We watched the movie "Italianetz" the other day. I think it was well done. It was about a young Russian boy who lives in an orphanage and who has a chance to become the adopted son of an Italian pair. Thus he is dubbed "Italianetz" by his peers at the orphanage.
Orphanages in Russia have been used as 'dumping grounds' for women who are not ready to become mothers, and so there are occasions where the mothers show up to take the child home.
The critical moment in this film is when a mother arrives...just a little too late.
Italianetz believes that his mother would come too, if only she knew where he was. So he decides to find her himself.
It is a remarkably courageous child to travel in Russia alone in modern times, aside from traveling while being pursued by the greedy "orphan-sellers" who stand to make a fortune on the sale of this child.
The movie ends heartwarmingly. I see it as a patriotic call to Russians not to sell their children to foreign lands. It would be a cold-hearted person to not be affected by the child's tribulations or the grey, cold landscape of 'somewhere' in Russia.
Russians are still masters at mass propaganda. So much so that it makes one want even more of it.
