Who is Vadim Baranov? The real-life inspiration behind The Wizard of the Kremlin explained

As far as recent casting decisions go, there can't be too many more eye-catching than the choice of Jude Law to play Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin, the new film from French writer/director Olivier Assayas.

The political drama sees Law star as the Russian leader during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the early days of the Russian Federation, following his rise to power from relatively humble beginnings.

Law is joined in the cast by a number of starry names, including Alicia Vikander and Jeffrey Wright, but it's Paul Dano who takes centre stage as Vadim Baranov, the 'Wizard' of the film's title.

We follow the events primarily from the perspective of this character, who is shown to have played a large part in informing Putin's leadership style and political outlook.

If you're wondering who exactly Vadim Baranov is – and if he's actually a real person – read on for everything you need to know.

Is Vadim Baranov from The Wizard of the Kremlin a real person?

Technically, no – although the film is set against a backdrop of true events, and explores very real themes about democracy in Russia and Putin's rise to power, there is no such person as Vadim Baranov.

The character – a young artist who becomes an influential government official and spin doctor – is the creation of Italian/Swiss political scientist Giuliano da Empoli, who wrote the 2022 novel on which the film is based.

However, while a man with the name Vadim Baranov does not exist, it wouldn't be correct to say he is entirely fictional; rather the character is very clearly inspired by someone who was involved in Russian politics at the time and was very much a key part of Putin's orbit.

Who is Vadim Baranov based on?

The inspiration for Baranov is Vladislav Surkov, a politician who was a key adviser to Putin. He served as his first deputy chief of staff from 1999 to 2011, and later as deputy prime minister of Russia for two years between 2011 and 2013.

Like Baranov, Surkov had artistic interests – including working as an avant-garde theatre director – before moving into politics, and has also been described as Putin's "man in the shadows".

Indeed, da Empoli has directly acknowledged the parallels between the real figure and his creation, and previously explained to Paris Match that he found Surkov "so romantic that he freed me and pushed me to become a novelist", after first learning of him while researching an essay about the advisers of populist leaders.

So while Baranov is not exactly the same as Surkov, and the film makes clear that events have been fictionalised with “artistic intent”, it is clear that the film skews fairly closely to reality, at least insofar as the influence Baranov/Surkov had on Putin as well as his somewhat unconventional profile.

Meanwhile, several other characters who appear in the film – including oligarch Boris Berezovsky, motorcycle club leader and activist Alexander Zaldostanov, former mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, writer and dissident Eduard Limonov, chess player Garry Kasparov and Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin – are very much real figures.

So in short, while The Wizard of the Kremlin is not a documentary, nor is it entirely a work of fiction.

The Wizard of the Kremlin is now showing in UK cinemas.

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