The Thief (1998)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The Thief is narrated by a man looking back at his childhood in a post-WWII Soviet society, but while the narration might be that of an adult's, Chukhrai makes the perspective of the camera distinctly childlike. The protagonist, Sanja, never gets to see the full view of the world; Chukhrai cuts people off before the viewer (and by assumption, this is what Sanja sees) can do a full once-over, and inside shots rarely lift to reveal the ceiling or tops of windows. The physical landscape begins to take cues from the camera and Sanja's surroundings become increasingly claustrophobic. Eventually the "family" is living in a basement communal apartment, with only a stunted view of the world; the scene in which the boy stares longingly out the dwarfed window is reminiscent of Abram Room's Bed and Sofa. So similar is this technique, in fact, that it produces a similar effect: Sanja and his mother, are having their freedom restricted by Toljan and they are trapped. Chukhrai takes advantage of long shots when he has them, and slowly pans to reveal Sanja's mother giving birth, a dream sequence in which Sanja sees his father, or the empty winter landscape. These scenes disrupt the child's-perspective and the flittering camera cuts that work to keep up with the action and add a hazy, dreamlike quality to the film. Of particular note is the acting of Misha Philipchuk. While it's easy to extend a fair amount of grace and not expect a stunning performance from child actors, Philipchuk is mesmerizing as Sanja. The acting overall is very solidly done, and the other aspects of the film (cinematography, innovative perspective of camera, script) are all done with noticeable skill.

Lacks depth, from the first scene, in the train, I felt that I was cheated by a bad art direction ,I didn't feel at all that I was in the fifties. The movie lacks dynamism, the scenes are badly acted by the actors in the second and third plan. Much, much inferior to, let's say , A driver for Vera,to stick with the same director, and million miles away from the masterpiece "The meeting place cannot be changed", with Vladimir Vysotsky, also set in the fifties, not to mention the wonderful "My friend Ivan Lapshin",a period piece also , but much more compelling. I wanted to love this, I was ready to immerse myself in the atmosphere of the fifties,which I love, but it wasn't meant to be

If you are looking for a good Friday movie to fill your time this is not what you would want to see. This movie is difficult, if you know what I mean. This movie does not have a specific moral which it tries to bring to the viewer's attention; however this movie is very very touching and this is coming from a guy who has seen hundreds of "touching" movies.The actors are great, and they give a perfect illusion that you are watching a life story not a movie. This movie makes you think, think about a lot of different things in life. I would not say it is an easy movie to watch; however this is probably the best "sad" movie I have ever seen in my life. If you are looking for a good drama this is definitely a movie to see, however if you are a fan of Hollywood blockbusters I suggest you stay away.

"Vor" (called "The Thief" in English) portrays a widow and her son hooking up with a soldier in the Soviet Union in the early '50s, but all is not what it seems. That's the straight-forward plot, but there's something else here: fatherlessness. That has been a common theme in many Russian movies ("Brother", "The Return"). I'm not totally sure why, but there are other things here. The soldier likes to think of Stalin as his own father, and even has a picture of the dictator tattooed on himself (you must realize that Stalin tried to make himself look like the father of the country).Maybe we can't determine what exactly this movie is trying to say, but it is still a great movie. Mind you, this isn't a movie for the easily disturbed.Oh, and the mother is kinda hot.