Hmmm...

Through the excerpt from Russian Cinema in our Time, I learned what the name Little Vera actually means. Its literal translation is little faith, and this seems to be a fitting description of the film. All the people in the film live in this miserable existence. I'm hesitant to say that it is completely devoid of happiness, but I struggle to find an instance when the characters are truly happy.

The film did leave me a little cold. I felt that it was a bit too depressing to watch, with incident of suffering on practicaly every inch of film, but I think perhaps that that helped show a stark reality.

One of the most intersting realities that it portrayed was Vera's father's alcoholism. It was shown in a garrish light. There wasn't any drinking in the film that was glorified or sophisticated. Each time people in the film drank they either hurt those they loved or became utterly depressed. In the previous films that we have watched, drunkiness leads to revelry and fun times. In Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, drinking has a negative influence on the characters, but it is also shown along with happy times as well.

This film pulls no punches, but tells it as it sees it. A dismal future for the Soviet Union was all I could see from the film. It almost foreshadows the decaying of the communism within Russia. The only time any communist subject is mentioned is when Vera and her lover, Sergei, are lying on the beach, and Vera tells Sergei that they have in common that they're comrades. Its the only mention of governmental ideas in the entire film. Just as the Soviet government is slipping into the background of their minds, it was slipping into the background of the country's focus as well.