This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/23/russia-urged-to-delay-death-of-stalin-release-until-summer
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Russia pulls 'despicable' comedy Death of Stalin from cinemas | |
(34 minutes later) | |
Acclaimed black comedy labelled boring, repugnant and insulting after private viewing for culture ministry officials | |
Marc Bennetts in Moscow | Marc Bennetts in Moscow |
Tue 23 Jan 2018 15.20 GMT | |
First published on Tue 23 Jan 2018 12.35 GMT | |
Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
Share via Email | Share via Email |
View more sharing options | View more sharing options |
Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
Close | Close |
Russia’s culture ministry has withdrawn permission for the release of Armando Iannucci’s black comedy The Death of Stalin, after officials and top arts figures labelled it offensive and extremist. | |
An advisory committee to the ministry had earlier recommended postponing the release to avoid it clashing with the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, after officials and film directors attended a private viewing on Monday. | |
“The distribution certificate for the film The Death of Stalin has been withdrawn,” a culture ministry spokeswoman told AFP. The film has been set for a limited release in cinemas from Thursday after local distributors Volga Film gained an 18+ certificate. | |
Yelena Drapeko, deputy head of the lower house of parliament’s culture committee, told RBK news site she had “never seen anything so disgusting in my life”. “(The audience), me included, saw elements of extremism in the film,” she said. | |
After the preview screening 21 people signed a letter urging culture minister Vladimir Medinsky to delay the release and check if the acclaimed film broke any laws. The letter castigated the film for “lampooning the history of our country” and “blackening the memory of our citizens who conquered fascism”, the TASS agency reported. | |
Nadezhda Usmanova, head of the Russian Military Historical Society’s department of information, told Reuters that the film was despicable. “It’s a bad film, it’s a boring film, and it’s vile, repugnant and insulting,” Usmanova said. | |
Pavel Pozhigailo, a high-ranking culture committee member, said the film “insults our historic symbols – the Soviet anthem, orders and medals”. He also complained that Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet military commander, “is portrayed as a fool”. | |
Zhukov, whose statue stands near Red Square, is widely credited with orchestrating the defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. The battle, in which over 1 million Soviet soldiers died, halted the Nazi advance and was a major turning point in the second world war. | Zhukov, whose statue stands near Red Square, is widely credited with orchestrating the defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. The battle, in which over 1 million Soviet soldiers died, halted the Nazi advance and was a major turning point in the second world war. |
Russia’s Communist party, the second largest party in parliament, has called the film, which revolves around the vicious infighting that followed Stalin’s death in 1953, “a form of psychological pressure against our country”. | Russia’s Communist party, the second largest party in parliament, has called the film, which revolves around the vicious infighting that followed Stalin’s death in 1953, “a form of psychological pressure against our country”. |
The Death of Stalin, which picked up four British Independent Film awards last year, stars Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin’s successor, and Michael Palin as Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet diplomat. Zhukov is played by Jason Isaacs. Iannucci, its writer and director, is behind the political satires Veep and The Thick of It. | |
The development comes shortly after the release of Paddington 2 was postponed by Russia’s culture ministry in an apparent attempt to help two high-profile domestic films at the box office. The premiere of Paddington 2 was moved at the last minute from 18 January to 1 February to prevent it clashing with the release of Scythian, a historical drama, and Going Vertical, a film about the Soviet basketball team’s surprise Olympic victory over the US in 1972. Going Vertical is now Russia’s highest-grossing film ever. | |
Russia | Russia |
The Death of Stalin | The Death of Stalin |
Europe | Europe |
news | news |
Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
Share via Email | Share via Email |
Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
Reuse this content | Reuse this content |