![]() So are his “wife” and “son.” The movie proceeds on two fronts. The army uniform and Tolyan's ability to bluff are protections against identify checks and police questions. ![]() It is not unknown for the mother and boy to get urgent messages to meet him, immediately, at the train station, and they live a nomadic existence. He likes to propose toasts to Stalin and encourage the others to get drunk, and then steal into their apartments. He is popular in the series of boarding houses where they take a room, or part of a flat, and meals are often communal affairs fueled by vodka. Soon the three are living together as a family, and the boy enters into an uneasy mixture of fear, respect and love for the man. Yet all little boys are impressed by soldiers, and when Tolyan ( Vladimir Mashkov) asks Sanya to look after his revolver, the boys eyes grow as wide as saucers. He often has visions of his real father, who died before he was born but speaks to him and promises to return soon. He looks like shelter from the poverty and hopelessness of 1952.įor the boy ( Misha Philipchuk), it is a little more complicated. The mother, Katia ( Ekaterina Rednikova), falls for him almost on sight, but of course her situation is desperate and there are sound Darwinian reasons for choosing a healthy, strong mate when you are unable to provide for yourself and your child. It takes money to be healthy, and Tolyan is a thief-not only of money and possessions, but also of hearts. “Uncle” Tolyan is a charming, mustachioed man, tall and robust in a land where many citizens seem weak, ill and hungry.
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