The Thief, 1997
Sanya (Mikhail Filipchuk) is a 6 year old boy living a transient life with his single mother Katya (Yekaterina Rednikova). One day, the two encounter a charismatic soldier named Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov) on a train ride and, on a whim, Katya agrees to disembark with him. The three soon find a rental apartment and tensions quickly rise as Katya gives more of her attention to Tolyan. But there is more happening than Sanya can understand, and soon he and his mother are enmeshed in a series of challenging decisions.
This was an interesting entry in the "child POV" drama in the sense that it deftly maintains Sanya's innocence and ignorance while developing the complicated dynamic between Katya and Tolyan. As Katya, and eventually Sanya, come to understand just who Tolyan is, it is clear that the relationship between Katya and Sanya is permanently fractured.
The real surprise of the film is the way that it splits its attention between Katya and Sanya. It is undeniable that Sanya is the main character of the film, but the film does the critical work of helping us to understand the complicated nature of the entire situation. At first it feels easy to be angry at Katya, who seems to be choosing great sex over her own child. But at the same time, Katya has no home. She has no way to support herself and her son. We do not know if Katya is a widow, or if she was simply left by Sanya's father. We do not even know if her story to him about the father being a soldier is even true. But because the film takes the time to help us understand where Katya comes from, we can be frustrated with her choices even as we realize why she might choose the type of stability that Tolyan represents, even if it is wrong.
The film is also very strong in how it presents Sanya's complicated understanding of masculinity. Sanya is haunted by visions of his father, the figure of a soldier who appears to Sanya in moments of stress. But in the here and now, it is Tolyan who most takes the place of a father figure. And the lessons Tolyan teaches to Sanya are the lessons of a violent and manipulative man. Tolyan survives through deception and brutality. He teaches Sanya that respect comes from fear. He directly tells him that violence is part of being a "real man". For Sanya, whose life is already unstable, this is a confusing dynamic.
My only issue with the film had to do with the end. The movie suddenly makes a jump in time. This on its own wasn't the biggest problem, but there was a way that the film winds toward an overly-neat (and coincidental) conclusion that didn't sit quite right with me. There is a focus in the final act on bringing closure to the narrative arc as opposed to the emotional/character arc.
This was a really interesting, well-acted, and compelling film. I really enjoyed it!