The Wizard of the Kremlin | Official Trailer (HD) | Vertical<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPOSITIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you really consider the lack of cinematic options towards depicting insight into the everyday ins and outs of Vladimir Putin, you realize the untapped potential of exploiting one of the world’s infamously reviled figures, a feat that, for better or worse, the movie takes full advantage of in manufacturing a fictional character inspired by Putin’s real-life right hand man, Vadim Baranov, to give us advantageous insight of the man who very few Americans have experienced behind the scenes. Because of such, The Wizard of the Kremlin isn’t the most excitingly enticing of experiences, as a result of some inconsistencies within the script, but Assayas’ direction does capitalize on illustrating the grave discontent and uncertainty of Russia during the transitional period from a deathly sick and frail Mikhail Gorbachev, to the stoically subdued Vladimir Putin, with an expressed emphasis on the once optimistic side embraced by its people, which was destroyed in the matter of a forthcoming election with its own limitless consequences to the future of the land. Being that this isn’t exactly Putin’s film, it does take time to materialize those foundational components that serve the movie’s gimmick well during its increasingly interesting second half, however even when the movie zeroes in on the elevated rise of Baranov throughout the music, television, and political industries, Assayas’ direction paints him as a psychological supernatural who understood the benefits of manipulative television long before his political confidante ever did, and while the movie doesn’t value the relationship of these two men as much as it rightfully should, a meaningful framing device between Baranov and acclaimed political author, Rowland (Portrayed by Jeffrey Wright), effectively elicits all of the intricately measured psychology and moral dilemmas of what’s transpiring in the background of the past narrative, with the intrusive tactics of their agenda continuously taking advantage of the trust of their people, a fact that ironically Olivier paints effortlessly enough for audiences to pick up on the very same similarities that our own government have inspired against us in this current day regime. Being that this is a very dialogue driven engagement aimed at a particular niche of the audience, it requires compelling conversations to fuel us throughout a nearly two-and-a-half hour runtime, and though some of the dialogue constructed entirely for Vadim feels like hyperbolic talk of someone in a movie, rather than life, Assayas and co-writer Emmanuel Carrere have a very effortless way of grounding political speak to feel as digestibly defined as possible, allowing a maintained grip on the beats of the storytelling, regardless of the frequently spontaneous ways that it transpires without warning. On top of this, the production works overtime towards not only transforming Latvia into Russia, with a grey color grading towards Yorick Le Saux’s intentionally ominously mundane cinematography, but also in transforming Jude Law before our very eyes into Vladimir Putin, with my growing doubt being immediately dismissed the very second that he’s brought on-screen. The make-up and hair designs are subtly enacted yet monumentally impactful, allowing the familiarities of Jude’s appearance to disappear seamlessly into their obscuring constructs, regardless of some improper decisions paid to the portrayal, and considering a hilarious design for character could immediately halt this movie’s progression, especially in someone as thoroughly captured in the public eye as Putin, it’s astonishing how immediately the transformation takes shape, proving more ample time and creative energy went into this singular aspect of the movie’s integrity more than perhaps anything else throughout its finished product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEGATIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that last sentence felt overly critical, it’s because The Wizard of the Kremlin is among the most unrelentingly arduous experiences on an opportunistic angle that I can remember in quite sometime, with an overstuffed and inertly paced screenplay that felt every square inch of its nearly two-and-a-half hour runtime. Considering Baranov is a fictional character, as previously conveyed, there’s a complete lack of necessity to spend so much time on an expansive background that revels frivolously in the depths of so many scenes that take shape long before the movie’s established plot gets going, with Wright and Dano narratively navigating the variety of settings and motivations that are continuously hurled at us like a television pilot attempting to shoehorn as many subplots to peak audience interests heading into the second episode. To be quite honest, you could still include a condensed version of so many of these moments, trim a half hour from the finished product, and yet feel like you’ve missed nothing for it, and it leaves the finished product feeling like the first cut to a movie that still requires another two trips inside of the editing room. That aforementioned TV comparison isn’t without intention, as the script outline really does feel like a streaming show that was recontextualized for a feature length movie, with flashy on-screen visuals alluding to individualized chapters of the storytelling, as well as frequently abrupt fades to black in the editing, and while this all inclusive element becomes less of a problem once Putin moves into the fold, as a result of my own curiosity in the angle, there’s a growing disconnect with the consistency of the narrative to remain by the side of Baranov, when a more compelling movie exists alongside Putin, keeping the movie from ever coming close to the limitless potential of its own ambitions, even during moments when it feels so evidentially obvious that it’s heading that way. The script is certainly most to blame in a movie this creatively scatterbrained and stagnantly sequenced, but Olivier Assayas’ direction is certainly no victim to the movie’s crimes, particularly in the complete absence of urgency or anticipatory suspense that should feel glaringly evident emanating in a place as dangerously unpredictable as Russia. Even during the film’s most climactic of moments, there’s a coldly undercooked consistency to scenes that transpire with a complete lack of detectable impact, as a result of failing to embrace the vulnerable side of these powerful characters, and considering Assayas is already fighting an uphill battle in seeking connective investment towards characters as morally compromised and unrelenting as those of Baranov and Putin, he feels content with phoning in a lot of the movie’s direction, with nothing as instinctually personal as what he did on Personal Shopper, Which I still feel is his best film to date. Aside from stagnant storytelling and lackadaisical direction, the film frivolously wastes away a masterclass ensemble of celebrated actors who deserved awards opportunities from such complex characters, but instead are undermined by constricting measures that limit their capability to shine. To be fair, I do feel like Jude Law is giving an exceptional performance as Putin, particularly in the seamlessness of his facial contortions and body language, that feel frighteningly authentic of the tyrannical leader. It’s just that Assayas makes the strangely surreal decision for Law and the other actors to perform without Russian language, or at the very least a Russian accent, and all of the aforementioned seamless immersion of Law disappearing into the character is compromised when the thickness of his British accent frequently distracting my investment to the character, in turn limiting Law’s investment to character with the single laziest aspect condemning his efforts. As for Paul Dano, he’s fine in the confidence and conviction that he lends to deliveries, but the emotionality of his turn feels very muted and one-dimensional, making him feel like the least interesting character to a movie that literally centers around his journey. Regretfully, Alicia Vikander and Jeffrey Wright fare no better, as the former is relegated to a thankless role that serves as nothing more than a device to enact Baranov’s incremental humanity, with no kind of opportunity to make the role her own, and the latter, while still full of the same dryly blunt charisma and astute articulation for ice-breaking observation, is limited to these small and sporadic doses that aren’t frequent enough to elicit a measurable impact to the movie’s integrity, especially in that he’s reduced to steering Dano’s responses for the entirety of his screentime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OVERALL
The Wizard of the Kremlin is an overly indulgent and inertly enacted political thriller without any of the morality or palpable urgency to Olivier Assayas banally bland direction that could help elevate the mundanity of the movie’s arduous pacing throughout a nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime. While the film has admirable components pertaining to Jude Law’s transformative portrayal of Vladimir Putin, as well as articulating the compromised decisions of Russia that bare strikingly similar to current day America, the film is a morally restrained swim into shallow waters that sinks quickly in the overly-expositional graveyard of its opening act, leaving this wizard free of the brains, heart, and bravery needed to capitalize on such a uniquely opportunistic angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Grade: 4.5 or D-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Directed By Olivier Assayas Starring – Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law The Plot – A young Russian filmmaker (Dano) becomes an unlikely advisor to Vladimir Putin (Law) as he rises to power in post-Soviet Russia, navigating the new era’s complexities and chaos. Rated R for adult language, some sexual material, graphic nudity, violence and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9648"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9650,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9648\/revisions\/9650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}