Last year, star Jude Law remarked he “didn’t fear any repercussions” for portraying Vladimir Putin in a new film. The movie, though, may align so closely with the carefully constructed image promoted by official channels that, domestically, it functions as a compliment instead of a challenge.
Over a long period, the Kremlin and the country's pop-culture machine have collaborated to forge a tailor-made version of the president. This figure is an infallible strategist without age or mistakes, an ex-intelligence officer reframed as a local 007 who consistently understands beyond what he shows.
“In Russia, the constructed Putin has long eclipsed the actual person.”
A notable instance is a television show launched last fall, directed by a Kremlin supporter. Its main character is a fictional blue-eyed lieutenant colonel inexplicably chosen to “save” Russia from disorder. Although he is called a different name, the implication is clear: the savior must be a familiar security officer.
International depictions often end up reinforcing this same narrative rather than undercutting it. A new film based on a bestselling satirical novel aims to subvert the leader's mythology by presenting him as a symptom but as a symptom, moving the focus to the political machinery surrounding him.
In the film, the president is shown as having been chosen by influential figures to stabilise the nation because he is “young, athletic and a spy”. They visit him and practically plead him to take the top job. He replies is that he would rather govern from the shadows, seeking permanent power.
This tale is the Kremlin’s export myth: the cool, reluctant strategist guided by fate. Historically, these events ever happened.
Nobody actually pleaded with him to accept the role. The position was in essence a casting call with many contenders. Central to this process stood an influential oligarch from the Yeltsin era who expected to run the state in practice.
“The goal wasn't a powerful leader, they needed someone malleable, someone who would obey orders.”
Experts agree that the notion of him as a master operative was constructed retrospectively. Claims about his “recruitment work” in East Germany do not stand up to scrutiny. In essence, he was an administrator and technical tasks, a mid-level functionary not engaged in actual agent work.
Curiously, the shift to framing him as a “007” could partly have been triggered by the actor's debut as 007. The grittier interpretation prompted Russian media and online audiences to make comparisons with Putin. Edited images swapping Craig’s face with Putin’s surfaced on city centers, fueling the increasing trend to frame him as a Russian 007.
With Jude Law, an star popular with viewers there, the Kremlin are likely to seize the opportunity to portray this choice as a small victory. Its exclusion of mass protests, the political rivals, or prominent activists in the story, despite covering the past decade, is a welcome aspect for state propaganda.
In Russian cinema, the president is frequently an omnipotent figure who remains unseen directly. His influence is signaled through portraits or calls “from above”. Now, he at last gets a famous actor's visage—one that could unintentionally validate the very myths it might seek to examine.
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