A lot of fun.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Blistering performances.

Some Australian movies are crap, but some are actually quite clever. This is one movie that I think is quite clever. It is about a fanatical communist woman who goes on a trip to Russia, sleeps with Stalin, and then returns to Australia and has his baby. It is not a drama but a comedy. This baby, Joseph, grows up to become the splitting image of his father and almost takes over Australia.The thing I find interesting is how Joseph takes over Australia. He is in prison for draft dodging and rescues some people from a fire. For his bravery he is given a full pardon, and with that he makes a speech in favour of giving prison guards better working conditions. With the support of the guards and the police, he is elected head of the police union and uses his control of the police to increase his power.The ending seems to be conclusive, but I think that there is more to it than not. Basically, fearing that her son may be killed, the Joseph's mother tells everybody that he is the son of Stalin. She is then assassinated by somebody that Joseph knew in prison. The connection is made and he is arrested. The problem with that is that with the newspapers printing that he is the son of Stalin is grounds for defamation, and in his position, he can manipulate the DNA tests and make it seem that he is not Stalin's son. Then there is the murder. The link is tenuous, and a guy that is as intelligent and as devious as Joseph will be able to beat the charge and return to his job, all the while eliminating his enemies.This movie is a comedy, and it starts off as one, but as the end nears the pace becomes much less comical and much more serious. The idea about how Joseph takes over Australia is a very plausible one. The creator of the movie obviously put a lot of thought into how it might be done.It is interesting to note how his life is very similar to that of Stalin's. He has a last name that should be changed (Hitler and Stalin), he is in prison for a short time as a political prisoner, and he works his way to the top through bureaucratic manipulation. Hitler and Stalin were both like that, though that is probably not the route of most dictators.Still, I thought that this was a great movie and like some of the ideas that are raised in it.

Quirky what-if flick about young Australian communist Joan Fraser Welch (Judy Davis), who gets impregnated by Joseph Stalin (F. Murray Abraham, who seriously does manage to look like the dictator) on the day that he dies, and has to raise the son without letting the boy know the whole story. "Children of the Revolution" gives one a sense of the sometimes tense situation down under in the '50s, which prompts Joan to go to the Soviet Union in the first place. But more than anything - in my opinion - it shows how, even though the USSR clearly betrayed its ideals, Joan maintains hers. She and her family never give up hope of a better future. Definitely worth seeing. Also starring Geoffrey Rush, Richard Roxburgh and Sam Neill.

I'm heartened to see that several other critics in this column were apparently as confused as I was by this movie. The individual gags are quite funny, but overall, what is this movie about? Is it a comedy? Certainly that's part of it, but is that all? Is it an anti-communist film that relies on comedy to make its point? Well, it might be, but if so, then I think it fails. Or does it have no overall statement to make at all? A bit difficult to believe, given some of the plot lines.

Brilliant performances from the whole cast set a unique story line ablaze with sparkling moments. Dark turns of plot are relieved by fascinating psycho-sexual revelations, and the whole effect is one of uplift as disaster is averted through enlightenment and personal sacrifice.