'Italianetz' (THE Italian) is a strong Russian film from the pen of Andrei Romanov under the direction of young artist Andrei Kravchuk - the kind of film that enlightens us about problems in Russia but also provides one of the more tender stories about a child's resilience on film.
Apparently in modern Russia there are orphanages for abandoned children which serve as repositories for adoption by needy parents throughout the world, adoptions brokered by savvy Russian sponsors who, despite the seeming heartlessness of their vocation, are doing a service in providing homes for these unwanted children. The orphanages depicted in THE Italian are not of the Charles Dickens' workhouse place types, but rather are homes run by kind people who encourage and support the children in a loving way.
Vanya Solntsev (Kolya Spiridonov) is a six-year-old orphan who has just been selected for adoption by an Italian couple visiting his orphanage. At first happy about his 'good fortune', he soon encounters a distraught mother (Dariya Lesnikova) looking for her own abandoned son and Vanya longs to return to his own birth mother. He is taught to read by a kind prostitute Irka (Olga Shuvalova) enabling him to search the orphanage files to discover the whereabouts of his birth mother. Much against the advice of his fellow orphans and those rowdy boys with whom he associates outside the orphanage, Vanya sets out to find his mother and in hot pursuit are the brokers for the adoption and the police. He hides, encounters all manner of obstacles and misfortunes on his journey, but at last he discovers his birth mother and the film ends with one of the more tender concepts imaginable.
The cinematography by Aleksandr Burov is moody and captures the feeling of peril Vanya encounters. In one of the more original musical scores for film Aleksandr Knaifel has elected to compose themes played solely on the high treble keys of the piano, on the xylophone and on bells: the feeling is one suggesting the small stature of the children, making their views the more important ones of the story. The cast is uniformly outstanding with special credit going to the warmth of the performance by young Kolya Spiridonov. Recommended for all audiences. In Russian, Italian, some English with subtitles. Grady Harp
Apparently in modern Russia there are orphanages for abandoned children which serve as repositories for adoption by needy parents throughout the world, adoptions brokered by savvy Russian sponsors who, despite the seeming heartlessness of their vocation, are doing a service in providing homes for these unwanted children. The orphanages depicted in THE Italian are not of the Charles Dickens' workhouse place types, but rather are homes run by kind people who encourage and support the children in a loving way.
Vanya Solntsev (Kolya Spiridonov) is a six-year-old orphan who has just been selected for adoption by an Italian couple visiting his orphanage. At first happy about his 'good fortune', he soon encounters a distraught mother (Dariya Lesnikova) looking for her own abandoned son and Vanya longs to return to his own birth mother. He is taught to read by a kind prostitute Irka (Olga Shuvalova) enabling him to search the orphanage files to discover the whereabouts of his birth mother. Much against the advice of his fellow orphans and those rowdy boys with whom he associates outside the orphanage, Vanya sets out to find his mother and in hot pursuit are the brokers for the adoption and the police. He hides, encounters all manner of obstacles and misfortunes on his journey, but at last he discovers his birth mother and the film ends with one of the more tender concepts imaginable.
The cinematography by Aleksandr Burov is moody and captures the feeling of peril Vanya encounters. In one of the more original musical scores for film Aleksandr Knaifel has elected to compose themes played solely on the high treble keys of the piano, on the xylophone and on bells: the feeling is one suggesting the small stature of the children, making their views the more important ones of the story. The cast is uniformly outstanding with special credit going to the warmth of the performance by young Kolya Spiridonov. Recommended for all audiences. In Russian, Italian, some English with subtitles. Grady Harp