The brainchild of this operation is none other than Polish director Besaleel, perhaps better known as Patryk Vega. He’s the fellow behind such visceral treats as Pitbull, Mafia Women, and Botoks. Vega’s work, known for its grisly violence and slick production values, has now ventured into uncharted territory with his English-language debut through Putin.
Our dear Vega, in a daring blend of necessity and innovation, devised his own AI technology to concoct the film’s version of Putin. A high-resolution deepfake has been created to create something new. “After nearly two years of development, we’ve created our pioneering AI-driven technology,” he said, enabling them to craft a cinematic Putin sans any real human model. Quite the workaround, isn’t it?
Originally called The Vor in Law—a nod to elite organised crime figures—the film also weaves in footage by Ukrainian filmmakers amidst the Russian invasion. The trailer, a curious showcase of Putin in scenarios ranging from wearing a soiled nappy to martial arts brawls and confrontations with Boris Yeltsin, certainly sets a distinct tone.
This trailer for the biopic of Vladimir Putin is, to put it mildly, a chaotic jumble that seems less concerned with storytelling and more fixated on delivering shock value. The opening scene alone, featuring Putin in diapers with an overflow of excrement, sets a tone that is both bewildering and distasteful. It’s a visual that might leave one questioning the director’s choices more than Putin’s politics.
The text labeling Putin a “Russian Dictator” is a bold, almost cheeky move, clearly dismissing any pretense of neutrality. The scene transitions to Putin playing the piano while Russia metaphorically burns, juxtaposed with a newscaster’s voice reporting his electoral victory. This attempts to paint a picture of indifference and autocracy, but the delivery feels ham-fisted and rather on-the-nose.
The return to the diaper motif with Putin rolling on the floor calls into question the maturity and intent behind this portrayal. Is this meant to infantilize a world leader or simply to provoke? The sequence in the karate dojo, interspersed with flashes of his youth and then back to the diaper, tries to meld the absurd with the biographical but ends up feeling disjointed and superficial.
Putin’s scripted assurances about governance and law-abiding leadership, interspersed with violent imagery and an oddly depicted Boris Yeltsin, attempt to juxtapose his public statements against his actions. However, this is undercut by the farcical presentation, including Putin in yet another soiled diaper. The gravitas of his statements about the “freedom of thought, speech, and private property” is completely undermined by the ludicrous visuals that accompany them.
The trailer takes a bizarre turn with Yelstin warning against world destruction, followed by Putin seducing a young woman while dismissing another as “erased from history.” This melodramatic flair borders on the absurd, reducing complex political and personal dynamics to soap-opera antics.
The final montage of violence, historical references, and a Hitler-esque Putin in a carriage is bewilderingly anachronistic and tastelessly executed. Concluding with the ominous “Inside the mind of Putin,” the trailer leaves one more perplexed and possibly offended than enlightened.
Overall, the trailer seems to mistake edginess for insight, cluttering its narrative with jarring visuals and mixed metaphors that do little to foster a genuine understanding of one of the world’s most controversial figures. Instead, it comes off as a tactless and overblown spectacle that might alienate viewers more than it engages.
