Post-Soviet Russian history is treated as the stuff of dark fairy-tale in French director Olivier Assayas’s uneven new feature, The Wizard of the Kremlin, which is screening in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
Adapted from the prize-winning novel by Giuliano da Empoli, the film chronicles the rise and fall of Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), the “new Rasputin,” as he is styled. He’s a fictional figure, reportedly partly inspired by Russian spin doctor and politician Vladislav Surkov, but most of the other major characters are drawn from reality. Jeffrey Wright plays an American author fascinated by Vadim, who we initially learn has disappeared into the shadows following years as Vladimir Putin’s right-hand man. Out of the blue, the author is summoned to meet Vadim at his country house deep in the forest, and to hear his story.
