Vor

1997

The Thief is a Russian-language story told through the eyes of a six year old boy. His father, a Russian WW II veteran, died six months before he was born. He was born on the side of a dirt road, and life was not pleasant for him and his mother until they met a Russian officer on a train. Before the ride was over, they had united into a makeshift family. The mother and son did yet realize that they were simply props to facilitate the officer's real job: thief and con artist. His scam was simple: rent a room, give everyone tickets to the circus, and skip town with all of their belongings. While mom was thrilled with him as a boyfriend and lover, she was not happy when she learned his true occupation. Meanwhile, they boy didn't like the thief and didn't always get along with the local kids when they traveled from town to town. Things come to a head when the thief is arrested, which eventually leads to a very dark ending.

This is a lovely bit of filmmaking. All of the characters, even the thief, are sympathetic in some ways. Yekaterina Rednikova is adorable as the mother, and the young boy does well with the challenging role.

The film won just about every Russian film award there is, and was nominated for best foreign film Oscar and Golden Globe. Ebert and Berardinelli agree at three stars each. IMDb readers are in the same ballpark at 7.5.

It is available from RLDVDs.com on a region-free PAL, in Russian with burned in English subtitles.

 

Yekaterina Rednikova shows breasts in a sex scene.

Breaking up Really Sucks

(2001)

Alexandra Paul in a lesbian short

 

The Comedy Wire

Comments in yellow...

People who dream of a non-violent world really are dreaming: Vanderbilt University researchers say that the pursuit of violence is as natural as the sex drive.  In studies of mice, whose brains are analogous to humans', scientists found that the mouse brain processes aggressive behavior the same way it does other rewarding stimuli, such as sex, food or drugs.  Mice would pick fights with each other for no apparent reason other than getting the pleasure chemical dopamine released in the brain.  Scientists said this could explain the human craving for everything from brutal sports to barroom brawls.    

*  See, Michael Vick was just trying to make the pit bulls feel GOOD!       

*  Other scientists said these scientists are full of crap, just to pick a fight with them.

*  The scientists would have said more, but the first rule of Mouse Fight Club is, "You do not talk about Mouse Fight Club."  

*  Now we know why Hillary and Obama nearly come to blows every time they argue about which one wants peace more.




In Szigliget, Hungary, a policewoman tried to chase a robber across a frozen lake, but the ice broke and she fell in.  Passersby called other police, who tried to fish her out, but they broke through and fell in, too, and more cops had to be called. Eventually, there were 30 cops in the lake.  A team of firefighters finally managed to drag them all out. The robber was never caught.


*  The trail went cold.
 

Inflation is so bad in the African nation of Zimbabwe that the central bank announced it will issue a 10 million Zimbabwe dollar note.  It's hoped this will reduce long, slow lines at banks and ATMs.  Still, it's not as much as it sounds: a hamburger at a typical local restaurant costs $15 million, so a $10 million bill will only buy two-thirds of a hamburger.

*  By contrast, at a New York restaurant, that will buy two complete hamburgers. 

 

A Texas museum that promotes creationism is trying to stave off bankruptcy by auctioning a mastodon skull, which they hope will fetch upwards of $160,000.

* It's very valuable because they estimate it to be nearly 500 years old.

HEADLINE OF THE DAY!  From Ontario, California's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:  "Firm Seeks Schoolteacher Suspected of Sexual Assaults".

* Well, there should be plenty of applicants for that job.