Film 'The Wizard of the Kremlin' Portrays Putin's Rise

The film tells the story of how Russia went from a communist state to a capitalist regime through the life of Vadim Baranov, played by Paul Dano. With the help of Baranov and the takeover of state TV, oligarch Boris Berezovsky ensures that the increasingly weak Boris Yeltsin is replaced by the potent security chief Vladimir Putin, played by Jude Law. The dense story goes through Putin's rise to a position where he first becomes Russia's prime minister, then president—and as the film often reminds, also 'tsar' and dictator.

Vadim Baranov is a sharp but uncharismatic shadow figure who enters politics via reality TV. Baranov is the actual main character of the story, the titular 'Wizard of the Kremlin'—a former theater director who, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, becomes the chief architect of the new authoritarian Russia and Putin's unlimited power. The character is fictional, but the role name echoes Putin's real-life advisor Vladislav Surkov. Paul Dano plays the main character Vadim Baranov, who is the chief architect of Putin's power.

Jude Law plays Vladimir Putin in the film. The film depicts Putin's cold and power-hungry mindset. English star Jude Law looks more like himself than Putin in the role, but resemblance or lack thereof is not essential in the French film directed by Olivier Assayas. His Putin is bluntly outspoken and always attentive, like his model. The language is English, and there is no hint of a Russian accent in Law's speech. Surprisingly, Putin is described in the film as taciturn, even though in reality Law speaks surprisingly volubly in his role. The film's tone is disdainful when a line referring to Finland is heard from the mouth of Putin, played by Jude Law. Putin in the film cannot stand that he was treated at a G20 summit as if he were the president of a small country like Finland.

The story begins in the 1990s when Russia is groggy and hungry, with creativity and greed glowing, and oligarchs grabbing power. Boris Berezovsky, played by Will Keen, is an oligarch who early on understands that TV is power. The film is about opening up totalitarian mechanisms: the greedy ways in which Putin, who worked as head of the security service FSB, gained his power, and how quickly thereafter he positioned himself as Russia's supreme leader.

According to the film's cast list, it includes Paul Dano, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Jeffrey Wright, and others. Dano's role is more chilling than Law's portrayal of Putin. This is seen especially in scenes where he exchanges thoughts with his advisor, Vadim Baranov, played by Paul Dano. Alicia Vikander has a supporting role in the film. Vikander's character performs a punk rock song at a house party while holding a naked man on a leash and is lowered from the rafters as a metallic deity in a stage adaptation of Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We' within the first 10 minutes of her screen time.

The film is based on Giuliano Da Empoli's entertaining book. The film is a French production. The film's runtime is two and a half hours.

According to the film's generalizing interpretation, Russians cannot manage without a hard-line, brutally forceful leader, and the self-confident Putin was ready to give them one.