Little Vera (1988). The death of Communism in the most controversial Soviet movie ever made

In 1988, the Communism regime was on its last breath. The sense of upcoming freedom from the once totalitarian government was waiting around the corner. The idealization of the past and present in the cinema was long gone. Once popular protagonists with strong ideological beliefs were viewed as archaic and boring in the late 1980s. People did not have much faith left in state propaganda during the Perestroika. The winds from the West were disturbing the minds of the young Soviet people, including artists.

Directed by Vasily Pichul, Little Vera became one of the most controversial and viewed movies in the history of the Soviet Union’s cinematography. More than 56 million people saw this movie. What makes this number even more impressive — it’s the fact that there was no advertising for movies during those days. Little Vera was so shocking for many viewers that they did not stop talking about it.

Natalya Negoda (from the right) and Yuriy Nazarov played the father-daughter duo in the Little Vera. Source: Kinopoisk.ru

The older generation often left the cinemas in the middle of the movie in anger. “Blasphemy, dirty propaganda!” For people who were used to the classic, naive Soviet movies with positive heroes Little Vera was like a cold shower. It was hard for many to acknowledge that this was no exaggeration and most of the Soviet Union lived this way. With the eternal question in mind: “What will the people say?” With all the hypocrisy, like telling your kids not to smoke because it’s unhealthy while juggling a cigarette between your fingers. The generation that once dreamed about conquering space, fulfilling the five-year plans, and building the Communist utopia, was living a bleak, hopeless life in the late 1980s.

The mass audience and many film critics wrongly emphasized the “first sex scene in the Soviet cinema” and things of that sort. As brave and rebellious as it might have seen for many, the greatness and controversy of this movie were not about sex and the scenes with nudity. Of course, for the Soviet Union, such scenery in cinema was something unheard of, but Vasily Pichul managed to embody way more meanings and symbolisms in the characters of Little Vera.

Poster of the movie Little Vera.

The main protagonist of this movie is Vera — a young, beautiful, and rebellious girl. She represents the late Soviet generation that wanted to have fun, spend evenings at the local discos, and listen to Western music. Following the traditional mindset of their parents wasn’t an exciting perspective to pursue. For parents of Vera — problems always remain the same. They are ordinary working-class people. Father — who shows some signs of care and love at moments, but most of the time, remains grumpy, and the only happiness in his life seems the consumption of vodka. Mother — ignores the drunk habits of her husband, and has none of the love and compassion towards her daughter. All she cares about is her work and preparation of the canned vegetables.

When Vera falls in love with the local student Sergey, she instantly faces the disapproval of her family, including her eldest brother Viktor. He returns to his hometown from Moscow for a visit and gets involved in this family drama. The dislike is mutual. A more intelligent character of Sergey is not interested in spending time with Vera’s family, sinking in a vodka bottle with her father. Two different worlds collide.

All this drama happens in the coastal and industrial city of Mariupol (then known as Zhdanov). The port, steel plant, and cold industrial atmosphere surround the characters of Little Vera. The brilliant soundtrack by Vladimir Matetsky only adds a mix of contrasting emotions. From nostalgic to deeply sad. Pichul picked this location for a reason — Mariupol was his hometown. He understood the greyish local realities of life in the provincial industrial city. However, a similar story could’ve happened in any city in the Soviet Union. The storyline was universal.

Little Vera displays the death of Communism and the birth of Capitalism in the Soviet Union. The mindset of Vera’s parents is simple — they need to figure out how to help their children settle in life. It does not sound that unusual, but here is the trick — in Communism, the state thought about its citizens and provided everything. In the late 1980s, it was a time of deficit, more open criticism of the government, and people had to figure out how to get everything going. Vera’s parents, who grew up in the times of true Communism, now displayed more materialistically-minded thoughts. Why bother about love with a student Sergey, when your daughter can marry a future sailor, who will always bring home a good salary and foreign goods? No more utopian dreams or ideologies, just a purely materialistic approach toward life.

Little Vera hits the nerve. Especially, if you are from the former Soviet Union area. Within a distance, or in a close-up, you probably have seen such scenery, families, and characters. It’s a well-known, so common, and unsurprising, but such a horrific realism. The love and hate toward this cinematic work are easy to understand. Pichul’s movie was a sharp cut in the viewer’s mind in 1988, now it’s a semi-nostalgic experience, yet it still screams the same message: “People, look how we live! These are our lives!” Seeing how systems, values, and generations have changed but mindsets remained the same — feels like a victory for the late film director. He captured this dystopian decay better than anyone else.

Ironically, Little Vera became the peak of the career for most of the film’s cast. Vasily Pichul never directed a movie more powerful and meaningful than this one and died early, at the age of 54. Natalya Negoda became a Soviet sex symbol and appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine, but soon became disappointed with the perspectives in Hollywood’s industry. The freedom that many imagined and all the Western winds weren’t as sweet in reality as it seemed during the Soviet era. Most of the foreign goods and ideals turned out to be an illusion for the Soviet-hardened souls. Same as their characters, the cast of Little Vera never really found the answer to the sacral question: “How should we live afterward?”

More than 30 years after the release of the movie, Little Vera continues to exist in a similar fashion. The world around the people born in the post-Soviet countries might be different, but many of the problems and the pain of that rebellious, misunderstood Little Vera are still there. Under different clothing, policies, and slogans, but largely — the same. Materialistic goods did not change society for good. However, the gap between the generations will probably never be as deep as it was in the late 1980s. No wonder the following decade of the 1990s was complete chaos in the post-Soviet area. Vera grew up, but the hope still remained little.

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