Little Vera

While I found almost all of these characters interesting, I found few of them to be very sympathetic. Sergei was just a jerk; Vera (while she did have sympathetic moments) seemed to just rebel for the sake of rebellion; Viktor, while he IS a protective older brother, was friends with Sergei until his sister was dating him...and the parents...oh, the parents. The father, though an alcoholic, I believe was the most sympathetic character in Little Vera. The man he is at home is quite different from the man he is in public- just look at how nicely cleaned up he is when they are sending Viktor back to Moscow.

As much as I disliked her, the mother is the one I was most interested in. I just don't see how a mother can be SO deluded about her child. I understand she works, and it seems she works a lot (she took off to make that dinner for Sergei). I know she knows the disarray her family life is in, yet she's doing nothing for it. Vera's screaming at the end, and it's only after Viktor is cleansing her system that the parents stumble out. The mother asks if something's wrong...okay, obviously something is wrong. Even if she didn't know details, a mother should realize that a situation REALLY isn't right. THEN! Instead of checking on her daughter, she sweeps up broken dishes. Maybe she's using dissociation to deal with her problems, but really she just looks like a delusional mother.

I mentioned Vera's more sympathetic moments. The parent/child role is definitely reversed with she and her father. She is the one who takes care of him, even lying to the police to help him. The scene that most sticks out to me is when he goes to find her at the beach, and there they are huddled under shelter, holding each other...it was touching. I think it was also sad that the last words uttered are "Viktor...Vera...". I think this shows how much the father did care about his children. I kind of wish the ending had been cleaner, haha. Open endings tend to frustrate me.

Oh! Speaking of the beach scene- water generally symbolizes a purification- so doesn't it seem appropriate that it is at the ocean that truths come out? Vera being had for a bigger apartment and all?

Also, as far as western influence...was that a picture of John Wayne on Vera's wall?