{"id":34888,"date":"2025-08-31T16:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T16:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/34888\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T16:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T16:04:07","slug":"jude-law-as-putin-in-wizard-of-the-kremlin-reviews-and-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/34888\/","title":{"rendered":"Jude Law As Putin In ‘Wizard Of The Kremlin’: Reviews And Reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOliver Assayas\u2019 topical drama\u00a0The Wizard of the Kremlin<\/a>, revolving around a scheming Russian spin doctor who smooths Vladimir Putin\u2019s ascent to power in the 1990s, world premiered in\u00a0Venice<\/a>\u00a0this afternoon.<\/p>\n

\n\tPaul Dano<\/a>\u00a0plays the titular role of Vadim Baranov, a former avant-garde artist and reality TV show producer, who becomes the unofficial advisor to ex-KGB agent Putin as rises up the political chain. Jude Law is Putin and is joined in the cast by Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright and Tom Sturridge.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe drama is getting mixed notices on the Lido. Jude Law comes in for praise from multiple publications but some are struggling with a perceived lack of verve.<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline\u2019s Damon Wise describes the film as \u201cengrossing\u201d: \u201cThough it is set almost entirely within the realpolitik of early 21st\u00a0century Moscow,\u00a0The Wizard of the Kremlin<\/a>\u00a0offers a warning to the West about how that state of affairs came to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds: \u201cUnusually, though it clocks in at a hefty 156 minutes, it seldom drags, and it\u2019s almost disappointing that Assayas, who did such a great job with\u00a0Carlos\u00a0(2010) didn\u2019t take the mini-series route here too. Performance-wise, Jude Law is a surprisingly effective Putin, getting the President\u2019s pout to perfection, and giving him a slightly abrasive Estuary English accent. Dano, meanwhile, is up to something much more mysterious and mannered, speaking in a gentle singsong that takes a little bit of getting used to. Physically, he\u2019s a good fit for the role too, putting a benign face on a character who borders on sociopathic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe International Cinephile Society gave the film four out of five stars, saying: \u201cOlivier Assayas\u2019s latest effort\u00a0is little more than the dramatization of a couple of Wikipedia pages. But in the hands of the French helmer and his lead man Paul Dano, ironically playing a supporting character, albeit an important one, in the rise of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to the position of Russian dictator, this epic account becomes an engrossing tale on the power of corruption and the corruption of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNext Best Picture gave the film a score of 7\/10, saying: \u201cOlivier Assayas\u2019 political epic is crafted with a smart level of clarity that makes the wide-ranging story, filled with many characters, easy to follow. The intelligent screenplay is a delight to listen to\u201d, before adding, \u201cBut at the same time, the script is more interesting before Jude Law\u2019s Putin shows up. After that point, it becomes a fairly repetitive series of scenes of political philosophizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLittle White Lies struggled with the movie, noting: \u201cOlivier Assayas\u2019 mad and maddening take on the mastermind behind Putin never quite lands a\u00a0proper punch\u2026As it stumbles towards its predictable final scene,\u00a0The Wizard of the Kremlin\u00a0fully abandons its attempt at riotous farce to try grasping at the sombre reality of the present. It is a\u00a0commendable endeavour, but also one that completely misunderstands where the treasure chest of its premise lies, maddeningly pulling away from the welcome provocation of the absurd to add yet another desperate scream to the torturous echo chamber we are all currently trapped in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs did The Playlist, calling it \u201ca bloated bore\u201d: \u201cIt might be tempting to compare\u00a0Olivier Assayas\u2019\u00a0\u201cThe Wizard of the Kremlin\u201d\u00a0to a piece of Russian literature, but the points of similarity mostly end with it being long and dense. There\u2019s not much in the way of philosophical heft or psychological insight as the plot follows many decades in the life of\u00a0Paul Dano\u2019s Vadim Baranov, the fictionalization of a real apparatchik spearheading Putin\u2019s communication strategy. While a comprehensive look at how the playbook for the paradoxical \u201csovereign democracy\u201d came to be, the film proves clunky to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJude Law comes in for praise from multiple outlets. The Telegraph was mixed on the film, but wrote: \u201cThe tics of Russia\u2019s sociopath-in-chief are captured frighteningly well by Law\u00a0in The Wizard of the Kremlin, an otherwise so-so new film.\u201d Meanwhile, The Times Of London\u2019s review is behind a paywall but the paper declares that \u201cJude Law is perfect as a petulant Putin\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Independent says \u201cJude Law is an intense, torso-baring Putin\u201d but describes the movie as \u201ca mediocre drama\u201d: \u201cOlivier Assayas\u2019s new film has some anarchic energy to it, but it lacks nuance and insight overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe feature has been adapted by Assayas and award-winning writer Emmanuel Carr\u00e8re from Giuliano da Empoli\u2019s eponymous 2022 novel inspired by the career of Putin\u2019s real long-term adviser and spin doctor Vladislav Surkov.<\/p>\n

\n\tPic is produced by Oliver Delbosc (Curiosa Films) and Sidonie Dumas (Gaumont) in coproduction with France 2 Cin\u00e9ma with the participation of France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions and Disney+. Gaumont is handling French distribution and international sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oliver Assayas\u2019 topical drama\u00a0The Wizard of the Kremlin, revolving around a scheming Russian spin doctor who smooths Vladimir…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[18,117,19,17,327,22984,12876,11492],"class_list":{"0":"post-34888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-the-wizard-of-the-kremlin","14":"tag-venice","15":"tag-venice-film-festival"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}