But mankind seems to be eternally starting from scratch in figuring out how utterly diabolical and bloodthirsty unbridled power can be in the hands of one man (or a few).
In any event, megacriminal Joseph Stalin died 70 years ago today.
Btw, if you haven't seen the dark comedy, The Death of Stalin, you should really try and catch it.
I think my favorite line is Kaganovich to Krushchev: "How can you run and plot at the same time?"
ReplyDeleteThough Zhukov's "Tell me something. Why has the army been replaced by the NKVD all over Moscow? I mean, I'm smiling, but I am very fucking furious." is good for a yuck or two. Zhukov was the one guy post WWII that Stalin was too scared of to purge... mostly because everybody in the USSR knew that he and not Stalin was responsible for pushing the Nazis all the way back to Berlin.
The best part about Stalin's death is that he lay on the floor for hours before he finally died of his stroke because he had told everyone not to disturb him.
ReplyDeleteStephen: Yes, that is a classic line from the movie, I got quite a kick out of it. I really liked Jason Isaacs' portrayal of Zhukov. In that one slow shot where he's introduced in the movie, and he tugs on his tunic to straighten it out after he takes his coat off, and his medals all clack, suggesting (to me) the sound of soldiers fixing bayonets, you just know that this guy ain't playin' around. And the arrest, trial and execution of Beria are all very cathartic.
ReplyDeleteRebecca: Just goes to show that ruling by terror can seriously backfire.