Little Vera (1988)

Malenkaya Vera (original title)

Director: Vasili Pichul

 
A story about a young woman, Vera, who is somebody, living the life of a troubled teenager in the time right before the end of the Soviet Union. She lives in a very small Russian apartment with her mother and father, however being this close to each other makes the living get rough. Their daily life is plagued with massive amounts of alcohol (mainly vodka) and when she tries to escape her home life, she meets up with a boyfriend, Sergei who then moves into her already small apartment after sleeping with her. Every day little Vera has to go through hell just to get by, which even involves her going against her own morals after her father has done something extremely wrong. Written by Rosa Thompson

This movie, made during the waning years of the Soviet Union, is a marked departure from the "regular" Soviet movies of the day. It portrays the rebellion of the title character, a young woman coming of age. And the realities of things to come are already evident in the movie, with shortages, alcoholism and a sense of social drift.