“The Wizard of the Kremlin,” a political thriller starring Vladimir Putin and Paul Dano as former right-handed men and spin-doctor Vadim Baranov, won a very enthusiastic 10-minute standing ovation at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The film belonged to Dano, who smiled in gratitude with applause, but it was the power of the Star of the Law that gave the audience the cause of the screams of “Bravo!” The actor – sports a white tuxedo jacket – gleamed and applauded throughout the ovation. The director worked the crowd, climbing up the seats behind him to embrace various members of the film team, and cheering. Meanwhile, Alicia Vikander, who plays Baranov’s romantically interested Xenia, wiped out her tears as applause continued.
Set in the early 90s in the last year of the Soviet Union, “The Wizard of the Kremlin” follows the fictional character of reality television producer Vadim Baranov. Tom Sturridge and Jeffrey Wright conclude the cast.
The assay (“Personal Shopper”) directed and co-written “The Wizard of the Kremlin.” Though fictional explanations, the story has become more relevant in Russia’s continued full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin has been in the news recently after meeting with President Donald Trump, who has worked to unite peace deals between the two countries.
“Beyond the passion of men navigating the dangerous flow of modern politics, we are seeing a powerful cinema sweeps of history that has been made,” the assay said when the film was released. “It’s drama. It’s action. It’s trying to understand the confusion that’s changing our world in the strangest and most ominous ways.”
Assayas was last on Lido in 2019’s Wasp Network, a spy drama starring Penélope Cruz, Edgar Ramírez, Ana de Armas and Gael García Bernal. The law portrayed FBI agents in the 2024 edition of Venice in the crime thriller The Order, investigating a group of white supremacists in the ’80s.
