The current political landscape gave way to a rather more glamorous one on Sunday afternoon as the 82nd Venice Film Festival hosted new espionage thriller Wizard Of The Kremlin. 

In what could arguably be the unlikeliest casting since John Wayne played Genghis Khan, British star Jude Law stars as Russian President Vladimir Putin in this adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli's 2022 novel. 

And he was on had to promote the film alongside glamorous co-star Alicia Vikander in north-eastern Italy as this year's ceremony reaches its halfway point. 

Somewhat inevitably, Vikander - who plays the fictional Ksenia to Law's Putin in their new film - overshadowed the British actor in a sweeping blue evening gown as she sashayed onto the red carpet ahead of Sunday's official screening. 

The Swedish actress, 36, was met by a wall of photographers evidently keen to capture her off-the-shoulder dress as she posed alongside Law, 52, who looked suitably suave in a white tuxedo and black dress trousers. 

The pair were accompanied by American star Paul Dano -  Vadim Baranov in the new film - director Olivier Assayas before being welcomed by festival organiser Alberto Barbera. 

Law was supported at the premiere by his wife Phillipa Coan, who looked striking in a figure-hugging silvery gown boasting a keyhole cutout.

The psychologist tied the knot with Law in 2019, with the couple going on to welcome two children together, in 2020 and 2023.

Law is the father of seven kids in total - sharing Rafferty, 28, Iris, 24, and Rudy, 22, with ex-wife Sadie Frost, 15-year-old Sophia with model Samantha Burke and Ada, 10, with singer-songwriter Catherine Harding.

Co-star Tom Sturridge was also on hand to promote the film at Venice, putting on a loved-up display with his fiancée Alexa Chung.

Model Chung, 41, displayed her famous fashion expertise in a flirty bright pink dress with intricate lace detailing.

The 'It girl' beamed with joy as she skipped down the red carpet in a pair of towering block heels and cosied up to her actor fiancé.

Sturridge, 39, cut a typically dapper figure in a navy blue double-breasted suit with a polka dot tie and dark shades.

The Sandman star stars in the film as private banker Dmitri Sidorov, a character based on Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Law insisted before Sunday's premiere that he didn't enter his latest project naively, and that he also does not fear repercussions for his portrayal of infamous leader Putin.

'I felt safe in the hands of Olivier,' he said. 'This is a story that was going to be told intelligently with nuance and consideration.  We weren´t looking for controversy for controversy´s sake.'

Law, who wore prosthetics for his transformation, said his Putin is 'a character in a much larger story.'

'We weren´t trying to define anything about anyone,' he added.

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 fictional adviser Vadim Baranov, played by Dano. 

It is partially set in the early 1990s amid post-Soviet chaos and continues through 2014.

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 Putin. In 2013, he resigned his post of deputy prime minister.

Much of the story is centered on Dano's character, recounting his own rise in political maneuvering and the world he helped create.

'The wizard is the person who is in the background, so there´s a casting of a spell that is happening,' Dano said.

The Wizard of the Kremlin is sure to provoke conversations as Russia´s three-year war in Ukraine continues. 

Efforts to stop the fighting with a ceasefire and end Europe´s biggest conflict since World War II through a comprehensive peace settlement have made no progress despite intense diplomatic maneuvering.

'The film is very much about how modern politics, 21st-century politics were invented,' Assayas said. 'What´s going on right now is not only terrifying but it´s even more terrifying by the fact that we have not found the answer.' 

The book was written before Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, but da Empoli said that even if it's about an earlier period, it was 'right.'

'It's still relevant today, three years later, under different circumstances,' da Empoli said.

The film marks the English language debut for the French filmmaker best known for films like Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, as well as the miniseries Carlos. 

Vikander, who he directed in Irma Vep, co-stars as Vadim Baranov's on-again-off-again girlfriend. Her character, the filmmaker said, is supposed to embody 'freedom.'

'This is a story about a lot of men talking in rooms,' she said. 'But Olivier told me that we need a world that shows the women who inhabit it also. A female counterpart but a very moral one as well.' 

Production took place in Latvia as they couldn´t film in Russia.