The Death of Stalin

Starring Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs and Olga Kurylenko. Directed by Armando Iannucci. Opens Friday at the Varsity. 107 minutes. 14A “This is calamity!” exclaims Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), as he gazes upon the lifeless and urine-drenched form of Soviet leader Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin). More like hilarity, although The Death of Stalin’s wit is wicked. Shifting from

In the Loop and Veep, director/ co-writer Armando Iannucci doesn’t stint on brutal truth — or lethal legend.

Stalin’s March 1953 demise wasn’t prompted by a vengeful note from a concert pianist (Olga Kurylenko), as this story goes. But there’s little doubt about the ensuing backroom backstabbing. Cynical first secretary Khrushchev and other schemers — Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Stalin’s vain doofus of a deputy; Beria (Simon Russell Beale), the rapist head of the NKVD Security Forces; and Molotov (Michael Palin), the vapid foreign affairs minister — proclaim patriotism and pursue self-interest.

They’ll have to get past furious Stalin offspring Svetlana and Vasily (Andrea Riseborough and Rupert Friend) and pompous Red Army leader Zhukov (Jason Isaacs). The actors retain their accents and caustic humour. Just try to keep up; the hand-held camera barely can.

This is satirical history that invites prophecy — imagine a future Trump version.