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“The Italian”

Director Andrei Kravchuk

Sony Pictures Classiscs

Andrei Kravchuk spent over a year scouring orphanages across Russia in search of the troubled environment needed to be true to the stories he had seen and read about. He handpicked real-life orphans for most of his film’s cast. And he even met with the real-life families and workers to discuss the process that had illegally placed many Russian children in the homes of Italian families.

It was this dedication to the authenticity of the story that makes the Russian filmmaker’s feature directorial debut, “The Italian,” such a real and poignant representation of the hardships faced by orphans put up for illegal adoption in modern-day Russia.

“It was very important to observe the children, not to force them into our storyline,” said Karvchuk in a press release.

“The Italian,” the official Russian entry for the Academy Awards, tells the story of a 5-year-old boy, Vanya Solntsev (Kolya Spiridonov) who escapes a Russian orphanage to go in search of his biological mother. After being nicknamed “The Italian” by other children when an Italian couple selects for adoption, Vanya decides that instead of moving with his new parents, he must find a way to break free. He overcomes the underground network of power among the children controlling the orphanage and convinces an older girl to teach him to read. He breaks into the secret files to find out more about his past, and begins a difficult trip, running from the authorities in search of his mother.

Kravchuk is certainly successful in genuinely capturing the stories that have become more and more common throughout Russia. But it is Spiridonov, a first-time actor, who emotionally attaches viewers to the story. His ability to move and deliver lines with the innocence, charm and undeterred determination of the character is, at such a young age, truly remarkable.

The downfall to the 90-minute film lies in its lack of complexity. The acting, writing and directing of the film are all done well, but the story itself is fairly flat. The viewer is certainly emotionally invested in Vanya, but the story becomes predictable and overly simple, and concludes with little payoff.

“The Italian” is no doubt an impressive first effort by both Kravchuk and Spiridonov. It is a compelling, powerful, and insightful story about the real lives of many Russian orphans, but it’s certainly not in the running for Best Foreign Film of the year.

E-mail Segna at bsegna@media.ucla.edu.