Breakthrough director Andrei Kravchuk comes through with this sweet twist on ‘Oliver Twist’ about the Russian orphan who just wouldn’t quit, and snags Russia’s official entry for the 2005 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award in the process.
This Berlin IFF trophy winner features Kolya Spiridonov in his first feature out of the gate playing six-year-old ragamuffin Vanya Solntsev. Dropped off at a desolate orphanage at an early age, Vanya gets the orphan’s chance of a lifetime when an affluent Italian couple decides to adopt him.
A deliverance from God to the rest of the children, the impending adoption and transplant to Italy inspires in Vanya a powerful urge to find and reunite with his true mother.
Based on a true story researched by screenwriter Andrei Romanov (one of many similar), the urchin is confounded at every step by a greedy adoption broker in a sparkling performance by Mariya Kuznetsova, winner of the Nika for Best Actress in Aleksandr Sokurov’s smash hit Telets.
She is assisted, comically, by a drunken and corrupt schoolmaster played with relish by Yuri Itskov who misses as many times as he hits; but Vanya also must confront the tough orphanage gang leader, lest he give the adoption process a bad name and dash the dreams of the rest of the children.
His subsequent journey combines a heartrending never-say-die spirit with can-do street savvy as he makes his brutal and lonely trip through rural Russia. Of course, his loss is our gain as we are treated to a marvelous cinematographic journey through the rough and boisterous byways of the little-seen provinces, from the bigger-than-life viewpoint of a six year old.
The initial scenes in the orphanage come on a little strong and the audience may be dismayed by what promised to be a weepy and pitying look at children condemned to a life of squalor and crime. But things pick up as the boy finagles reading lessons in the midst of a system that seems determined to raise children in ignorance. He does this so that he can eventually sneak into the main office, open the safe, and find the identity of his mother who the schoolmaster has no intention of identifying.
After that comes the beating from the orphanage gang leader who is afraid Vanya will “mess it up for all the rest of us” by denying this long-sought opportunity.
Vanya is aided by the orphanage prostitute, a 14 year-old who brings in money to the gang by riding with truckers who ply the roads around the orphanage. All of the money is pooled into the central gang which operates with a precision that would have made Fagin blush.
The final move they make together represents the final violation of the gang’s understood oath of fidelity and poses an all-or-nothing gambit that spells pain and possibly death. The ensuing chase is a miracle of cinematography.
The cinematography is truly excellent and the shots of the rural Russian neighborhoods were perfect. Realistic and honest, no tourist shots.
The alternative "government" and micro-economic system of the kids in the boiler room is a very engaging story in and of itself and the location of their kid-congress in front of the belching boilers is perfect. The ending is as sweet as it is novel. Very touching, very tight.
The film transposes the roles of parents and children to the delight of both. Vanya sees when all of the adults around him are seemingly blinded by greed and fear. In assuming the mantle of the one who fights for the right to have a family when everyone around him has given up, Vanya sends a wonderful message for children as well as adults.
This film is one of very few that manages to show an honest and non-touristy view of one of the world’s great powers while giving a priceless lesson. A mature and yet childlike play on 'Oliver Twist' without the 'Lassie Come Home' sappiness.
USA
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