Little Vera

Vasili Pichul's 1988 Soviet film follows a young woman in a provincial port town. Vera has just left school, does not know what to do, and her days pass between drinking, walking by the shore and fighting with her family. Her father is an alcoholic, her mother shouts constantly and nobody in the flat listens to anyone. When her relationship with the student Sergei moves into the apartment the tension explodes. The film showed things Soviet cinema had not shown until then: domestic violence, unemployment, hopelessness and an explicit sexual scene. It opened during perestroika, caused an enormous argument at home and was seen by millions. The story rescues none of its characters and the ending offers no resolution. Natalya Negoda became known through it. Who it's for: viewers curious about the last period of Soviet cinema and social realism. Who it's not for: anyone looking for hope; the film is hemmed in from beginning to end.