The first person in line for Stalin's purges should have been the makeup designer. Duvall looks almost as unnatural as Hugo Weaving in his mask in V for Vendetta. Considering that he speaks and acts as if he is in one of his Godfather movies, the overall effect is extremely weird and rather one-dimensional.
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.
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.