Jude Law’s film mirrors Kremlin’s mythologised image of Putin, critics say

At the Venice festival Jude Law said he “didn’t fear any repercussions” for playing Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin, but critics say the film aligns so closely with the version promoted by Russian media that, domestically, it reads more as a compliment than an affront.

The Guardian notes that the Kremlin and Russian pop culture have long crafted a made-to-measure Putin: a political superhero, a former spy reframed as a Russian James Bond, and a perfectly calculated strategist. The article cites recent Russian productions such as the TV series Chronicles of the Russian Revolution, whose fictional security‑service lieutenant colonel is presented as the saviour of Russia, and says Western portrayals often end up reinforcing the same narrative.

Olivier Assayas’s film, based on Giuliano da Empoli’s satirical novel and adapted by Emmanuel Carrère, “in some ways sets out to subvert the Putin cult,” the piece says, but it also presents Putin in tropes drawn from a Kremlin handbook. Some characters appear under real names, including Putin and oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky; others are modelled on real figures, with Paul Dano’s Vadim Baranov appearing to echo Vladislav Surkov.

Key Topics

Culture, Vladimir Putin, Jude Law, Olivier Assayas, Boris Berezovsky, Vladislav Surkov