Füge eine Handlung in deiner Sprache hinzuThe life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.The life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.The life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.
- 4 Primetime Emmys gewonnen
- 11 Gewinne & 14 Nominierungen insgesamt
- Bukharin
- (as Jeroen Krabbe)
- Zinoviev
- (as Andras Balint)
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Narrated by Stalin's daughter Svetlana, this begins with Stalin joining Lenin and the Bolsheviks in their fight against the government, eventually setting up their own government themselves. Most of his biography is well known to us, however this movie brings out the character of Stalin as a psycho villain who did not trust a single person, not even his associates and took extreme measures to exterminate them all. His ego and paranoia alienated him from his friends and his family, even to the point where his wife (Julia Ormond) commits suicide and young Svetlana hating him. But in the end, he does not change and this leads to his downfall and death.
Although the film does suffer in pacing, it is the performance of Robert Duvall that makes it worth watching. In my opinion, Duvall is simply the best actor out of the Godfather series, better than Brando, Pacino, De Niro or Caan. His performances are real and endearing as he simply becomes Stalin by portraying the ruthlessness and paranoia of the mad Communist dictator; a man who could not be solved by his friends or family, and who could not be controlled by anyone even himself. The supporting cast headed by Julia Ormond as Stalin's wife, Maximillian Schell as Lenin and Roshan Seth as Berin do well, but it is Duvall's show all the way. This TV movie is what is not shown in history textbooks. It is engaging and real, but not a masterpiece. History buffs will enjoy watching this, trying to put the pieces together about the madman known as Joseph Stalin.
8 out of 10.
Robert DuVall looks nice as Stalin,and his performance is also satisfactory. But I don't know why he used that Vito Corleone accent on him. Did Stalin use to talk that way? I don't know. Julia Ormond does a really magnificent job as his second wife Nadya. Her timid yet free-spirited attitude is nicely portrayed by Ormond. And I also must mention Joanna Roth as Svetlana and Roshan Seth as Beria for a really good job. All the actors lift this movie up to a really higher level. Along with the flawless screenplay, acting is another asset of the film.
Perhaps Stalin was indeed simply a very nasty paranoid despot who murdered everyone in sight, but if so this film is much too long, since we get the message very early on.
It might have helped if we could have had more of the history involved - for example how exactly Stalin managed to take power after Lenin's death and his tactics in playing off the right against the left (and vice versa). The show trials could also have been exploited more, as could the wide extent of the purges - and also the minor matter of the Second World War, which is largely glossed over.
As it is, just seeing Stalin liquidate the rest of the film's cast one by one is horrifying but rather monotonous.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesTo prepare for the role, Robert Duvall watched numerous hours of newsreels, read many books about Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, and spoke to Russians who remembered him. He said that playing Stalin was the most challenging role of his career.
- PatzerThe same train car (MET46) is used several times.
- Zitate
Nikita Khrushchev: Have you thought about it? About what we said after Stalin dies?
Vyacheslav Molotov: Like what?
Nikita Khrushchev: His crimes?
Vyacheslav Molotov: What crimes?
Nikita Khrushchev: Millions...
Vyacheslav Molotov: Nikita, you are too emotional. You talk too much. Who are we to judge Stalin. Before him we were a weak, backward country, Now look at us. We control half of Europe... the whole of China... We have the atomic bomb... We command respect. Without Stalin, it would have take twenty years longer.
Nikita Khrushchev: I don't believe it. Without the purges, the arrests, the killings... without Stalin, we could have been a great country.
Vyacheslav Molotov: Our history required Stalin.
- VerbindungenFeatured in The 50th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1993)
- SoundtracksThe Carnival of the Animals: The Swan
Written by Camille Saint-Saëns
Used as background music for archive footage
Top-Auswahl
Details
- Erscheinungsdatum
- Herkunftsländer
- Offizieller Standort
- Sprache
- Auch bekannt als
- Сталин
- Drehorte
- Produktionsfirmen
- Weitere beteiligte Unternehmen bei IMDbPro anzeigen
Box Office
- Budget
- 10.000.000 $ (geschätzt)
- Laufzeit2 Stunden 52 Minuten
- Farbe
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.33 : 1