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Khrustalyov, My Car! (18)

Khrustalyov, My Car!

Originally released in 1998, when it provoked a mass walkout at the Cannes Film Festival, Khrustalyov, My Car! is regarded as the inspiration behind Armando Ianucci’s The Death Of Stalin.

Arguably Alexei German’s most visually stunning and wildly provocative work, this is fever-dream meditation on the crazed final days of Stalin’s regime. Martin Scorsese, who was president of the Cannes jury in 1998, remarked that German's film obviously deserved the Palme d'Or, but he wasn't able to convince his fellow jurors because he didn't really understand it.

Adapted loosely from a story by Joseph Brodsky, it takes place over three days during the winter of 1953, as Stalin lies dying. The elusive narrative follows a military brain surgeon, General Klenski, as he released from a gulag and taken to Stalin's deathbed. On the way, he is brutally abused by a group of convicts. 

Tagged with: Cinema New releases

Russia/France 1998 Dir Alexei German 147 min

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