Little Vera (1988)

Simply put, Little Vera was pretty hard for me to watch. There really weren't any happy moments in this film... as soon as things started to go well they quickly diminished. There was just a lot of brokenness in the film. Even the lighting was always dark and scenes were obscured (like when Vera and a guy friend were smoking in the dark at the beginning of the film, or during the shot of the grey waves slowly moving towards the shore. ). Perhaps this is what the director was hoping to portray about Russia during this poor economic period. Even so, I think anyone could agree it was a depressing film. There is truly a harsh reality being shown throughout this film, especially the struggles that a family can go through. Notably one of the biggest flaws could arguably be the father's hypocritical leadership. While he scolds his daughter for her rebellious actions, he himself struggles with alcoholism and ends up hurting his family more than helping them. "What will the neighbors think?!" is a common exclamation from the father as he tries to justify his scolding. 

From the start of the film there are clear differences in terms of the appearance of Russia compared to past films such as Moscow does not Believe in Tears and even Irony of Fate. Clothing and fashion sense was the first thing to catch my eye. If the characters hadn't been speaking Russian, I would've thought I was watching an 80s American film! Everything from the rock and roll atmosphere to the mullets, big hair, brand name clothing, fish net tights, etc screamed western influence. It was sort of amusing to see Vera and all of her friends sitting down to watch a foreign music video--something that is almost unheard of here in the US today (although perhaps still a thing in South Korea?). 

There were some very interesting parts of the film such as seeing how they eat and drink (alcohol for most meals and many canned foods), but for the most part the drama in the film was relentless and seemed more real than acted. I don't think I would want to watch the film again just because of its grim theme, but did open my eyes to the fact that there certainly are families like this around the world.