Alphabetical Movie Listings: The Thief (Russia, 1997)


Figure 1.-- Here we see Sanya on the train. His mother has just met the phony Soviet officer and is attracted to him.

The Russian film the "The Thief" (1997) received an Oscar nomination as the best foreign film of the year. It was superbly directed and filmed in the best tradition of harsh Russian realism by Paval Chukhraij. The story is laid in the bleakest parts of the Stalinist Soviet Union in the years immediately following World War II (the late 1940s). The story concerns a destitute young mother, Katya (Yekaterina Rednikova) and her 6-year-old son, Sanya (Misha Phillipchuk) who are travelling on a train and happen to meet a handsome Soviet officer, Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov). Katya and the soldier are attracted to each other sexually, and immediately a sort of family of three is constituted. The soldier turns out to be a total fraud--a liar, a criminal, and a brute who nevertheless has a certain superficial charm and who is both hated by the boy because of his cruelty and occasionally loved by him as a surrogate father. Of course everything goes wrong. When Katya finds out that her lover is a total charlatan and scoundrel(he is only masquerading as a soldier) as well as unfaithful to her, she wants to leave him; but her poverty and her hopeless situation keep her unhappily attached to him. The story has a tragic ending. Tolyan involves Sanya as a helper in his thieving exploits. At the end we see Sanya briefly as a boy of about twelve who has had to accept the ugly truth about the father figure who has treated both him and his mother so badly.

Filmology

The Russian film the "The Thief" (1997) received an Oscar nomination as the best foreign film of the year. It was superbly directed and filmed in the best tradition of harsh Russian realism by Paval Chukhraij.

Setting

The story is laid in the bleakest parts of the Stalinist Soviet Union in the years immediately following World War II (the late 1940s). The bleak Soviet background and the joyless atmosphere of Stalin's Soviet Russia are carefully crafted. This film is a small masterpiece. The brutality and crass lying of the soldier figure becomes a symbol of sorts for the cruelty and fraudlence of Stalin and his manipulative and cold-blooded regime.

Cast

Sanya, the 6-year old boy is played by Misha Phillipchuk. Other important characters are the mother Katya (Yekaterina Rednikova) and the army officer (Yekaterina Rednikova). Misha is wonderfully expressive and very talented, showing a range of emotions from the tenderest to the most hostile. It is a very winning performance.


Figure 2.--Here Sanya is playing on a ladder with a girl who lives in the same apartment complex they become very good frirnds in this bleak envitonment.

The Plot

The story concerns a destitute young mother, Katya and her 6-year-old son, Sanya who are travelling on a train and happen to meet a handsome Soviet officer. Katya and the soldier are attracted to each other sexually, and immediately a sort of family of three is constituted. The soldier turns out to be a total fraud--a liar, a criminal, and a brute who nevertheless has a certain superficial charm and who is both hated by the boy because of his cruelty and occasionally loved by him as a surrogate father. Of course everything goes wrong. When Katya finds out that her lover is a total charlatan and scoundrel (he is only masquerading as a soldier) as well as unfaithful to her, she wants to leave him; but her poverty and her hopeless situation keep her unhappily attached to him. The story has a tragic ending. Tolyan involves Sanya as a helper in his thieving exploits. At the end we see Sanya briefly as a boy of about twelve who has had to accept the ugly truth about the father figure who has treated both him and his mother so badly.

Clothing

For most of the movie Sanya (as a boy of six) wears rather non-descript clothes--mostly a dark gray jacket and close-fitting knickers (almost like knee pants) with long tan stockings. Later in the film he is dressed in outdoor winter gear for the Siberian winter (with a fur cap with earflaps and snowsuit pants).








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Created: June 5, 2004
Last updated: June 5, 2004