Russia cancels release of 'insulting' film about Stalin's death
MOSCOW - Russia said on Tuesday it had cancelled the release of "Death of Stalin", a dark, satirical movie from British director Armando Iannucci, saying many Russians would find it an insulting mockery of the country's Soviet past.
The film, which focuses on back-stabbing and in-fighting among the Soviet leader's closest allies as they vie for power immediately after his 1953 death, had been privately viewed by culture ministry officials and advisers.
Vladimir Medinsky, the culture minister, said on Tuesday his ministry had received a number of complaints after the showing which had prompted him to withdraw its general release license.
He said he had asked legal experts to make extra checks on its content.
"Many people of the older generation, and not only, will regard it as an insulting mockery of all the Soviet past, of the country that defeated fascism and of ordinary people, and what's even worse, even of the victims of Stalinism," Medinsky said in a statement.
He said his ministry had told the film's distributor that it was inappropriate to release the film on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the victorious World War Two Battle of Stalingrad in which so many Soviet soldiers lost their lives fighting for a city which bore Stalin's name.
But he said the distributor had not heeded the warning.
"We don't have censorship," said Medinsky. "We are not afraid of critical and unpleasant assessments of our history. But there is a moral line between the critical analysis of our history and desecrating it."
Iannucci, the film's director, said he had not lost hope the Russian authorities would perform a U-turn.
"All the Russians we've shown the film to so far, including Russian journalists, have said how much they enjoyed and appreciated the film," he said. "They say two things: it's funny, but it's true. I'm still confident we can get it in cinemas."
