Two amateur circus kids from a poor Ukrainian village, ten-year-old Barbu and his older sister Mimma, are sold to a circus artist called Caruso who promises them a career in the West. ...
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Title: King of Thieves (2003)
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5 wins & 8 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Lazar Ristovski | ... | Caruso | |
 |
Iakov Kultiasov | ... | Barbu (as Yasha Kultiasov) |
| Katharina Thalbach | ... | Julie | |
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Julia Khanverdieva | ... | Mimma |
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Oktay Özdemir | ... | Marcel |
| Paulus Manker | ... | Kardinal | |
| Birol Ünel | ... | Birol | |
|
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Imogen Kogge | ... | Polizisti |
|
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Yasemin Bueyueksapci | ... | Bianca (as Yasemin Büyüksapci) |
|
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Manfred Witt | ... | Dimo |
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Viktor Benzler | ... | Barbus Vater |
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Axel Neumann | ... | Pokerspieler |
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Motamedi | ... | Ali |
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Lucia Adyova | ... | Kinder bei Caruso (as Lucia Ádyová) |
|
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Petra Hackova | ... | Kinder bei Caruso (as Petra Hácková) |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Two amateur circus kids from a poor Ukrainian village, ten-year-old Barbu and his older sister Mimma, are sold to a circus artist called Caruso who promises them a career in the West. Caruso smuggles them to Berlin and separates them from each other. Mimma is sold to prostitution, while Barbu is taught to snatch purses together with an older Albanian boy Marcel. Barbu finds out about Mimma's fate and decides to free her from the brothel. Written by Markku Kuoppamäki
Genres:
DramaCertificate:
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Details
Release Date:
2003 (Austria) See more »Also Known As:
El rey de los ladrones See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
DEM9,250,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby SRColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The actress who plays Julie in the flashback sequences looks remarkably similar to the older Julie because the two actresses are in fact related. Anna Thalbach is the daughter of Katharina Thalbach. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Inspired by The Farewell director Lulu Wang's call to action at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards, we celebrate women filmmakers working in their field.
Not only the acting, but also the subject makes this film seem unbelievably realistic. As I watched this movie at a European Film Festival in Trieste, Italy, I was basically speechless. Probably it doesn't mean much to the ones over the ocean but it has rather more to do with things going on here in Europe.
Movie presents the story of two kids bought from Ukraine directly from their father by an ex-circus master, now running some masked "school" of thieves. Actually the kids are brought into Germany and taught all the skills you need to be an amazing "pocket picker" just so that they can bring at least 500 EUR (don't know if EUR is the currency though) every day. When they don't they are whipped and thrown outside with their own blood covering their body. This is the fate of one of the two Ukrainian kids, Barbu, the 10 year old boy. The girl has a more horrible fate as she is lost in a poker game to a pimp. He first rapes the 13 year old Mimma then forces her to prostitute herself beating her like all the other bought/won minors he had.
As the story goes on it is unbelievable how good this film has been realized. It is shocking not by exaggeration but by how well it describes the frightening reality we live in. A must see; it will change your life if you realize it exposes the simple truth.