Jude Law is not afraid of Vladimir Putin

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• Jude Law can be seen as Vladimir Putin in the new film "The Wizard of the Kremlin".
• According to Jude Law, he is not afraid of the Russian president's reaction.
• In his adaptation of the novel, director Assayas sheds light on Putin's rise to Russian president.

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Jude Law can be seen as Vladimir Putin in a new film - in his own words, he was not afraid of the Russian president's reaction. "I hope I'm not naive, but I didn't fear any negative repercussions," said the 52-year-old in Venice.

"The Wizard of the Kremlin" was due to premiere at the film festival on Sunday evening. The work by French director Olivier Assayas is competing with 20 other films for the Golden Lion. In his adaptation of the novel, Assayas sheds light on Putin's rise to Russian president.

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The story is told from the perspective of a young advisor (Paul Dano) who, although a fictional character, is based on the Russian politician Vladislav Surkov.

Didn't want an imitation of Vladimir Putin

"I had faith in Olivier and the script and was confident that this story would be told intelligently, with nuance and care," said Law. "We didn't want controversy for the sake of controversy. More importantly, I wanted to realize that this was a character within a larger story. We didn't want to define anyone."

Assayas and he agreed that they did not want to portray "an imitation of Vladimir Putin". "We obviously had a lot of references for that phase of Putin's life and just tried to find a resemblance to me, I think. It's amazing what a good wig can do."

Positive experience from the movie

Speaking about his preparation for the role, Law said: "Obviously there was a lot of footage to look at. Once you start, it becomes a bit of an obsession, so you're always looking for new material. (...) For me, the hardest part was that the public image we see reveals very, very little."

Asked if he took anything positive from the role, Law said: "I learned judo." Putin is known for being a judo athlete.