The increasingly porous line between entertainment and politics is the central theme of
The Wizard of the Kremlin. Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) is the theatre director and reality TV producer earmarked as the man to help position Vladimir Putin as the successor to the ailing Boris Yeltsin. "It's the same job, I'm merely suggesting that you graduate to the next level,” he’s told when he protests that he’s unqualified for a role in politics. “Stop making up stories, start inventing reality."
