The Italian 2005

The Italian 2005

The Italian 2005
Italyanets (original title)
1h 30m | Drama | 22 September 2005 (Russia)

Storyline:

Vanya is a 6 year old orphan living in a rundown orphanage in a remote Russian village. For Vanya and the other children, life is without hope, unless, of course, they are adopted by wealthy foreigners. For Vanya, hope comes in the form of an Italian couple. But while arrangements are being made an incident occurs when the mother of another child appears, seeking her son. Vanya begins to wonder what would happen if his own mother reappeared, and he was living in Italy.With the assistance of older children, Vanya is able to access his records and find the possible whereabouts of his mother. He escapes and travels across the country, pursued by the adoption agents.

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexual content, language and thematic issues

User review:

It is not likely that I will find Andrei Kravchuk’s first film, A Christmas Miracle< in my search for Christmas movies to get me in the spirit; but, his second film, and Russia’s entry into the Oscar race is truly heartwarming and an outstanding sophomore venture for the new director.

Six-year-old Vanya (Kolya Spiridonov) is being adopted from a Russian orphanage by an Italian couple. While waiting, he comes across a mother looking for her son, who has long since been adopted. He decides to find his own mother and sets out to make this happen, even though he has already be “sold.” Of course, the people who sold him are trying to find him as he journeys to find his mother. Six years old and off on a journey well beyond his years. Like so many children in the world he has to grow up too fast – most because of war or tragedy like Darfur.

Director: Andrey Kravchuk
Writer: Andrei Romanov
Stars: Nikolay Spiridonov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Nikolay Reutov
Country of origin: Russia
Languages: Russian, Italian, English
Also known as: Italienaren

You will be torn by what the children at the orphanage do to survive, and you will be heartened by the strangers who help him along the way. Most of all, you will find that there are some great movies out there that do not depend on CGI or excessive violence to entertain. This is certainly one of them.