_The Italian_ is a touching film about the precious humanity of one orphaned, six-year-old Russian boy. The film has many strong points, and it is hard not to be moved by the child's desperate, purblind plight.
However, the unfortunate political subtext of this film seems utterly lost on all of the other reviewers here thus far. In short, our natural compassion for abandoned children's welfare is manipulated by this movie, and the resulting impact of this film in Russia has been and will be precisely the abandonment of thousands of precious children who would otherwise have stable, loving homes. This film lies squarely in the detestable Russian tradition of using the plight of the multitudes of Russian orphans to score nationalistic political points. Note how this film would affect someone who knows nothing about the true situation of orphans in the Russian Federation. The viewer would come away feeling that orphanages are filled with greedy administrators eager to "sell children" to "foreigners"-- children who really belong in their "homeland," because, after all, the film subtly implies, the "loss" of these children to foreigners is somehow connected to the loss of national prestige in Russia. Many a nationalistic politician in Russia has made precisely this political pose, and the direct result of this has been the unnecessary, continued suffering and abandonment of untold thousands of Russian orphans. This film masquerades as a plea for children's welfare, but it has only hurt the very children it pretends to defend.
I have worked in Russian orphanages. The reality this craven and ignorant film denies? The staff of orphanages are, by and large, without doubt the great, unsung heroes of Russia, and there are thousands upon thousands of desperate children whose placement in stable and loving homes has been HALTED because of politicians who push the imbecilic and inhuman chauvinistic ideology seen in this film.
However, the unfortunate political subtext of this film seems utterly lost on all of the other reviewers here thus far. In short, our natural compassion for abandoned children's welfare is manipulated by this movie, and the resulting impact of this film in Russia has been and will be precisely the abandonment of thousands of precious children who would otherwise have stable, loving homes. This film lies squarely in the detestable Russian tradition of using the plight of the multitudes of Russian orphans to score nationalistic political points. Note how this film would affect someone who knows nothing about the true situation of orphans in the Russian Federation. The viewer would come away feeling that orphanages are filled with greedy administrators eager to "sell children" to "foreigners"-- children who really belong in their "homeland," because, after all, the film subtly implies, the "loss" of these children to foreigners is somehow connected to the loss of national prestige in Russia. Many a nationalistic politician in Russia has made precisely this political pose, and the direct result of this has been the unnecessary, continued suffering and abandonment of untold thousands of Russian orphans. This film masquerades as a plea for children's welfare, but it has only hurt the very children it pretends to defend.
I have worked in Russian orphanages. The reality this craven and ignorant film denies? The staff of orphanages are, by and large, without doubt the great, unsung heroes of Russia, and there are thousands upon thousands of desperate children whose placement in stable and loving homes has been HALTED because of politicians who push the imbecilic and inhuman chauvinistic ideology seen in this film.