THE ITALIAN: Simple and well acted

At the outset of Andrei Kravchuk’s debut fictional feature, a wealthy Italian couple adopt a resilient six-year-old orphan named Vanya (Kolya Spiridonov). This would be an ideal scenario for any one of Russia’s 700,000-plus orphans, but “The Italian,” as he is quickly nicknamed, becomes determined to track down his birth mother. The outcome of this simple, well-acted, ever-so-slightly flawed tale is less important than the post-Soviet world it lays bare, one reminiscent of Lukas Moodysson’s Lilya 4Ever. Hopeless but not entirely inhumane, the orphanage is a dank, Dickensian place crammed full of prematurely old children who are destined for petty crime, prostitution, or sale by the cold-blooded, money-grubbing madam (Mariya Kuznetsova). The world outside is no better, but at least it offers Vanya the freedom to search, courageously and on his own terms, for a sense of home.