The Thief
(1997)
★ 7 IMDb · 105 votes
Year: 1997
Runtime: 96 мин
Country: Russia, France
Director: Павел Чухрай
Cast: Владимир Машков, Екатерина Редникова, Михаил Филипчук, Юрий Беляев, Амалия Мордвинова, Наталья Позднякова, Лидия Савченко, Anatoliy Koshcheev, Анна Штукатурова, Эрик Арзуманян
Plot
Katya and her 6-year-old son Sanya, who, in 1952, meet a veteran Soviet officer named Tolyan. Katya falls in love with Tolyan, who turns out to be a small time criminal, but who also becomes a father figure to Sanya ...
In 1946, a soldier fathers a child then dies before its birth. Jump to 1952: on a train, the child and his mother meet a handsome soldier who makes a play for her. She accepts. Posing as a married family, the soldier finds them a rooming house where he becomes everyone's favorite through his good looks and generosity. Meanwhile he gives the boy, Sanya, lessons in life: to fight back, to win at all costs. The child's mother, Katya, is head-over-heels in love with Tolyan, the soldier, but the relationship becomes rocky when Tolyan's true plans for the rooming house become clear. It starts them on a treadmill of flight that risks Katya's life, Tolyan's liberty, and Sanya's trust.