Page 6 - Discover Summer 2021
P. 6
Editor’s Note
By Tim Ernandes
Two films that I have recently watched have What follows is a chaotic mélange of
borne an eerie resemblance to current events: intersecting plots, subplots, and betrayals, as
The Death of Stalin, and Mr. Jones. the surviving Central Committee members
jockey for control of the reins of state. There
In the former, obviously, the Soviet dictator
are numerous hints at hit lists of various high
dies. His death is fairly quick and non-
ranking officials, at least one of whom makes
descript; however, the events surrounding and
it obvious that his late wife had chosen her
following his demise seemed all too familiar to
words poorly, resulting in her demise.
me.
The underlying theme in all of this is the
It opens with a scene in a studio at
paranoia. In some respects, it parallels the
radio Moscow, in which a full orchestra is
satirical To Be or Not to Be, in which Nazi
performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23.
officers are manipulated through their fear
The dictator enjoys the concert so much that
of saying the wrong thing, even in private,
he sends a message to the radio station, asking
because someone may be listening through a
for a copy of the recording. There’s only one
hidden microphone.
problem: there is no recording. Highlighting
the paranoia and sycophantic hysteria of living The other film, Mr. Jones, deals with similar
under such a tyrant, the station manager subject material, but in a frighteningly realistic
frantically scrambles to pull the live audience setting. Whereas The Death of Stalin was
back into the studio, and reassemble the satirical in its depiction of actual events, Mr.
orchestra. He needs an exact replica of the Jones is starkly real. It tells the story of a young
evening’s performance, so that he may record British journalist whose mother had been born
it. in the Ukraine.
The ensuing madness is only exceeded by Jones has been hearing of the marvels of
the panic that is created when Stalin suffers the Soviet economy, in particular the “miracle”
a cerebral hemorrhage while listening to that of their abundant production of wheat, which
recording. His guards are too afraid to enter was exported in trade dealings. The fact that
the room upon seeing his lifeless body on the this wheat was being produced in the Ukraine
floor, and it isn’t until the next morning that sparked a keen interest in the subject, and he
his housekeeper discovers his fate. essayed to learn more. However, the details of
4 Discover Smith Mountain Lake SUMMER 2021
