The Thief

To be shown: 21 January 2002
Introduced by Derek Malcolm

Russia 1997 (subtitles)
97 minutes
Directed by Pavel Chukhraj
Leading players - Vladimir Mashkov, Yekaterina Rednikova, Misha Philipchuk.

Synopsis

The Second World War may have finally ended but there was little to celebrate in 1946 in the former Soviet Union where an estimated 28 million soldiers and civilians had died at the hands of the Nazis.

In this post-war gloom, widow Katya (Yekaterina Rednikova) finds little to celebrate in the birth of her baby son, having lost her husband in battle six months before.

Six years of poverty and despair later Katya and her son, Sanya, (Misha Philipchuk) meet a handsome soldier Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov) while travelling by train. By the end of the journey the three have become a family but this makeshift arrangement is doomed from the start.

Tolyan is a thief and hardly an ideal father figure for Sanya who has grown to worship him. They lead a nomadic existence to avoid the authorities and Katya, fearing for herself and her son, wants to break away but she has nowhere else to go.

* * * * * *

Vor (The Thief) was nominated in the 1998 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. While the three main characters give strong performances it is young Misha Philipchuk who proves to be a rare find, putting in a truly natural performance as if the events unfolding on the screen were actually happening to him.