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The Italian

Written By Nobuhiro Hosoki

 

Documentarian Andrei Kravchuk is confidently assured that his first feature, "Italian" has been nominated as a Russian film entry for the Oscars.  Much of the action takes place in a crumbling building in a certain sector of a Russian town beset by a gritty, icy, gloomy winter.  The film pivots on a plucky six-year-old named Vanya (Kolya Spiridonov), who lives in a grim, overcrowded state orphanage operated by a corrupt adoption broker filled with malice and greed referred to only as Madame (Mariya Kuznetsove). Her daily job is to bring prospective foreign parents to the orphanage, then arrange for them to adopt cute Russian children--turning the orphanage into a marketplace for kids orphaned by tragedy or abandoned by circumstance.

One day, a well-heeled Italian couple arrives, already been handpicked by the drunken headmaster (Yuri Itskov). They are smitten with Vanya, lavishing him with candy that he later shares with a teenaged gang who lives in the boiler room.  He imagines heading for warmer climate and is set to lead a privileged life, but this shifts all of a sudden when a distraught mother who'd abandoned her kid years ago shows up begging for a child that is already gone. She is so distraught that she later leaps into the path of a moving train.

This incident has a huge impact on these youngters, particularly Vanya, who gets caught up with the idea of discovering his real mother. With the help of tough older orphans, he learns to read in order to sneak into the administraive offices to inspect his personal file, which lists the address of his birth mother. Soon he's off on a train to search out his own origins.

This child odyssey has an uncertain destiny. Unfortunately, Vanya is being relentlessly pursued by Madame and the headmaster who stand to lose a bundle of money if this thing fails. His determination allows him to do extraordinary things on his heroic quest. Yet, there is some distraction in the form of the headmaster, who conveniently has a change of heart during his hot pursuit and decides to let Vanya go, making for a rather lame ending.

Still, director Kravchuk spends half his film providing a fascinating glimpse into this institutional system, exposing with complicated moral justification a troubled vein in contemporary Russia, somewhat reminiscent of the approach of Vittorio De Sica.  Throughout his film, Kravchuk avoids pandering and sentimental trapping. Kid actor Kolya speaks volume when he says something with his eyes alone. Nothing is more authentic than "out of the mouths (or eyes) of babes." 

Directed by Andrei Kravchuk
Written (in Russian, with English subtitles) by Andrei Romanov
Director of photography:Alexander Burov
Edited by Tamara Lipartiya
Music by Alexander Kneiffel
Production designer: Vladimir Svetozarov;
Produced by Vladimir Husid and Vladimir Bogoyavlensky
Released by Sony Pictures Classics.
Running time: 99 minutes.

Cast: Kolya Spiridonov (Vanya)
Denis Moiseenko (Kolyan)
Sasha Syrotkin (Sery)
Olga Shuvalova (Irka)
Dima Zemlyanko (Anton)
Maria Kuznetsova (Madam),
and Yuri Itskov (Headmaster).