when this movie was released, stalin must have repeatedly spun around in his grave. This is not the portrayal of soviet russia that his regime(or following regimes) would have condoned. This film boils life down to the bitter dregs.
The mood of this film offers a sharp contrast to that of Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. There is hope in Moscow that the characters in Little Vera do not share. Even after divorcing, Ludmilla still holds out hope to one day hit the "moscow lottery." Little Vera and Sergei, as well as the parents, do not seem to have the same positive disposition towards life in the USSR.
Alcoholism is criticized in this film without it being of a comical nature. I think that irony of fate approached the subject as well, but they did so through comedy. This film confronts it head on. The father is accused of wasting his money away on booze and also becomes violent and argumentative when under the influence. This treatment of alcohol reminded me of alcoholism's portrayal in Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. In both of these novels, alcoholics suffer, become violent, and are extremely argumentative. It is looked upon as a social evil as opposed to a cultural norm as it is presented in some other films.
This movie also confronts generation gap issues. During perestroika there seemed to be a lot of uncertainty with the new generation(teenagers and people in their young twenties). They did not know the role of the welfare state(whether or not they would be guaranteed jobs, healthcare, education). As a result of the uncertainty, we get Vera who does not seem particularly motivated to do a whole lot. Viktor, as hard as he was working, could still not afford to bring his family with him to visit his parents. Then there was rebellious behavior and unemployment.
I think the movie placed the blame on both the youth of the nation and the parents of the nation. Yes, Vera does not do anything particularly proactive, but her father is an alcoholic and her mother is not the strong soviet woman that could be relied on.
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"This treatment of alcohol reminded me of alcoholism's portrayal in Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. In both of these novels, alcoholics suffer, become violent, and are extremely argumentative. It is looked upon as a social evil as opposed to a cultural norm as it is presented in some other films."
There is indeed some similarity--though I would note that Dostoevsky's drunks generally have something absurd and endearing about them. They tend to be lovable buffoons who are brilliant in their own bizarre way. Here I don't think we see that--though this is not to say the father has no likable qualities.
Good title for your post, by the way!
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