You can find an interesting movie on Netflix (link here) about the events following Stalin’s death in 1953. The death of Stalin was a spectacle in itself: everyone feared him so much that no one dared to check on his health. Consequently, Stalin lay paralyzed on the floor for hours before anyone worked up the courage to go in. You can read more about this in this Historianet article, among other sources.
While the film deals with a dark subject and era, its genre is comedy. The big shots of the Politburo speak English (of course...) and are constantly cracking crude jokes about everything. Steve Buscemi, in particular, delivers a brilliant performance as Khrushchev, though the rest of the cast is equally impressive. You can find the film's details on IMDb at this link.
Even though the movie is a comedy, the events of that time were undoubtedly horrific. You couldn't trust anyone, and various liquidation lists and plots were constantly in motion. Backstabbing was severe, and the lust for power was ruthless. Then again, it might not have even been about power, but simple survival: if you weren't in power, you were dead.
I highly recommend watching this film and give it my "Golden Marksmanship Badge." As an added recommendation, Yle News reports that the film was banned in Russia by the local Ministry of Culture...
Check out the trailer from YouTube below:
This excellent film serves as a preview of what will happen when Putin dies. This is bound to happen, though unfortunately, it may still be quite a while: for a Russian man, Putin is in good shape, reportedly doesn’t drink vodka by the gallon, and certainly receives the best healthcare Russia has to offer. Nevertheless, the Devil eventually claims his own, sooner or later.
What happens after that? On paper, Putin has a designated successor (currently Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin), but that might not be the final outcome. Russia is not a democracy, so Putin’s successor won’t be chosen through an election, but rather in a brawl within the gang of thieves surrounding him. A key player in that spectacle is Viktor Zolotov, the head of the National Guard of Russia—essentially Putin’s private army. This outfit’s job is to keep the populace in check, but it can also be used as a tool in a power struggle. Zolotov might not necessarily be Putin’s successor, nor perhaps does he want to be, but he will certainly be involved in the power plays.
In any case, we are in for a real-life dramedy once Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin finally sees fit to retire from his job as President of Russia and move on to "shoveling coal" in the afterlife. He can’t afford to step down while he's still alive, as there is always the risk of becoming an "unperson" and finding himself in a very deep hole.
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