The Italian
“The Italian” is not so much a bad movie as one lacking much overall value
Review by Sirus

“The Italian” originally came out in 2005 and somehow appeared at my local small theater that shows one movie each week because it has just one theater. Chances are that you are not going to have a chance to see this movie but it is fun and moderately worthwhile. While the title might suggest the movie is in Italian, it is actually in Russian because the majority of the movie is set in Russia. “The Italian” is a story about a young boy named Vanya living in a Russian orphanage. He has the fortune to be wanted by an Italian couple. They come one day and set up the papers to adopt him, planning to come back in two weeks to finalize everything. During that time however, the mother of one of his friend’s who was recently adopted comes by the orphanage. When she finds out that her son is no longer within her grasp, she takes her own life. Vanya decides that he wants to see his own mother before something similar like that happens to him and so he runs away from the orphanage in search of his mother.

The majority of the movie is focused on Vanya and his cuteness is what saves the movie from being a disappointment. Vanya’s journey is one of self discovery and courage. In his journey he proves that he is more than the average boy. “The Italian” is not so much a bad movie as one lacking much overall value. I enjoyed the time spent in the movie although the pacing tends to crawl at some points. If you enjoy foreign language films this one is worth a look as long as you keep your expectations low. I can understand why it didn’t get much backing for a wide release.

Final Score: 3.5/5