Italyanets

A truly beautiful, heart wrenching film 'The Italian' moved me so very much. Surely a filmmaker sets out to touch his audience and make them feel the pain of his or her characters and certainly we are drawn straight into the little heart of the young, innocent and passionate Vanya. I can not imagine a soul in the audience that would not want to instantly wrap Vanya in their arms to protect him and then take him home with them! The Italian is shot against a harsh cold Russian landscape and yet there is a certain love between the orphans at the orphanage,who only have each other to love and protect them and keep them on the right track. Certainly Italy is seen as the land of warmth, love and opportunity in comparison. But the real warmth and love in this film resonates from this wonderful little actor behind Vanya. He could not be much older than the 6yr old he plays and yet he was able to convey more emotion, devastation and warmth than many of the adult actors i have watched of late. Highly recommended!!!

I saw "The Italian" with a friend I have known for 40 years. He has two sons, now grown up. I could only think about how lucky they are. We and the entire audience were deeply affected by this story of the effects of poverty, abandonment, the market for children, and the inexplicable drive of boys to return to their mothers, even when they have been sent away by them. The performance of the little boy who plays the central character is astonishing, absolutely remarkable. The director is a magician. The desolation of person and of place is captured in such a way that disbelief is almost total that such things can still be ongoing in this world of great wealth, albeit selectively concentrated . All of the actors, all little boys, two young girls and a few young boys in their teens--all are so engaging that we are stunned by the loss their characters and the real little boys whose story the writer and director tell suffer. This is 2007, the film was finished in 2005 and set only three years earlier. We wonder, How can this happen to little boys, and girls? And what effects follow? We see some of those effects in the older children. Then one recalls that this sort of thing is not limited to Russia but is common here in the States and all over the world a reality--the turning of an unwanted life into dross by neglect and abandonment. Every mother and father should see this film and then go to their son and tell him how much they love him, and think about little boys languishing in orphanages. One wants to do something after seeing this film, anything to relieve such boys of their horrific fate. Their tenderness for each other is stressed by the filmmakers. This is something that bears remembering. When kids aren't taken care of, they do find ways of caring for each other. They are resourceful in face of neglect, punishments, indifference, poverty. But many fall to pieces.... That now and again one little boy MAY NOT have been destroyed utterly in this way, as suggested in this film, is the source of the film's beauty. The face of the little boy here is unforgettable. The suggestion of a life having been wasted reflects and is reflected by the setting. One can only ope that the film will be widely seen.

This film is saved from being a sentimental tearjerker by the performances of the wonderful cast. Set in a children's home in northern Russia, just as the long winter gives way to a miserable wet spring, the story is an absorbing tale about a little boy who tries to find the mother who abandoned him as a baby. While almost Dickensian, the home is run by kindly people doing the best with what they have, which is nothing. Mostly losers, conscious of the fact that they never reached their full potential, or even half their full potential, they try to cope with the collapse of order in modern Russia.

The children are mainly left to their own devices, especially the older ones who resort to petty crime and prostitution to survive. Little Vanya should be able to read, but no one seems to be teaching the children, they just exist.

Other than the standout performance of Lolya Spiridov, in the lead, the ones who caught my eye were the home's director, who looked as if he had been born a dissipated alcoholic, and the assertive baby broker known as "Madame" who would be right at home selling condos in Florida, the sweet faced red-haired Irka, who sells her body to truckers, and the tragic mother who tries to late to find her child. She marched around in furs with wads of bribery cash, reminding people that she could be very generous in return for information.

At first I could not understand why Russia would allow a film showing a dark underside to be made, then I realized that it was an indictment of the women who "lose" their children at railway stations and otherwise neglect to raise their children, and the practice of foreign adoptions for money.

Definitely a film to see.

The Italian is a wonderful and heart warming film, a great performance by it's staring young lead actor, Koyla Spiridonov. I was reminded of a similar film I had just watched, Under the Same Moon, which also was carried by an equally strong performance by it's young actor. Movies like these have a real chance to include a huge supporting cast which can sometimes be great for the film, but other times overshadows the main character and their story. The Italian's side characters are under developed but in this case that is for the best, the young boy is such a strong character that he is all that is needed. In Under the Same Moon the opposite of that works better, where the supporting characters help the audience connect to the main characters. The ending I felt was very beautiful, went away from a typical ending, maybe a bit cheesy, but if you really get into this story then why would you want anything else for this young man.

This film is an absolute treasure! It is not only well done, and I don't mean super effects or huge budget, but well done from a true Cinematic and directorial approach, it also has a very interesting script. Most importantly, this film has a soul; it adds humanity to our consciousness, which is rare in this "postmodern" age we live in. Acting is excellent especially if you take under consideration that most of the characters are children. Like any great film, it speaks of the personal story and goes beyond, dealing with bigger issues. Moreover, this film follows the great Russian film tradition, reminded me of Tarkovsky, even though the style is very different, and more recent film "The Return" which came out of Russia couple years ago and won international awards.