The nefarious rise of Putin is skewered in this satirical drama

The nefarious rise of Putin is skewered in this satirical drama Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 4:30am Before the Russian assault on Ukraine in 2022, celebrated French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria) visited the now-beleaguered capital, Kyiv. "I remember how much I loved the city and the Ukrainian people," he says. "I couldn't imagine something like that coming. Every time I hear about the Russian bombs bombarding this country, it just breaks my heart." Horrified by what he was witnessing, Assayas found himself engrossed in Swiss Italian political essayist Giuliano da Empoli's debut novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin (Le mage du Kremlin). First published in France, where it won the country's top literary honour, the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, The Wizard of the Kremlin draws on real-world events to depict the inexorable rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Initially narrated by a writer researching Orwell-inspiring Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin and his dystopian novel, We, he interviews the shadowy former political handler, Vadim Baranov, who takes up the story. Loosely based on Putin's real-life spin doctor and Russian former deputy prime minister, Vladislav Surkov, Baranov is widely credited as choreographing Putin's meteoric rise from apparatchik spy to 'tsar'. It's a truth grasped by da Empoli. "Giuliano was an advisor to [former Italian prime minister] Matteo Renzi, so he knows about modern European politics and its workings," Assayas says. "Ultimately, that's the story I wanted to tell. I'm not so much interested in Vladimir Putin, who he is and what he does. What I'm interested in is the mode, the modern version of propaganda." True history With echoes of his political dramas Carlos and Wasp Network, Assayas adapted the novel with Emmanuel Carrère. They drew inspiration from brilliant contemporary writers like M Gessen, and also the late Klaus Mann (queer son of author Thomas Mann), a prominent anti-fascist who fled the Nazis and penned his autobiography, The Turning Point, in exile. "It's one of the greatest books of the past century, which was so precise about everything," he says. "You have idealist youth living in a situation of freedom that is, step by step, taken from them, while evil is simultaneously growing." The Wizard of the Kremlin casts The Fablemans actor Paul Dano as Baranov to Jude Law's Putin, with Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander as Baranov's on-and-off-again partner, Ksenia. Westworld actor Jeffrey Wright plays the researcher, Rowland. "To me, it was always Paul Dano," Assayas says. "There was one actor of his generation who could pull it off, and that was him." Dano plays Baranov with an unsettling monotone whisper. "Paul has reinvented Baranov, one of the scariest characters of modern society, the young, smart engineer of politics, who ultimately has no morals to hold on to," Assayas says. "Someone who is going to self-destruct gradually as we see him absorbed a little bit more, surrendering to evil." The talented Mr Law Law was the perfect foil, but Assayas was not interested in mimicry. "When you represent a character like Vladimir Putin, either you go for a lookalike, which is not a good idea, or you go to a great actor," the director says. He served with Law on the 2011 Cannes Film Festival jury. "We really got along and shared the same taste, defending the films we were fighting for," Assayas says. "We've been friends ever since, and I always knew I wanted to make a movie with him." The Talented Mr Ripley star steals the film. "To represent all the complexities and the many layers that constitute the character of Putin, I needed a superiorly great actor," Assayas says. "He brought something so powerful, and he brings it so simply, it feels effortless. He's not Vladimir Putin; he's something else that's much more interesting." Assayas previously worked with Vikander on the television series remake of his own movie, Irma Vep. "The show's eight hours, so you would think I'd have done everything I could imaginably do with an actress," he says. "But Alicia is one of the greats of her generation. We get along so well because we have the same humour and vision of cinema. I'm extremely privileged to work with her." It's a dream team to tackle the darkest forces of our times together. "Ultimately, politics doesn't change that much," Assayas says. "It's about power, how you gain and keep it. "What does change is the propaganda. We're dealing with a generation of politicians who understood they have the ultimate tool in their hand, which is the internet." Perpetual war While the subject matter is evergreen, if constantly evolving, Assayas worried about the timing of The Wizard of the Kremlin. "Making movies is a slow process," he says. "It takes forever. Two years pass, and the world has changed in major ways." He was caught in a strange predicament, wanting peace for Ukraine and her people, whilst simultaneously fearing his film might become irrelevant: "That the war would be over and Putin would be gone." No such luck. "The narrative ends around 15 years ago," Assayas notes. "Not only has the world not changed, but it's been going in whatever horrible direction Giuliano was pointing at." With no safe access to Russia, Assayas and his regular cinematographer, Yorick Le Saux, were forced to film in Latvia. "Once upon a time, you could go to Kyiv, or shoot it in Belarus, but all that is gone." Given that political enemies of Putin are statistically likely to fall out of windows and planes, does Assayas worry that he might be in danger? "No, to be honest, I don't think he saw the film," Assayas says with a wry chuckle. "I don't think he will ever see it. I don't think I'm a major element in his agenda." The Wizard of the Kremlin is in cinemas now.