THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN WITH JUDE LAW
The images accompanying the film in competition here in Venice show Jude Law transformed into Vladimir Putin. The resemblance is striking, and seems to mirror the figure depicted by Giuliano da Empoli in his novel The Magician of the Kremlin , which inspired the film. Law himself admitted that he approached the role with trepidation, “absolutely terrified” by the complexity of embodying a character who belongs to living history.
In his book, Da Empoli offers not a political chronicle, but a fictionalized account that depicts the construction of a myth. At its center is Vadim Baranov, a television advisor and producer, who serves as both a narrative alter ego and a witness. It is through his eyes that the reader witnesses the transformation of a former KGB officer into a leader capable of embodying strength and stability in early 1990s Russia. In the author’s interpretation, in a country just emerging from the collapse of the USSR, television becomes the new Kremlin: the space where consensus is forged, where images replace political rituals and offer themselves as a guarantee of order in a disoriented society.
Olivier Assayas’ film captures this interpretative key and translates it into cinematic language. The director explained that the novel struck him as “accurate and precise” in describing the dynamics of that rise, and that his goal was to focus on an “origin story.” Not a biopic of Putin’s entire career, but a portrait of the mechanisms that lead to the seizure of power. Paul Dano plays Baranov, the architect of the image; Jude Law becomes the body and voice of the future president; alongside them, Alicia Vikander, Zach Galifianakis, and Tom Sturridge round out an international cast.
According to Assayas, the book’s strength lies precisely in its portrayal of how politics, in that historical period, bowed to the rules of television storytelling. And this is the core that the film brings to the Lido: the description of a moment in which spectacle becomes power, and power learns to speak the language of spectacle.
The Wizard of the Kremlin is in competition at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. The theatrical release date has not yet been announced, but the preview at the Festival already marks the start of a debate that promises to be international.
Editorial disclaimer: This article discusses Giuliano da Empoli’s novel and Olivier Assayas’s film adaptation, reporting their content and interpretations. It does not express political opinions or judgments on the historical figure depicted.
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