Director Olivier Assayas always brings in politics to create intriguing projects which feel either compelling or overwhelming. I have seen this the most in Personal Shopper and Clouds of Sils Maria. He is good at creating a narrative where the focus is on an individual becoming a bigger human. However, the outside world is where the layers of conflict interfere. Many moments in his films are bold and daring. The Wizard of the Kremlin brings in falling from power over success. The film takes place in Russia with a backstory that starts with revolutionary dynamics.

The film begins with Rowland, played by Jeffrey Wright. He is a journalist visiting Russia. The narration begins with him primarily covering the landscape in Russia where the dangerous territory is. The story expands when Rowland meets Vadim Baranov, played by Paul Dano. Vadim has had much success in the arts and producing movies in Russia. However, things get tainted when he partners with Vladimir Putin (Jude Law). As the film moves forward, the scenes in Russia travel back to the past. It goes through the times when Vadim had success, and he explains all of this to Rowland. Assayas’ direction is faithful regarding how politics operate and often collapse instead of delivering anything positive. The politics in Russia continue to evolve and lead to nail-biting. The Wizard of the Kremlin pushes the narrative, yet I felt that the storyline kept sinking from superb to the point where things simply fell out of focus.

This is not Assayas’ best or his worst project. The artistic value and realism simply do not see eye-to-eye. There was phenomenal acting, but the misconstrued ends are too bold. Overall, it is still cinematically enticing given his tight grasp of complicated subject matter. Still, many aspects could have been improved upon. I felt there should have been more historical background provided instead of focusing on the abuse of power to fulfill the narrative. Overall, two out of four stars for The Wizard of the Kremlin.