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.
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.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
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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?
Though he eventually decides that in order to move on with his life he must first seek out his birth mother, Vanya must learn to read the file containing the information he will need to locate her. As Vanya sets out on the ultimate journey of self-discovery, he is about to find out that the world of children is a universe unto itself, a universe where the longings of the heart often overpower the ability to reason. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An unsentimental and vividly characterized film which successfully combines melodrama and social analysis and features an impressive central performance from Spiridonov.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It really warms my heart to watch real quality films....this one including.
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
is? Is she still alive?
This sets him on a quest to find out the truth about who he is and how he became an orphan in the first place. A quest that is clouded by a shady child broker who tells him he must be an idiot to not want to go to Italy and threatens to have him locked up in the "idiot hospital" if he refuses.
What would you do? A happy adopted life in sunny Italy, or risk it all on the hopes of finding your real mother and staying in a rather bleak and cold Russia?
The journey is harrowing but heartwarming and the results are touching.
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