Film Festival: Jude Law: No fear of Putin

In a new film, Jude Law can be seen as Vladimir Putin – he was not afraid of the reaction of the Russian president. “I hope I’m not naive, but I didn’t fear any negative effects,” said the 52-year-old in Venice.

At the film festival, “The Wizard of the Kremlin” should celebrate premiere on Sunday evening. The work of the French director Olivier Assayas competes with 20 other films around the Golden Lion. In his novel adaptation, Assayas illuminates Putin to the Russian President.

It is told from the perspective of a young consultant (Paul Dano) who is a fictional figure, but is to be based on the Russian politician Vladislaw Surkow.

Law: Wladimir Putin did not want to imitation

“I had confidence in Olivier and the script and was convinced that this story is intelligently, nuanced and told carefully,” said Law. “We did not want controversy for the controversy. It was even more important to me to make me aware that it was a figure within a larger story. We didn’t want to define anyone.”

Assayas and he agreed that they wanted to represent “no imitation of Vladimir Putin”. “Of course we had a lot of references for this phase in Putin’s life and simply tried to find a similarity to me, I think. It’s amazing what a good wig can do.”

Jude Law took this positive experience from the film

Law said about his preparation for the role: “Of course there was a lot of film material that you could see. As soon as you started, it becomes a kind of obsession so that you always look for new material. (…) For me, the most difficult part was that the public image we see reveals very, very little.”

Asked if he took something positive out of the role, said Law: “I learned Judo.” Putin is known for being a judo athlete.