THE THIEF (RUSSIAN) (1998)
PAVEL CHUKHRAI
Plot
Set in post-war Russia, and nominated for the 1998 Academy Awards. A young widow, Katya, and her young son Sanya, meet a handsome young army officer, Tolyan, and set up home together posing as a family. Travelling from town to town, the trio rent rooms where, to Katya's initial surprise, Tolyan robs their fellow tenants. Meanwhile the unscrupulous Tolyan becomes something of an icon to the bewildered but fascinated young Sanya, through whose eyes the story is told. Touching yet unsentimental.