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Last year, star Jude Law remarked he had no concerns about backlash for portraying Vladimir Putin in a cinematic adaptation. The movie, though, may align so closely with the mythologized version circulated by official channels that, domestically, it functions as a compliment instead of a challenge.

The Manufactured Superhero

For years, the Kremlin and the country's entertainment industry have collaborated to forge a made-to-measure version of the president. This character is an infallible strategist without age or mistakes, a former spy reframed as a Russian James Bond who consistently understands beyond what he shows.

“In Russia, the constructed Putin has long overshadowed the actual person.”

Screen-Based Support

A notable instance is a TV series launched last fall, directed by a pro-government filmmaker. Its main character is a fictional security officer inexplicably chosen to “save” the nation from chaos. While the character's name a different name, the implication is unmistakable: the hero must be a known figure from the secret services.

Western portrayals often end up buttressing this same narrative rather than debunking it. A new film based on a bestselling satirical novel sets out to undermine the leader's mythology by presenting him as a symptom but as a symptom, shifting the narrative weight to the spin doctors surrounding him.

The Myth of the Reluctant Leader

In the film, the president is presented as having been chosen by influential figures to stabilise the nation because he is “a fit former intelligence agent”. The oligarchs approach him and practically plead him to take the top job. His response is that he would rather govern from the background, desiring permanent power.

This narrative is a key piece of state propaganda: the detached, unwilling mastermind guided by fate. Historically, none of this ever happened.

The Reality of the Casting Call

No one actually pleaded with Putin to take the job. The position was in essence a selection process with no shortage of contenders. Central to the selection stood a powerful businessman from the previous administration who planned to control the country in practice.

• His list included several politicians, including an opposition leader later murdered and a security service director.
• Per an expert who studied his rise, the future president simply fitted the necessary criteria: obedient, from the security services, and politically neutral.
• A property developer familiar with the events said the key criterion was controllability and loyalty, not strength.

“The goal wasn't a strong candidate, they needed someone controllable, someone who would obey orders.”

Building the 007 Persona

Experts agree that the notion of him as a master operative was constructed retrospectively. Stories about his “recruitment work” in Dresden do not stand up to scrutiny. Fundamentally, he was an administrator and routine duties, a low-level clerk not involved with field operations.

Curiously, the move to depicting him as a “007” could partly have been inspired by Daniel Craig’s debut as James Bond. The grittier interpretation prompted Russian media and online audiences to draw visual parallels with Putin. Edited images replacing Craig’s face with his surfaced on Moscow streets, feeding the increasing trend to frame him as a local secret agent.

A Propaganda Win?

With Jude Law, an star well-liked by Russian audiences, the Kremlin are likely to seize the chance to frame his casting as a minor diplomatic triumph. The film's exclusion of mass protests, the opposition, or prominent activists from its narrative, even though it includes the past decade, is a pleasant bonus for official messaging.

In Russian cinema, Putin is often an omnipotent figure who never appears directly. He is hinted at through photographs or calls “from above”. In this new film, he at last gets a recognizable face—one that may inadvertently echo the very myths it might seek to examine.