Pavel Chukhrai's film has received an Oscar nomination for best foreign film, and well-deserved it is.
This picture, set in post-World War II Russia, is a compelling tale that works equally well as allegory or realistic drama. One of the best Russian films in ages, it certainly merits a domestic theatrical release, which it will no doubt receive. "The Thief" recently had its U.S. theatrical premiere at the Miami Film Festival.
Set in 1952, the film details the relationship between a young widow, her 6-year-old son and the handsome stranger who enters their lives. Katya (Ekaterina Rednikova) and her son Sanya (Misha Philipchuk) are traveling by train when a strapping military officer named Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov) enters their compartment. By the time the train reaches its destination, Katya has impulsively decided to go off with Tolyan, and the three rent a room in a communal house in a small town.
The impromptu family unit is a happy one, for a while, with the couple enjoying a vigorously physical romantic relationship and Tolyan becoming a surrogate father to the young boy. It soon becomes apparent that he harbors a violent streak, however. Interceding in a fight between Sanya and an older bully, he beats up the bully's father, instructing Sanya that he must learn to "pummel" his enemies at the first opportunity.
Tolyan, Katya and her son soon learn, is not who he claims to be. He is, rather, a thief who uses his military disguise -- not to mention the prominent tattoo of Stalin's face on his chest, to gain his victims' confidence before he steals from them.
Although dismayed at this realization, Katya still loves him, and reluctantly becomes his accomplice. When a robbery attempt later goes awry, she decides to leave him, but before this happens Tolyan is arrested and sent to prison. Shortly thereafter, Katya dies during a botched abortion and Sanya is sent to an orphanage. Sanya, however, is destined to see his surrogate father one more time, with fateful results.
Chukhrai has devised a story elegant in its construction and simplicity, yet filled with fascinating characterizations. The title character, beautifully played by the charismatic Mashkov, is a complex, riveting figure whose violent and deceptive nature is offset by what we learn is a genuine caring for his adopted family. It is easy to understand the attraction this powerfully masculine figure holds for both mother and son, as well as the fear he instills in the latter. The story's allegorical resonance relating to the Stalinist era is certainly present, but thankfully not heavily accented.
Only in the awkwardly staged conclusion, set many years later, does the filmmaker's storytelling lose its power. This segment, designed to illustrate the lasting influence of Tolyan on the now grown-up Sanya's life, makes far too obvious that which we have already been able to infer. This lapse aside, however, "The Thief" is a powerful and absorbing drama that has the feel of a classic.
THE THIEF
NTV-Profit
Director-screenwriter: Pavel Chukhrai
Producer: Igor Tolstunov
Director of photography: Vladimir Klimov
Editors: Marina Dobryanskaya, Natalia Kucherenko
Original music: Vladimir Dashkevich
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tolyan: Vladimir Mashkov
Katya: Ekaterina Rednikova
Sanya: Misha Philipchuk
Running time -- 94 minutes
No MPAA rating...
This picture, set in post-World War II Russia, is a compelling tale that works equally well as allegory or realistic drama. One of the best Russian films in ages, it certainly merits a domestic theatrical release, which it will no doubt receive. "The Thief" recently had its U.S. theatrical premiere at the Miami Film Festival.
Set in 1952, the film details the relationship between a young widow, her 6-year-old son and the handsome stranger who enters their lives. Katya (Ekaterina Rednikova) and her son Sanya (Misha Philipchuk) are traveling by train when a strapping military officer named Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov) enters their compartment. By the time the train reaches its destination, Katya has impulsively decided to go off with Tolyan, and the three rent a room in a communal house in a small town.
The impromptu family unit is a happy one, for a while, with the couple enjoying a vigorously physical romantic relationship and Tolyan becoming a surrogate father to the young boy. It soon becomes apparent that he harbors a violent streak, however. Interceding in a fight between Sanya and an older bully, he beats up the bully's father, instructing Sanya that he must learn to "pummel" his enemies at the first opportunity.
Tolyan, Katya and her son soon learn, is not who he claims to be. He is, rather, a thief who uses his military disguise -- not to mention the prominent tattoo of Stalin's face on his chest, to gain his victims' confidence before he steals from them.
Although dismayed at this realization, Katya still loves him, and reluctantly becomes his accomplice. When a robbery attempt later goes awry, she decides to leave him, but before this happens Tolyan is arrested and sent to prison. Shortly thereafter, Katya dies during a botched abortion and Sanya is sent to an orphanage. Sanya, however, is destined to see his surrogate father one more time, with fateful results.
Chukhrai has devised a story elegant in its construction and simplicity, yet filled with fascinating characterizations. The title character, beautifully played by the charismatic Mashkov, is a complex, riveting figure whose violent and deceptive nature is offset by what we learn is a genuine caring for his adopted family. It is easy to understand the attraction this powerfully masculine figure holds for both mother and son, as well as the fear he instills in the latter. The story's allegorical resonance relating to the Stalinist era is certainly present, but thankfully not heavily accented.
Only in the awkwardly staged conclusion, set many years later, does the filmmaker's storytelling lose its power. This segment, designed to illustrate the lasting influence of Tolyan on the now grown-up Sanya's life, makes far too obvious that which we have already been able to infer. This lapse aside, however, "The Thief" is a powerful and absorbing drama that has the feel of a classic.
THE THIEF
NTV-Profit
Director-screenwriter: Pavel Chukhrai
Producer: Igor Tolstunov
Director of photography: Vladimir Klimov
Editors: Marina Dobryanskaya, Natalia Kucherenko
Original music: Vladimir Dashkevich
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tolyan: Vladimir Mashkov
Katya: Ekaterina Rednikova
Sanya: Misha Philipchuk
Running time -- 94 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/12/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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