The actor plays a younger Putin in the political thriller directed by Olivier Assayas, which charts the leader’s rise to power after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival yesterday.
Law (52) stars alongside Succession star Paul Dano, who plays a crafty, fictional spin-doctor who aids Putin’s efforts in climbing the ladder, from behind the scenes.
The film premiered as the war in Ukraine continues to rage on, just hours after a massive overnight attack was launched on 14 regions of Ukraine.
This also comes after former speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Andriy Parubiy was shot dead by gunmen on the streets in Lviv.
At the festival, Law said he was not worried about the political ramifications of playing the role in a film which could be seen as decidedly critical of the Russian leader.
“I hope not naively… but no, I didn’t fear repercussions,” he said. “I felt confident in the hands of Olivier [Assayas] and the script and that this was a story that was going to be told intelligently, and with nuance and consideration.”
Jude Law (left) as Vladimir Putin in ‘The Wizard Of The Kremlin’
He went on to say that the film isn’t “looking for controversy for controversy’s sake”, explaining that his role as Putin was “a character within a broader story”.
“We weren’t trying to define anything about anyone,” he added.
Law admitted that before playing the high-profile part, he understood “very little” about Russian politics and that starring in the film was a “revelation”.
He explained the difficulties of playing Putin, who he described as “The Man With No Face,” noting: “The public face we see gives very, very little away.”
The actor struggled to name any positives he found in the character of Putin while playing the role. With a laugh, The Holiday star said: “Well – I learnt Judo! I took my own positive from that!”
When asked if he believed Russia rules the world, the film’s director, Olivier Assayas, laughed and said: “That’s an easy one – the answer is no.”
“The film is about how modern politics, 21st-century politics was invented, and part of that evil raised from the rise to power of Vladimir Putin in Russia.”
Assayas (70) expressed his fears of the rise of Russia as the war in Ukraine ploughs ahead. The director said: “We made the movie about what politics has become, and the very scary and dangerous situation we all feel we are in.”
Also in the film is American Fiction star Jeffrey Wright, who said that the film serves as a warning to US politics under the Trump administration.
“Yes [the US] has had impulses towards fascism, autocracy and all manner of sins,” Wright said.
“Even within the time frame of the original sins of America – even within that grotesqueness – we had an idea that we could be better. If that is lost – as it is now – then we become the thing we see in this film.” (© Evening Standard)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.independent.ie ’
