What The Wizard of the Kremlin gets wrong about Russia
Olivier Assayas's film *The Wizard of the Kremlin*, starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano as his adviser Vadim Baranov, struggles to capture the authenticity of Russia and its political figures despite being based on Giuliano da Empoli's acclaimed novel. The film's English-language dialogue, unconvincing performances, and inauthentic settings detract from its historical narrative spanning Putin's rise to power. While the story follows key real-life events accurately, the portrayal lacks the subtlety and atmosphere of the book. The reviewer finds the novel a more credible and insightful depiction of Putin's rule than the film adaptation.
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What The Wizard of the Kremlin gets wrong about Russia Jude Law and Paul Dano fail to convince as Putin and his Rasputin-like adviser. i imdb dataLayer.push({ event: 'author', author: "Mary Dejevsky" }) Mary Dejevsky 29th April 2026 i imdb Share Topics Books Politics World Want unlimited, ad-free access? Become a spiked supporter. It has to be pure coincidence that a new flurry of Western speculation about Vladimir Putin’s hold on power in the Kremlin comes hard on the heels of the UK release of Olivier Assayas’s film, The Wizard of the Kremlin, a lightly fictionalised account of the 30 years in which Putin rose to become president and Russia’s ever more dominant leader.
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