DANCING AROUND PUTIN

SILENT ADVISOR DIRECTED PUTIN INTO POLITICAL POWER DURING MEDIA AGE

by PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The story of Vladimir Putin’s top political advisor is once removed inside a novel, likely for security reasons – like a virtual firewall to avoid summary execution.

Paul Dano plays Vadim Baranov, a charcater based on the composite sketches about and around the activities of biopic character Vladislav Surkov, in The Wizard of the Kremlin (2026).

The opening scenes in the present involve writer Rowland from American academia arriving in Moscow to research a book about the power structure inside the Kremlin when he gets a call from Baranov, who invites him over to share something important with him.

Rowland, played by Jeffrey Wright, immediately leaves his hotel room and heads over to Baranov’s residence where Baranov begins to tell his story as the inside political advisor to Putin.

Dano provides a voice over as part of a frame narrative used to create the past inside the present. The inside narrative about the past continues on with intermittent recurring scenes from the Baranov residence.

Director Olivier Assayas uses the voice over and a dominant focus on quite didactic dialogue to tell the story, of Putin’s rise to dominance, inside a political satire.

Tom Sturridge plays Dimitr Sidorov, and Will Keen appears as Boris Berezovsky.

Jude Law performs as Vladimir Putin. Law is the only actor not intimidated into playing an also known as character, although he seems to tread very carefully to perform his character respectfully inside a light layer of satire.

For example, Law plays Putin on Larry King Live explaining the drowning of the submarine Kursk in 2000, while occasional news reel footage is used to underpin the historical authenticity of the biopic.

Olivier also relies on the hair, makeup and facial prosthetic department to make Dano look like Baranov, who looks like Surkov. And Law has moments of transparency by acting and looking like Putin.

Alicia Vikander plays the love interest, Ksenia, a kind of Russian disco pop star who makes connections with the growing power elite inside Moscow. Ksenia plays a Russian enjoying the transition in Moscow from communism to capitalism.

Ksenia first meets Baranov at a club, and then meets Dmitri Sidorov through Baranov. Ksenia leaves the narrative for a time, and then rejoins the storyline for the ending.

The script explains the interesting details along a broad outline of historical political events. The satire involves the light treatment – often off-handish, smirking perspective – of the dark Machiavellian moves made by Putin, on the advice of Baranov, to grab power.

A heavy reliance on title cards to explain the beginning of new scene sequence, ie, many years later, is obviously part of the satire, but then perhaps the time jumping also detracts from the drama and suspense of the moment from building.

The satirical aesthetic becomes a bit surreal when you consider that the light hearted way the characters talk about politics in Moscow just might actually be the way Putin and his inner circle talk about holding onto power.

The 2 hour 32 min runtime is sewn together quite well, though, considering the reliance on dialogue and the void of action scenes.

The Wizard of the Kremlin is streaming on Disney+ in Canada.