The Thief
by Pavel Chukhraj

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VHS Movie Reviews of The Thief

Movie Review: Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars

Movie Review: A Film Well Worth Re-Visiting
Summary: 5 Stars

Movie Review: beautiful portrait of a land, a nation and a family
Summary: 5 Stars

The three principal characters, the mother, stepfather, and son, are very convincingly played.

The scenes of life in Russia in the 1950s, from the communual apartments to the bleak landscapes, are magnificent. And the story of this boy's life is compelling.

It's tragic in the classic Russian tradition, but a mesmerizing story and a nice example of quality modern Russian filmmaking.

Movie Review: One of my all-time favorites
Summary: 4 Stars

Movie Review: Forget the Kleenex, get a towel
Summary: 5 Stars

Briefly, a soldier's widow with a young son is won over by Tolya, a striking figure in a Red Army uniform which indeed does gaurd a tattoo of Stalin. Once the widow has learned of Tolya's habitual theft, along with his lack of remorse and empathy for others, she is already caught in his romantic spell. And Sanja, at first terrified of this new man in the family, gradually trusts him more and more. Especially for the innocent child, portrayed in awestruck wonder by Misha Philipchuk, this set-up bodes heartbreak.

And the film does not disappoint in that expectation. This is well visualized when an older Sanja, alone and desperate to find Tolya, stares in disbelief as the latter, finally found, doesn't recognize him and ridicules his salutation of "Daddy"...the very nickname the con-artist had insisted on during their days together.

The most innocent and trusting in this film are prey to those whose only desire is to please themselves....and to use the innocents for that purpose. But except for the child, the "innocent" are not blameless in the scenarios that ensue. Sanja's mother,Katje, sees many signs throughout first scenes of Tolya's true character, in his gruffness and cruelty to others, but she stays with him nonetheless, even to the point of jeapordizing her own life.

The device of using a child's eyes as a window to this tragedy works well in this film, emphasizing the difference between the imagined, idolized Tolyan and the real one: not only in his eyes, but in everyone's. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, although I did use a lot of Kleenex.

DVD Extras: trailer for film, subtitles in French, English & Spanish, scene breakdown.

Summary of The Thief

That's the experiential story. But there's another one that holds up Tolyan as Stalin and the boy as the New Russia that must rid itself of the tyrant, and that story is so pat it seems dispensable. Luckily, director Pavel Chukhraj has an interesting enough visual imagination, and a keen ability to either discover or tease out engaging performances, that you can quietly shut out the easy political allegory. As played by Vladimir Mashkov, Tolyan amply translates to the audience the fascination he holds for young Sanya and his mother. In fact, all three performances hold the eye and the mind, belying any programmatic elements embodied by the allegorical plot. The Thief was a 1998 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language film. --Jim Gay

General Video

• Genres > Art House & International
• By Country > Russia
• By Genre > Drama
• By Original Language > Russian
• By Theme > Melodrama
• Drama > By Genre > Mystery & Thriller
• By Theme > Childhood Drama
• Melodrama
• Crime & Criminals
• Family Life > Single Parents