NZIFF - The Wizard of the Kremlin
<div>Actors Jude Law and Paul Dano star as Putin and his propagandist in an epic political thriller by Olivier Assayas, that shows how brutal repression in Russia is puppet-mastered behind a veil of manufactured illusion.</div><div><br></div><div><div>This dramatisation of modern-day Russia’s return to totalitarian, fear-based rule after a brief flirtation with openness focuses not primarily on its tsar-like leader Vladimir Putin, but on a one- time artist and spin doctor serving as his right-hand ideologue.</div><div><br></div><div>It’s fitting, because Russia is now run like post-modernist theatre; a surreal and shape-shifting land of smoke and mirrors, where the agency of citizens is neutralised by confusing them, and threats are disguised by sleight of hand. </div><div><br></div><div>Jude Law impresses as the poker-faced President who rose ruthlessly after the Soviet Union fell apart in the turbulent, opportunistic 90s, in this English-language adaption by Olivier Assayas of Giuliano da Empoli’s best-selling book. But it’s Paul Dano that steals the show as Vadim Baranov, who is loosely based on Putin aide Vladislav Surkov. </div><div><br></div><div>Baranov is drawn to avant-garde theatre in the flashy decadence of the Yeltsin years (Alicia Vikander brings a glittering edge as his freedom-hungry girlfriend). It’s just a small step from producing wild spectacles and reality television to stage-managing the outer facade of a renewed system of chilling regime control. – CARMEN GRAY</div></div>PoliticalPT2H16MR162026-09-01Jude Law
Paul Dano
Alicia Vikander
Tom Sturridge
Jeffrey Wright
Olivier Assayas
Olivier Delbosc
Sidonie Dumas
NZIFF - The Wizard of the Kremlin"NZIFF - The Wizard of the Kremlin"Showtimes
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