Jude Law Portrays Young Putin in Assayas Venice Drama

Jude Law made his most radical physical transformation yet as he debuted his portrayal of a young Vladimir Putin in Olivier Assayas's The Wizard of the Kremlin, which had its world premiere Sunday at the Venice International Film Festival. The English-language political drama, adapted from Giuliano da Empoli's 2022 novel, traces Putin's ascent amid post-Soviet chaos through the eyes of Vadim Baranov, a fictional spin doctor played by Paul Dano, and was shot in Latvia after the filmmakers concluded shooting in Russia was impossible.

Assayas, making his first English-language feature, described the film as less an origin story of a single man than an examination of "the invention of modern politics" and the mechanisms of what he called political evil. At a festival press conference, he said the film aims to show both the consequences and inner workings of authoritarian power. Law, Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright and Tom Sturridge joined Assayas at the Lido to discuss a production the director called difficult to finance and to stage because of its scope and political sensitivities.

Law said he felt no personal fear of repercussions for taking on the role and that he and...