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The Italian (Italianetz) (2005)

tomatometer

91

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 93
Fresh: 85 | Rotten: 8

Poignant and unforgettable, The Italian stands out from other European melodramas. Like its extraordinary child lead, this Russian drama about an orphan's search for his birth mother is small in size and monumental in pathos.

93

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 2

Poignant and unforgettable, The Italian stands out from other European melodramas. Like its extraordinary child lead, this Russian drama about an orphan's search for his birth mother is small in size and monumental in pathos.

audience

68

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 26,244

My Rating

Movie Info

An abandoned Russian child forsakes a life of luxury in the name of finding his true mother in director Andrei Kravchuk's affecting drama. Vanya is a six-year-old boy who is about to be adopted by a loving Italian couple, but this is a crucial moment in his life, and there are choices to be made. Will Vanya be content to simply spend his days basking in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun, or will his desire to know his true mother slowly eat away at him from the inside for the rest of his life?

May 22, 2007

Sony Pictures Classics

Cast

All Critics (96) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (87) | Rotten (8) | DVD (8)

This 2005 story about a Russian boy whose mother has given him up may be derivative, but it's still engrossing, largely because of its appealing juvenile lead, Kolya Spiridonov.

December 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This film is about many things, but the magic key that unlocks the treasure chest is literacy.

April 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

At times, the difficulties that Vanya encounters strain credulity. The Italian doesn't bother to infuse its characters with complex motivations. They're either Bad or Good.

April 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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The ending isn't exactly happily-ever-after, but it leaves you with a deep-down respect and affection for this determined little tyke who perseveres against all odds.

March 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Comment
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Wise, resilient children aren't especially new to the movies, but when they're presented this sensitively, they're always worth revisiting.

March 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | Comment
Detroit Free Press
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The overall mood is crushingly sad. The society's grime and poverty are depicted with pitiless realism.

March 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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With a tensed brow, Kolya Spiridonov plays a boy perpetually hovering between anxiety and dogged determination, and the film walks the same line, unsure about where it's going but always moving forward regardless.

June 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | Comment
Paste Magazine

Vividly characterised and convincingly acted (not least by Spiridonov), it makes for a fascinating portrait of a post-Communist society beset by crime and despair.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

A stunningly powerful indictment of the weakest in thrall to a corrupt system.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
Sky Movies

An unsentimental and vividly characterized film which successfully combines melodrama and social analysis and features an impressive central performance from Spiridonov.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Even when Kravchuck lets the story drift, the boy is a solid anchor.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: BBC | Comment

Andrei Kravchuk's film is sensitive to the hilt and pleasingly attuned to the guileless outlook of its hero.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Despite channeling Dickensian melodrama, first-time director Andrei Kravchuk skilfully avoids wallowing in sentimentality.

January 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

It's a touching film about a little boy with the determination of a champ.

November 4, 2007 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | Comment

It is hard-hitting, but with none of the fake, over-the-top violence of Hollywood fare, and packs an emotional punch without dredging it with sugar.

August 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment
Eye for Film

What really makes this potentially melodramatic story so powerful is the incredibly intense and focused presence of little Kolya Spiridonov, who makes you believe Vanya's determination and grit every step of the way.

May 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | Comment
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

As unsatisfyingly schizophrenic as a foreign film can be, Andrei Kravchuk's Italianetz is two-thirds of a great movie totally scuttled by its derivative last act.

May 23, 2007 Full Review Source: DVD Verdict | Comment
DVD Verdict

Like Vittorio De Sica, one of the great Italian neo-realists, Kravchuk populates his film with people, not paradigms; his characters are capable of good and evil, sometimes in equal measure.

May 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | Comment
Baltimore Sun

It is about love, family, and the power of kindness to overcome the cruelty in the world.

May 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope

There are shocking and heartbreaking moments scattered throughout The Italian, but [director] Kravchuk approaches them with a nonjudgmental, observational style that avoids most of the pitfalls of melodrama.

May 11, 2007 Comment
Kansas City Star
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Italian (Italianetz)

Wonderful movie. The little boy in this film is really adorable, and an extremely convincing actor. The story is not melodramatic, or deliberately tear jerking, as many child "lead" films tend to be. There are a few difficult scenes, but the entire movie as a whole was very sweet...and left me in awe at the direction.

January 2, 2011
itsjustme2004

Super Reviewer

A very touching story about the struggles of a six year old Russian orphan, who (after landing the ultimate placement for a Russian orphan - a nice couple from Italy) has an incredibly mature epiphany that prior to the move. What if his real mother comes for him after he is adopted? Does anyone know who his mother

March 8, 2011
RCCLBC
Robert C

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • The Italian (UK)
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