STALIN'S SHADOW ON THE WESTERN SCREEN

Abstract

After the start of the war in Ukraine, unleashed by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, it is necessary to review the nature of power in Russia as it has been portrayed by Western fiction cinema. In this article we want to approach the figure of the Soviet leader Iosif Stalin, as he is portrayed in two films separated by more than twenty years. Relying initially on the American telefilm Stalin (Passer, 1992), which reviews the main episodes of the dictator's life, we will also comment on the british The Death of Stalin (Iannucci, 2017), a black comedy about his death that undresses the relationships and interiority of the characters in the Kremlin. It is thus intended to offer a reflection on the mechanisms of power, authoritarianism and the influence that Stalin has had in Russia.