Was it me or did it seem to end abruptly? I understand the artistic element of not showing his mother. It is implied and you heard her voice. Still I'm left with the question- Did he reunite with his mother at the end? I'm still left hanging...
shareIt did seem to have a rather jarring ending. At first I was a little disappointed because such a happy ending went against the bleakness and struggle of the rest of the film, but the more I thought about it, I believe it was his biological mother at the end (and she was also the nurse at the hospital) and the moment she came to the door and spoke, Vanya's world sort of 'froze' in his excitement. The colors change and become much warmer, and the voice-over reading of the letter is all in his mind. He desperately wanted EVERYONE to be happy, so he imagined that the Italian couple would simply adopt his friend and be satisfied. It's a childish fantasy, yes, but despite his hardships, he is still just a child.
I don't necessarily disagree with filmmakers letting the audience decide how the end of a movie plays out. Here, though, it felt to me a little like Romanov just couldn't decide what to do so he left it all up in the air.
I too, very much wanted to see both his and his mother's emotional reunion, but I liked the ending because it made me think. The "letter" or message he was reading or thinking at the end: I actually believed it happened but I appreciate cychelol's idea that it was his imagination.
shareI think it's also plausible to think the whole escape and finding the mother was Vanya's dream. Or starting from the night he was sleeping at the other orpanage. The movie becomes more and more dream-like at the end. It's interesting to think what would happen or how would the boy feel after waking up.
Btw, he says in the beginning that he sees her in his dreams.
The name Vera also means "belief" in Russian.