- TV
A drama about illegal adoption in Russia, based on the true story of a small Russian boy abandoned in an...
A drama about illegal adoption in Russia, based on the true story of a small Russian boy abandoned in an orphanage who goes in search of his birth mother.
A childless, affluent couple from Italy comes to a provincial Russian children’s home to find a child for adoption. When the couple singles out six-year-old ragamuffin Vanya Solntsev (Kolya Spiridonov) as their prospective choice, the other orphans give Vanya a new nickname: The Italian. They envy Vanya, imagining that he is destined for a life of ease in sunny Italy. But seeing that the older children must resort to stealing or prostitution in order to survive, plucky little Vanya has other plans.
Vanya decides to track down his birth mother, stealing his personal records to find out her details. He sneaks out of the orphanage and boards a commuter train headed for the city, with the corrupt orphanage staff and police in hot pursuit. Fearing that Vanya will make them lose a very lucrative adoption deal, the staff endeavours to find the runaway child by any means necessary.
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91 %93 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
70 %26,794 reviewsAudience score rating
"Lured, perhaps, by the promise of international markets, Kravchuk instead opts for routine uplift, and once the heroic journey is set in motion, the rest is ballast..."
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Village Voice
Village Voice"Combining the influences of Italian neorealism with Dickensian melodrama, Andrei Kravchuk's simultaneously tough-minded and sentimental The Italian is as bracing as it is moving..."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter"The depiction of everyday life at the orphanage is far more compelling than Vanya's personal quest. It's unfortunate that once the Italian hits the road, The Italian loses its way..."
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Premiere Magazine
Premiere Magazine"A remarkably compelling presence, Spiridonov commands attention without pandering or appealing to pity. In fact, for a 6-year-old, he is possessed of an uncanny poise..."
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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times"If the only reason you go to see The Italian is for its final moments, and the most perfectly indefinable look to the camera that any director has conjured since Antonioni or Rossellini, that would be enough. Just make sure you go..."
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Dominion Post
Dominion Post"Reminiscent, in tone, tale and tension, of 2003 Russian movie The Return (about two brothers reconnecting with their father), Italian also bears more than a passing resemblance in look to Roman Polanski's little-seen 2005 take on Oliver Twist. The only letdown is the dreadful subtitling, which constantly mis-spells words..."
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Christchurch Press
Christchurch PressThe Italian | Details
- Rating
- M, contains medium level violence
- Runtime
- 99
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- Russia
