Vanya
By LOU LUMENICK
They are jealous that Vanya (the highly expressive Kolya Spiridonov) has been handpicked by a wealthy Italian couple and is set to lead a privileged life in a much milder climate.
But the sensitive Vanya isn't so sure that's a good thing - particularly after a mother shows up looking for the child she long ago gave up for adoption.
When she fails in her quest and throws herself under a train in grief, it inspires Vanya to initiate a search for his own origins.
With help from the tough older orphans who form a sort of thuggish shadow administration at the orphanage, Vanya gets a look at papers listing the address of a foundling home in another city where he was placed by his birth mother.
One of the older orphans who prostitutes herself helps Vanya sneak onto a train out of town. He is being relentlessly pursued by Madam (Mariya Kuznetsova), an adoption broker who stands to lose a bundle if the deal with the Italians fails to go through.
The film is eloquent on the emotional costs of foreign adoptions, whether it's Europeans who covet Russia's surplus of abandoned children, or American celebrities scooping up African kids like so many swag bags.
But at heart, "The Italian" is a Dickensian tale that paints a vivid portrait of post-Glasnost Russia en route to a four-handkerchief ending.