Putin biopic challenges AI acceptance in films: While people find themselves juggling between human talent and the world of AI, the upcoming biopic based on Russian President Vladimir Putin tests the temperature for how much AI the film industry and the audience are prepared to accept. The film titled Putin is made under the direction of Polish director Besaleel, also known as Patryk Vega. The film aims to recreate Russian leader Putin, using artificial intelligence that was developed in-house with his own technology company, AIO, creating what the director terms the “first deepfake” feature film. Moreover, the film is being shopped to international distributors at next week’s Cannes film market.
How will ‘Putin’ test the audience with a deep fake film?
Patryk Vega, who now goes by the artistic name Besaleel, is best known for his gangster films, including local hits Pitbull and Women of Mafia. Now, the filmmaker is all set to make his English-language debut with Putin. It will be the first deep fake film, and it would be interesting to see how the audience takes this AI-generated film.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Besaleel said he shot scenes of the Russian leader using a Polish actor with a similar build and used AI technology to “overlay Putin’s face on the actor, creating a realistic effect in the highest resolution.” He claimed that the results AI has given wouldn’t have been possible with traditional make-up or prosthetics.
The film will fall into the political and psychological thriller genre and depict Russian President Putin’s life story as the rise of the ultimate gangster. It was originally titled The Vor in Law, a term used for elite organized crime figures. The film recreates several real-life events, including the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis, the carpet bombing of Chechnya under Putin’s watch, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, incorporating footage shot by Ukrainian filmmakers during the invasion.
However, what takes the spotlight here is Putin himself, or rather Besaleel’s AI version of him, and it’s not a pretty picture. In the trailer for the film, the director shows Putin shivering in soiled diapers, humiliating his ex-wife Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya by flaunting his affair with his much younger girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, as well as cold-heartedly ordering bombings and political assassinations.
The film was announced in May 2022 following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine. However, Besaleel said that it took more than two years to develop and train the AI needed to recreate Putin’s likeness on screen.
The tech’s real test of efficacy will be on September 26, when “Putin” begins its theatrical rollout in Eastern Europe.
