The Kremlin Wizard 2K: Jude Law Dominates an Unbalanced Story
An ambitious film that finds its best moments when it stops following the protagonist
The Kremlin Wizard starts with an intriguing idea: to tell the rise of post-Soviet Russia through the eyes of a man who remained in the shadows of power. However, Olivier Assayas takes too long to get to the heart of the story. The long introduction dedicated to the private life of the protagonist, played by Paul Dano, slows down the pace and ultimately weighs down a narrative that should focus on the country's political transformations.
The film only changes pace with the arrival of Vladimir Putin. At that moment, Jude Law asserts himself with such a stage presence that he redefines the balance of the entire work. From there, the most interesting aspects emerge: the relationship with the oligarchs, the construction of consensus, and some reflections on the new Russian geopolitical structure.
The Man in the Shadows Takes a Backseat
Assayas touches on crucial events in recent history without truly delving into them, preferring an episodic approach that often leaves the feeling of witnessing a synthesis rather than an investigation. Visually sober to excess and penalized by a generous runtime, The Kremlin Wizard remains a film of great ambition that finds its best moments precisely when it stops following the protagonist and becomes captivated by the figure of Putin.
Presumably native digital footage, unspecified resolution, image format 2.39:1 (1920 x 1080/24p), AVC/MPEG-4 encoding on a BD-50 dual layer. Assayas's footage is enjoyable to watch even on large screens, with encoding that does not fail to emphasize even background details, with rich colorimetry, convincing blacks, and overall solidity.
Dual DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Italian and English tracks, both 16-bit, for a dialogue-centric experience that, in addition to the excellent speech from the center channel, also offers transitions between echoes, effects, and the excellent overall dynamics that accompany it to the end credits. Last but not least, Dolby Digital 2.0 channels with audio description for the visually impaired.
The extras include approximately 30 minutes of interviews and insights into the complexity of the work and performances with Paul Dano, Jude Law, and the director. Italian subtitles are included.