Jason Isaacs wears fewer medals than the real-life Georgi Zhukov. Writer and director Armando Iannucci thought that the real number of medals was too unbelievable.
Vyacheslav Molotov's (Sir Michael Palin) wife Polina's (Diana Quick) arrest and release is more or less consistent with the real events. Polina was arrested in 1949 on bogus charges and sentenced to five years of hard labor and got her freedom only after the death of Joseph Stalin. Molotov was forced to divorce her by Stalin during that time. She was used as a tool by Lavrenti Beria as depicted in this movie to secure Molotov's loyalty. They got remarried and lived together until her death in 1970. Even though their relationship seems sincere and lovely, Molotov never blamed Stalin or criticized him for the purges that led to the hardships his wife faced.
The movie was banned in Russia on January 23, 2018, two days before it was due to be released. The Cultural Ministry stated, "The distribution certificate for the film The Death of Stalin has been withdrawn." One member of the Culture Ministry's advisory board was quoted as saying, "The film desecrates our historical symbols - the Soviet hymn, orders and medals, and Marshal Zhukov is portrayed as an idiot", and added that this movie's release in advance of the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad (February 2nd), would be "an affront to Russia's World War II veterans."
Writer and director Armando Iannucci insisted on not having the characters speak with Russian accents, for two reasons: he thought it would take audiences out of the movie, and he did not want the actors and actresses to worry about their accents when improvising. In a promotional interview on BBC Radio 5 for the U.K. release, Iannucci stated that Russian journalists who had previewed this movie praised the decision.
In one scene, Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Simon Russell Beale) locks a young woman in a cell and later gives her a bunch of flowers upon release. Beria was a notorious sexual predator, sometimes driven around Moscow in search of victims to assault. After Beria had finished with his victims, they were routinely offered a bunch of flowers. To accept was to imply that whatever had happened was consensual. To refuse could lead to arrest, torture, and disappearance.
John Cleese: Michael Palin's Monty Python compatriot as one of the Christian Orthodox clergymen at Stalin's wake.