Nadezhda Alliluyev may not be a name that is easily recognizable to everyone. Even those who know she was the wife of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin have encountered great difficulty in gleaning any concrete information from the myriad ambiguities that surround this historical... [More]

Nadezhda Alliluyev may not be a name that is easily recognizable to everyone. Even those who know she was the wife of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin have encountered great difficulty in gleaning any concrete information from the myriad ambiguities that surround this historical figure. Director Slava Tsukerman, whose eccentric 1982 sci-fi film LIQUID SKY is a cult favorite, examines Alliluyev's inscrutable life in STALIN'S WIFE. With precious little information to work with, Tsukerman's task proves to be an arduous one, but he manages to produce an engaging documentary nonetheless. Many former associates and family members of the Stalin clan are interviewed at length, while the director offers an interesting array of photographs and newsreel footage to help explain Alliluyev's story. The couple were joined in wedlock when Stalin's bride-to-be was just 16 years old (he was 39), although stories differ on how they met; one gruesome account contemplates the rumor that Stalin brutally raped Alliluyev, and then forced her hand in marriage shortly afterwards. As the film progresses, facts and myths become intertwined, with Tsukerman allowing screen-time to some wildly differing anecdotal folklore concerning Stalin's behavior. Was Stalin actually his wife's father? Did Alliluyev kill herself, or was the domineering dictator really responsible for her death? While the truth may never be known, Tsukerman's film offers an entertaining look at every side of the story, and sheds some light on Stalin's enigmatic spouse, whose place in history has now been made a little clearer. [Less]