MovieChat Forums > Malenkaya Vera (1989) Discussion > Do you need to be familiar with Russia/U...

Do you need to be familiar with Russia/USSR to appreciate this movie?

posted 9 years ago by blakkdog
2 replies | jump to latest

I ask this because Im sure there was a lot that went over my head as an american. Was this meant strictly for a soviet/Russian audience or for an international audience? Was this a statement about the feeling of being trapped under a decaying Soviet regime where your hands are tied in so many ways to the point that people are reduced to dysfunction and family life becomes tragic chaos or was this simply a reflection of THIS family where alcoholism and resentment poison everything? I found myself having a hard time feeling for any of the characters. What is Vera's ultimate goal? My instinct would be to get out by any means necessary and I thought thats where it was heading with her white hot love affair with Sergei. But then it seems she just wants to escape in him, not ACTUALLY escape and get away from that place and find a new world. She seems content with him moving in with her parents in the hopes that they will eventually move out into a local dump of their own. Is that right? Is that all she sees? I guess thats why I cant find any sympathy in her plight because she cant see beyond her pitiful miserable world and she thinks paradise is found by escaping into a young guy thats clearly ambivalent about what he wants to do. Otherwise shes a brat that disrespects her flawed parents and brother and acts like a suicidal drama queen when she thinks her relationship is falling apart. But before that theres a scene that hints at the fact she may be beginning to understand that she is caught in the same trap as her parents and becoming them when Sergei asks about his razor. It seems to amuse her that its the exact same thing her parents do. Then she goes to her friends place and cries to her about her discontent, and her friend reveals that she is giving up her teen dreams to settle with an older boring fellow who does nothing for her emotionally but will at least give her stability as she ages. Is this really what teenage girls in the Soviet Union in the late 80's were faced with? How terrible if so.

My guess is that a lot of this is a statement about the collective hopelessness of living in a blighted dead end part of the soviet union as it decayed toward Perestroika but Im not sure. Is this really basically a "becoming an adult in the USSR" movie? What am I missing as an american? There were many scenes where I was asking myself "what was that for"?? Like the scene where the kid is watching the cartoon. Or the scene where her and her male friend are being interrogated simultaneously in the same office. Im sure that scene would have been much more amusing if I knew russian (visually it reminded me of a Woody Alan scene)! It looked hysterical but its hard to keep up when you are furiously trying to read the subtitles and get confused who is saying what.

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[–] The_TJT 8 years ago

My guess is that a lot of this is a statement about the collective hopelessness of living in a blighted dead end part of the soviet union as it decayed toward Perestroika but Im not sure.

I think you got it right. It's a depiction of life for common working class people in Russia from that time. It's also about youth counterculture and rebellion from point of view of one young woman. The story of course has no real ending... it's all hopeless. The film further underlines this by showing the drab silhouette of the city; factories, rain and little colour.

I'm not Russian (Finnish), but from what I understand it seems rather realistic picture from that time and place. However, I sort of liked how some things looked 80s back then, even in Soviet Union... "Vera" looked a bit like Pat Benatar don't you think?

But yes, I believe you can fully understand the film without being Russian. I'd rate the film at least a 7/10... pretty good and realistic - with good acting performances as well.

[–] blakkdog 8 years ago

The film was ok and yes the hair was definitely very 80's. Pat Benatar or Joan Jett. I still wish I knew Russian though because I do very much think I missed out on a lot of important dialogue that just didnt come across in the captions.

Since Ive seen this movie, Ive run across a review I found both hilarious and pretty much on the money:

"Hey, have you ever wanted to know how the Russians do their overwrought teen angst films? Look no further! If John Hughes were a vodka-chugging, manic depressive, Glastnost-liberated wanna-be Chekov, he might've made this film. Rebel Without A Reason."

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