Olivier Assayas’ “The Wizard of the Kremlin” is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday. What should we make of this movie? There’s a lot to unpack.
The cast assembled for “Wizard” includes Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Zach Galifianakis, Tom Sturridge, and most intriguingly, Jude Law as Vladimir Putin.
We now have our first official look of Law as Putin — seen above. There’s an uncanny resemblance. This is good casting. Law previously claimed that he was absolutely petrified at the thought of taking on the role.
Based on Giuliano da Empoli’s bestseller, “Wizard of the Kremlin” tackles the rise of Putin in Russia. Spanning the early ’90s and early aughts, the novel begins in the aftermath of the USSR’s collapse, as TV producer Vadim Baranov (Dano) shadow puppets a promising member of the KGB (Putin) into prominent positions of government.
As Assayas tells Variety, the story of how Putin gradually became Russia’s leader is “something that has not been told or understood with the accuracy and precision of Giuliano’s book,” adding that his film can be seen as a sort of “origin story.”
Of course, a film about Putin isn’t what most audiences are clamoring for, but the premise here is intriguing. Rather than a traditional rise-and-fall biopic, it focuses solely on his ascent to power. It also helps that a strong filmmaker is telling this story.
Assayas is the director behind such acclaimed works as “Irma Vep,” “Personal Shopper,” “Carlos,” and “Summer Hours.”