The Wizard of the Kremlin
In Olivier Assayas’ trudge through recent Russian history, Jude Law is quite startling as a very English Vladimir Putin.
A tsar is born: Jude Law as Vladimir Vladimirovich
Image courtesy of Signature Entertainment.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Russia is not famous for its jokes. Its music, ballet, art and literature, yes – but not its humour. Even the great satirical playwright Anton Chekhov is largely misunderstood in the West (maybe his humour was too subtle). Satire needs a delicate touch and considerable wit. Even Armando Iannucci’s much lauded satire of Russian foolishness, The Death of Stalin (2017), trod with a heavy foot, but it did come close to squeezing out some guffaws (Michael Palin as Molotov anybody?). The French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, who turned 71 this year, has experimented with many a genre in his career, from psychological dramas and movie lampoons to spy thrillers and neo-noir. But a light touch he has not.
This potted history of modern Russian, adapted from Giuliano da Empoli’s 2022 roman à clef of the same name, takes Vadim Baranov as its leading character, loosely based on Vladislav Surkov. Surkov, a mover and shaker behind Putin’s Kremlin, was a fascinating figure, a producer of Russian TV reality shows and an avant-garde theatre director, who guided Putin’s path to success. Here Baranov is played by the American actor Paul Dano, with a gentle Russian burr, who previously portrayed Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC’s six-part War and Peace (2016), opposite Jessie Buckley’s Marya Bolkonskaya. His Baranov glides around major historical events like a panther in a suit, narrating his tale from the comfort of his countryside estate. Initially, we hear the commanding timbre of Jeffrey Wright’s American writer Rowland setting the scene, before he turns up to meet Baranov. Having written a controversial essay, ‘Vadim Baranov and the Invention of Fake Democracy’, and illustrating a keen interest in the writer and philosopher Yevgeny Zamyatin, Rowland is invited into the inner sanctum of the elusive diplomat.
It is here that Paul Dano takes over as our narrator, his lugubrious, soporific tones stopping the drama dead in its tracks. He has colourful tales to tell but the string of dramatic events, revealing the many faces of the Motherland, with its mix of Orthodox Jews, corrupt politicians, punks, dominatrices, dilettantes and oligarchs, quickly overwhelms the narrative. There’s the deterioration of Boris Yeltsin, the invasion of Crimea, the sinking of the Kursk and the war in Ukraine, all navigated with increasing detachment by ‘The Tsar,’ the man Baranov calls Vladimir Vladimirovich. As the latter, Jude Law makes a startling impression of Putin, until he opens his mouth and sounds… just like Jude Law – the English version. The raft of different accents threatens to sink the production, too, with the French-speaking Assayas opting to film the whole thing in English. And the dialogue is not good, the actors given lines that nobody would say in real life. Of the oligarch Boris Berezovsky (nicely played by Will Keen), Putin says, “Boris is a very smart man, but his intelligence is no safeguard for his stupidity”, while Baranov notes, “politics is the only game worth playing.” As the latter, Dano’s somnambulistic performance (presumably aiming for gravitas), just metamorphoses the whole thing into a plodding euro-pudding.
Cast: Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen, Jeffrey Wright, Jude Law, Andrei Zayats, Kaspars Kambala, Andris Keišs, Magne-Håvard Brekke, Dmitryi Turchaninov, Dan Cade, Emmanuel Carrère, George Sogis.
Dir Olivier Assayas, Pro Olivier Delbosc and Sidonie Dumas, Screenplay Olivier Assayas and Emmanuel Carrère, from the 2022 novel by Giuliano da Empoli, Ph Yorick Le Saux, Pro Des François-Renaud Labarthe, Ed Marion Monnier, Music Franco Battiato, Costumes Jürgen Doering, Sound Nicolas Moreau, Gwennolé Le Borgne and Sarah Lelu, Dialect coach Joshua Perkins.
Curiosa Films/Gaumont/France 2 Cinéma-Signature Entertainment.
136 mins. UK/France/USA. 2025. US Rel: 21 January 2026. UK Digital HD Rel: 25 May 2026. UK DVD & Blu-Ray Rel: 1 June 2026. Cert. 15.
