50% over a 5 year period. Such may or may not be realistic.
Very respectfully this debate has been hard to have. Over the top anti-American hysteria as displayed by Mr. Huntley above has largely dominated the debate and such approaches are not helpful hence a complete and proper analysis never takes place.
With your logic we all should stop making historic films because it can offend someone. Sigh.....
And about the pacific war, the Japanese had already lost, it was a matter of unnecessary loss of american soldiers. It was calculated that about a half of a million american soldiers would get killed or wounded taking the Japanese mainland because no Japanese would surrender. That's why they dropped the A-bombs and it worked.
Post a Comment