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This image shows Jude Law, as Vladimir Putin, left, and Paul Dano, as Vadim Baranov, in a scene from "The Wizard of the Kremlin." (Carole Bethel/Cinetic Media via AP)

VENICE – Jude Law transforms into Vladimir Putin for Olivier Assayas’ “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” which has its world premiere Sunday at the Venice Film Festival.

The film is an adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli’s bestselling book of the same name, an account of the Russian President's rise to power alongside a fictional adviser called Vadim Baranov, who is played by Paul Dano. It's partially set in the early 1990s amid post-Soviet chaos.

Dano’s character was inspired by the real political strategist Vladislav Sourkov, who was considered the architect of the tightly controlled political system created under Pu

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