Unit 1 - Alternate Film Little Vera

Little Vera was an interesting film with an overall feeling of sadness and hopelessness, but with moments of comic relief. My favorite scene in the film was the one in which Sergei is choosing what to wear to meet Vera's parents for the first time. He picks up a traditional pair of dark slacks, rejects them, and throws them on his bed. He then does the same thing with a pair of khaki slacks, and finally decides on a pair of colorful plaid Bermuda shorts. The next shot we see is Vera opening the door to allow him enry and the expression on her face when she sees the shorts. In a conformist society, and a conformist family within that society, this was a total flaunting of convention. Sergei did not care what Vera's parents thought of him. Even though I am not very sympathetic with Sergei's character in remaining scenes, this one made me laugh out loud.

Another scene that was "telling" about this film took place on a secluded spot at the beach where Vera and Sergei were lying together on a blanket. As they discuss what they want out of life, Vera has the pivotal line of the entire film that they both want the exact same thing as everyone else in their country -- communism. It did not seem to occur to Vera to question that goal.

If I could change the ending of this film, I would give this family at least some glimmer of hope that their lives could be made better in some way. It was so sad that Vera's father died with the same blank, hopeless expression on his face with which he started the first scene.