Armando Iannucci

And it's this balance between the funny and the tragic. And I knew when going into the death of Stalin, that's what I wanted to do. And I said to everyone, when we started filming, I said to the crew and to the cast, it's a comedy, but we must also be mindful and respectful of what happened to the people. We're not making fun of the deaths and the punishments.

And it's this balance between the funny and the tragic. And I knew when going into the death of Stalin, that's what I wanted to do. And I said to everyone, when we started filming, I said to the crew and to the cast, it's a comedy, but we must also be mindful and respectful of what happened to the people. We're not making fun of the deaths and the punishments.

The comedy comes from those inside the Kremlin. And I was holding those two kind of tones and moods simultaneously.

The comedy comes from those inside the Kremlin. And I was holding those two kind of tones and moods simultaneously.

It all makes sense under something called Plan R. It would remove all uncertainty if we retaliate. Pre-tally what? Pre-tallyate. I think this is a new word. See, conventionally, if the Russians attack us, our only option is to... Re-tally it. Plan R gives us a second option. We pre-tallyate before they even think of tallyating. Nuclear preterence, sir. In a nutshell, it's bulletproof.

It all makes sense under something called Plan R. It would remove all uncertainty if we retaliate. Pre-tally what? Pre-tallyate. I think this is a new word. See, conventionally, if the Russians attack us, our only option is to... Re-tally it. Plan R gives us a second option. We pre-tallyate before they even think of tallyating. Nuclear preterence, sir. In a nutshell, it's bulletproof.

You know, I've spent the last, whatever, several decades examining politicians, their speech and how they use rhetoric to disguise or to pretend something is not what it is and so on.

You know, I've spent the last, whatever, several decades examining politicians, their speech and how they use rhetoric to disguise or to pretend something is not what it is and so on.

You know, in the film, it opens with the Air Force gate saying, Peace is our profession. I thought that was a gag. I thought Kubrick made it up. In the archive, you come in, there's the photo. It exists. This is in the Kubrick archive, he says. He saw this photo of an Air Force base with Peace is our profession written on it. So again, he's taking what's true and just putting it in.

You know, in the film, it opens with the Air Force gate saying, Peace is our profession. I thought that was a gag. I thought Kubrick made it up. In the archive, you come in, there's the photo. It exists. This is in the Kubrick archive, he says. He saw this photo of an Air Force base with Peace is our profession written on it. So again, he's taking what's true and just putting it in.

And it was real. It was real. I know. I know. And that's when you just think, You don't have to embroider it, you know. If what is true makes the point, then make that point with the truth. You know, with the death of Stalin, as we researched the story, we kept finding more and more stories that were just absurd but actually happened.

And it was real. It was real. I know. I know. And that's when you just think, You don't have to embroider it, you know. If what is true makes the point, then make that point with the truth. You know, with the death of Stalin, as we researched the story, we kept finding more and more stories that were just absurd but actually happened.

Vasily was high up in the Soviet Air Force. He was overpromoted. He was drunk. He was in charge of the ice hockey team. He sent them to a tournament in an ice storm. He was warned there'd be a danger to the flight. The flight went down. He lost the ice hockey team. He was too scared to tell his father. So he just recruited like friends of friends for a new team who were terrible.

Vasily was high up in the Soviet Air Force. He was overpromoted. He was drunk. He was in charge of the ice hockey team. He sent them to a tournament in an ice storm. He was warned there'd be a danger to the flight. The flight went down. He lost the ice hockey team. He was too scared to tell his father. So he just recruited like friends of friends for a new team who were terrible.

And that's such a bizarre story, but it says so much about even his son was scared of him. And that's why I'm saying it's all about the truth. It's the truth of what people really felt at the time. How can we get to that, that uneasy feeling they had at the bottom of their stomachs for years that they might be rounded up and taken away in the middle of the night?

And that's such a bizarre story, but it says so much about even his son was scared of him. And that's why I'm saying it's all about the truth. It's the truth of what people really felt at the time. How can we get to that, that uneasy feeling they had at the bottom of their stomachs for years that they might be rounded up and taken away in the middle of the night?