THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Olivier Assayas
Stars: Paul Dano, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen.
Based on the 2022 novel written by Giuliana du Empoli, The Wizard Of The Kremlin is a geopolitical drama that offered a mix of fact and fiction as it recounted the rise to power of Vladimir Putin, the former KGB spy who became the powerful ruler of Russia.
The man behind the scenes shaping events and orchestrating Putin’s rise to power was shadowy and enigmatic Vadim Baranov (played by Paul Dano), a former tv producer who used his media savvy to shape Putin’s image.
When the film opens American journalist Rowland (played by Jeffrey Wright) arrives in Moscow and meets up with the now retired Baranov, who is living in his dacha in a remote corner of Russia. Baranov recounts stories of his youth in Moscow in the 1990s, a time of newfound freedom under Yeltsin. He also explains how he was responsible for shaping Putin and orchestrating both his rise to power and the rise of the oligarch class, which shaped modern Russia. But as Putin consolidates his power, Baranov comes to understand that even he may be in danger.
Prolific French director Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep, Personal Shopper, etc) has cowritten the script with du Empoli and journalist Emmanuel Carrere, but they give the material an episodic feel. Assayas deftly interweaves some newsreel and archival footage to depict some of the key events of Russia in the early 2000s which cemented Putin’s power – the series of bombings that destroyed apartment buildings in Moscow as a way of increasing fear and justifying a war against Chechnya, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Kursk submarine disaster, and the development of bots to manipulate social media. The film serves up an interesting portrayal of Boris Yeltsin as a drunken buffoon easily manipulated.
The film explores potent themes of power, propaganda, politics, and manipulation. But given Assayas’ slow paced direction the film lacks a sense of urgency, despite the dramatic events it covers in its 136-minute running time. This slow moving and stodgy drama is heavily dialogue driven, with lots of dry voice over narration and exposition, and it outstays its welcome.
Jude Law is almost unrecognisable as the power-obsessed Putin, but he brings charisma and a faint air of menace and chilling malice to his performance, and he gives the film a strong focus. Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear on screen for almost an hour. Dano is a bland presence as the wily and manipulative Baranov, and this important character needed to be played by an actor with a stronger and more ruthless screen presence. Alicia Vikander is stuck in an uninteresting role as the seductive Ksenia, Baranov’s girlfriend who regularly flits in and out of his life as she cosies up to Dimitri Sidorov (Tom Sturridge), a private banker who allows her to live a lavish lifestyle.
The film has been shot on location in a number of exotic locales and cities by Francois Ozon’s regular cinematographer Yorick Le Saux that lend authenticity to the material.
The Wizard Of The Kremlin could have been a sharp and incisive look at how a couple of determined men changed Russian society and contemporary history, but this dull and flawed production ultimately represents a wasted opportunity.
★★☆
