After drifting a bit with the spy thriller flop “Wasp Network” and the underseen COVID-19 lark “Suspended Time,” Olivier Assayas is hoping to get back on top with “The Wizard of the Kremlin.” Premiering this weekend at the Venice Film Festival, the first clip has landed.
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Featuring a stacked ensemble including Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Zach Galifianakis, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen, and Jeffrey Wright, the adaptation of the French novel follows a young Vadim Baranov, Vladimir Putin’s infamous spin doctor and advisor, in the aftermath of the USSR’s collapse in the early 1990s as he goes from a young artist and TV producer to an influential government official and one of Putin’s closest liaisons, bending the truth as he sees fit.
In the first clip below, Dano’s Baranov questions the team behind the Russian satirical show “Kukly” and their depiction of Putin (played in the film by Law).
“The Wizard of the Kremlin” premieres in Venice and moves on to Toronto and San Sebastian in short order.
