I'm from an ex-communist country, SFR Yugoslavia, which didn't belong to the Eastern Bloc, but it was non-aligned and more liberal than the USSR. Erotica, violence and social commentary were common in our films and we had an access to western films. Maybe that's an explanation why "Little Vera" did not impress me much, no matter how "daring" it was for the soviet standards.
This is one of the worst movies I've seen in my life. How come it received such awards and even a sort of cult status? The Wall Street Journal bombastically (mis)described it as: Sex, drugs and rocknroll! The Time Magazine praised it as: A smash hit! If you are looking for a soviet film along those lines, then forget "Little Vera" and watch "Avariya doch menta" (Avariya the Cop's Daughter).
It's a rough social drama about the youth subcultures during the turbulent period of the Perestroika and it offers much more action and tension than "Little Vera".
I thought that "Little Vera" would be something similar and although it's beginning was somewhat promising, I soon realized that my expectations were wrong.
After some scenes of parties and violence, the movie slowed down and for the next hour and a half, it's protagonists were only mumbling something among themselves. It was painfully slow. Nothing much was happening, until suddenly everyone went nuts and almost killed each other for no apparent reason.
"Little Vera" is overrated just because it was the first soviet movie with a more explicit erotic scenes and it's main actress Natalya Negoda became the first real soviet sex symbol. That's all about the "importance" of this film in the history of cinema. Explicit erotica was a shocking novelty for the soviet audience in those days, but naked breasts and simulated sex alone do not make a movie great.
Speaking of drugs, there is some abuse of legal tranquilizers mixed with alcohol in the film, but this is not a story about heroin addicts or something like that, as some of you may expected.
The "rocknroll" in "Little Vera" is actually the bubble gum pop singer Sofia Rotaru, who was already 40 at the time of the filming. Not much a "youth rebellion". In comparison, "Avariya doch menta" features punk rock and heavy metal music, which was much more dangerous and radical in those days.
The Wall Street Journal's "Sex, drugs & rocknroll" description only partially fits "Little Vera" and it's misguiding to a large extent. And it's not really a "hit movie" as the Time Magazine said. On the contrary, "Little Vera" is more a sort of psychological drama.
Some of the movie posters that I found online are also misguiding. They would make you think you that this is a crime movie. or even an action-comedy.
I'm not so much disappointed by the movie itself, but I'm more disappointed by it's inaccurate description and the exaggerated praise in the media.
I understand that "Little Vera" has some qualities. It was noticed not only for it's explicit erotica, but also for it's social commentary.
It shows the depressing provincial towns of the Soviet Union and families living in small claustrophobic flats. It shows how the youngsters began to rebel against the authority during the Perestroika.
Vera's father is depicted as a drunk, while her mother is like "what the neighbors will think". You get the picture.
Back then this was considered a brave social criticism.
But anyway, the film left me completely emotionless. I felt absolutely no sympathy or compassion for Vera, even less for her boyfriend Sergei (Andrey Sokolov), who behaves like an arrogant pr****.
Even the drunk father was a more interesting character in the film than both of them, though they are the main protagonists in it.
If you are looking for more "edgy" films about the youths in the former USSR, then watch the aforementioned "Avariya doch menta", then "Menya zovut Arlekino", "Patsany", "Rokovaya oshibka", "Luna Park" or the more recent "Lilja 4-ever".
This is one of the worst movies I've seen in my life. How come it received such awards and even a sort of cult status? The Wall Street Journal bombastically (mis)described it as: Sex, drugs and rocknroll! The Time Magazine praised it as: A smash hit! If you are looking for a soviet film along those lines, then forget "Little Vera" and watch "Avariya doch menta" (Avariya the Cop's Daughter).
It's a rough social drama about the youth subcultures during the turbulent period of the Perestroika and it offers much more action and tension than "Little Vera".
I thought that "Little Vera" would be something similar and although it's beginning was somewhat promising, I soon realized that my expectations were wrong.
After some scenes of parties and violence, the movie slowed down and for the next hour and a half, it's protagonists were only mumbling something among themselves. It was painfully slow. Nothing much was happening, until suddenly everyone went nuts and almost killed each other for no apparent reason.
"Little Vera" is overrated just because it was the first soviet movie with a more explicit erotic scenes and it's main actress Natalya Negoda became the first real soviet sex symbol. That's all about the "importance" of this film in the history of cinema. Explicit erotica was a shocking novelty for the soviet audience in those days, but naked breasts and simulated sex alone do not make a movie great.
Speaking of drugs, there is some abuse of legal tranquilizers mixed with alcohol in the film, but this is not a story about heroin addicts or something like that, as some of you may expected.
The "rocknroll" in "Little Vera" is actually the bubble gum pop singer Sofia Rotaru, who was already 40 at the time of the filming. Not much a "youth rebellion". In comparison, "Avariya doch menta" features punk rock and heavy metal music, which was much more dangerous and radical in those days.
The Wall Street Journal's "Sex, drugs & rocknroll" description only partially fits "Little Vera" and it's misguiding to a large extent. And it's not really a "hit movie" as the Time Magazine said. On the contrary, "Little Vera" is more a sort of psychological drama.
Some of the movie posters that I found online are also misguiding. They would make you think you that this is a crime movie. or even an action-comedy.
I'm not so much disappointed by the movie itself, but I'm more disappointed by it's inaccurate description and the exaggerated praise in the media.
I understand that "Little Vera" has some qualities. It was noticed not only for it's explicit erotica, but also for it's social commentary.
It shows the depressing provincial towns of the Soviet Union and families living in small claustrophobic flats. It shows how the youngsters began to rebel against the authority during the Perestroika.
Vera's father is depicted as a drunk, while her mother is like "what the neighbors will think". You get the picture.
Back then this was considered a brave social criticism.
But anyway, the film left me completely emotionless. I felt absolutely no sympathy or compassion for Vera, even less for her boyfriend Sergei (Andrey Sokolov), who behaves like an arrogant pr****.
Even the drunk father was a more interesting character in the film than both of them, though they are the main protagonists in it.
If you are looking for more "edgy" films about the youths in the former USSR, then watch the aforementioned "Avariya doch menta", then "Menya zovut Arlekino", "Patsany", "Rokovaya oshibka", "Luna Park" or the more recent "Lilja 4-ever".
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