Telluride Review: The Italian

In The Italian, by director Andrei Kravchuk, six-year-old Vanya lives in the dilapidated Russian orphanage he has always called home. The orphanage is run by the Head Master, a broken-down man who, in spite of being occasionally drunk and frequently flustered, does the best he can to care for the many children abandoned by their parents to his care. A formidable woman known to the children only as Madam arranges for the children to be adopted by foreign couples seeking international adoption -- for a considerable profit. The children more or less fend for themselves, working at odd jobs, or as thieves and prostitutes for the gang of older teens living in the basement of the orphanage. One day Madam brings to the orphanage Claudia and Roberto, an Italian couple who have come to look for a child to adopt, and Vanya is chosen to be introduced to them. They immediately fall in love with Vanya and decide to adopt him, but it takes two months for the paperwork and court date to finalize matters. The other orphans consider Vanya lucky to have been chosen for adoption, and so does Vanya -- at first.

A few days later, though, a woman comes to the orphanage looking for her son, who she had abandoned at birth. The boy she is looking for was Vanya's friend Mukhin, who was recently adopted. Mukhin's mother leaves in despair; the next day word reaches the orphanage that she threw herself under a train. Now Vanya is not so sure about leaving with the Italian couple; what if his own mother should come looking for him? How would she ever find him, if he is adopted and moved away to Italy? Thus little Vanya begins a quest to find his real mother, before the couple come back to take him away.

Vanya wants to read his personal file to find out where his mother is, but he can't read and the older orphans won't help him until he can read it for himself. With the help of one of the older girls, Vanya teaches himself to read. Then, with the help of some older boys, retrieves his file one night while the head master is passed out drunk. All he learns from his file is that he was brought to this orphanage from another in a far-off city; to learn more, he will have to go to the other orphanage to find where he came from. When the head master and Madam learn of Vanya's plans to find his mother from his friend Anton (who innocently asks whether he can be adopted by the couple if Vanya should change his mind), Madam is furious. The Italian couple have already paid for Vanya, the paperwork is complete, and she is not about to lose the money. She orders Vanya locked up in isolation until the adoption is finalized. The head master, for all his flaws, believes he has Vanya's best interests at heart; after all, this Italian couple is very nice, and Vanya will be much better off with them than in the orphanage. He doesn't understand why Vanya would jeopardize a sure thing for the remote chance that he will find his mother, and he wants to prevent Vanya from making what he sees as a terrible mistake.

However, with a little more help from the girl who taught him how to read, Vanya manages to escape just days before he is to leave with his new parents, and sets off alone on a journey to hunt down his mother before Madam and her ruthless assistant can find him.The film, with its theme of children living in poverty, at the mercy of the adults around them, has a bit of a Dickensian feel to it. The children nurture, look out for, and discipline each other, with the older kids serving as both admired mentors and feared bullies. Most of the adults are either indifferent or hostile, although Vanya does encounter a few kind and helpful grown-ups along the way. Young Vanya is a remarkably persistent and resourceful six-year-old boy, and manages to stay a step ahead of the adults on his trail by blending into crowds, hiding and outrunning them. His journey seems never-ending, fraught with one setback after another, but Vanya refuses to give up. Kolya Spiridonov, who plays Vanya, gives a truly remarkable performance for such a young boy.

The Italian has won several international awards, including Best Feature Film at the 2005 Berlinale, and it's easy to see why it's been one of the most buzzed about films at Telluride. Vanya is an immensely likable character; his courage, strength, and determination to succeed keep you on the edge of your seat and rooting for him. As he draws nearer and nearer to finding his mother, the audience is literally holding its breath in anticipation. When he finds the apartment where he thinks she lives, before he rings the bell he carefully smooths down his hair and straightens his clothes, wanting to look his best. After all that he's been here to get there, his hope and desperation are heartbreaking. Will he find his mother? And if he does, will she welcome him with open arms, or will she turn her back on him, throw him back to the street and send him away? The Italian is a deeply moving and affecting film, carried largely on the back of its young protagonist. Vanya believes steadfastly that all will work out as he dreams, and because he never gives up, we never give up hoping along with him.