L'Italien

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.

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!!!

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 was one of the best movies i have seen in a long time. not only was kolya spiridov magnificent, every actor young and old were intense. the lyricism of this movie is simply magnificent. i felt the cold, the dampness, the starkness and disagreeing completely with someone else's comment on this movie, i found the score perfect. economical, to the point, letting us feel the story without suggesting it for us as Hollywood tends to do. also... directed superbly where the main character doesn't get cheap emotions out of us by making us 'cry' by crying. we suffer his plight a great deal more as he goes through the film just as is. superb, intricate, inspired. this film deserves great recognition and all the accolades a great movie should ever get. i recommend it greatly.

An earlier posting compared this film with Spielberg's "AI", a robotic boy with artificial intelligence with the capacity to form emotional bonds, a sort of interesting point, as this film itself aims a bit lower than the intelligentsia level, more at gut level emotions, since its main character is a young boy in a rundown Russian orphanage who spurns the rich Italian couple who wants to adopt him in favor of going on a treacherous journey to find his mother. And to throw a few more logs on the flames of passion, the orphanage's director collects a nice sum for adoptions of poor Russian youth by wealthy foreigners, and hence sets out with her part-time lover and assistant to trail and apprehend the kid with the help of the police, whom she pays off, as he searches for his mom. It doesn't fail to be moving, but in the department of originality, it utilizes a lot of the usual devices as it goes through its well-presented drama.