Stalin: Inside the Terror (2003 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Documentary About an Exceedingly Evil Man

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 20 May 2017]

This documentary begins with Joseph Stalin having collapsed on his bedroom floor twelve hours earlier due to a stroke and being unable to get back up. When this happened he was all alone which was due in large part because of the terrible atrocities he had perpetrated on so many millions which also included his family and friends. At any rate, the film then backtracks to his early life when his father would often beat him. The documentary then speculates that even though he was psychologically damaged he was extremely intelligent and developed a toughness that was remarkable for his age. However, it was only when he read "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx that he fully realized his true calling and became a devoted communist working with Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky in their efforts to overthrow Czar Nicholas II and subsequently remake Russia into a Marxist state. But it wasn't until World War I and the death of Lenin that he would finally get the power he craved--and then the real terror began. Now as far as this documentary is concerned, I will just note that it was produced in the same year that a book titled "Stalin's Last Crime" came out which speculated that the stroke he suffered was due to a chemical in rat poison called warfarin which was slipped into his drink by Lavrentiy Beria. Whether this was true or not remains an open question but since it's possible that the documentary was produced prior to this information being made available I thought it was worth mentioning. I would also like to mention that this documentary goes to great lengths to portray Stalin as being paranoid but from other accounts psychiatrists have likewise speculated that he was also narcissistic, schizophrenic or psychopathic. No doubt, judging from his actions and total lack of empathy for anyone other than himself it is certainly a possibility worth considering. Be that as it may, although I would have liked to have seen more information on him as it related to his conduct and decisions during World War 2, I thought the overall documentary was pretty informative and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

State mandated propaganda, just like the Soviets

[ersbel · 24 August 2018]

Watch long shots when nothing happens. After all BBC means government employment.

How about the story? The same. Popular psychology and all sort of cheap shots. An academic bureaucrat from Oxford will tell smart things like "millions detested him, while millions loved him". Were any of the sides relevant? The Oxford paper pusher does not know, but he can read the Wikipedia page for you, if you want.

And what is relevant? That Stalin died in his piss. Amazing. Nothing to do with the long British tradition of announcing the death only after the council has found the successor. The Royal family is private and these are not details to be discussed with the common people.