Something better than "Little Vera" (film course recommendation)

[Maryna Vinarska]

Nicole Monnier <monniern at MISSOURI.EDU> wrote:I'm leaning now towards "Adam's Rib," which a
number of people suggested (a film only dimly remembered - I fear my
memories of "Little Vera" have cast a taint over ALL of the glastnost'-era
films I have seen).

Dear Nicole,
unfortunately, I have no idea what the glasnost’-era films are and what they are supposed to be about. "Adam’s Rib", if this is your choice,  is just a very good movie,  which can hardly be ascribed to any specific era, just because an immense number of exactly such films have been created through the whole history of cinema in  that part of the world. If, however, the movie should  definitely be about Russian women as such, and only the one released not long ago, add to your list two more nice movies I can recall just now: "Eta zhenshchina v okne" and "Ty est’" (Viktoriia Tokareva wrote the script for this one). I think they were released in mid 90ties. 

As to “Malen’kaia Vera”, you are not the only one having a stomach problem when it is mentioned. Actually, I remember the time when it was released too. The reaction of all my friends and acquaintances was: “And what? Who needs this… movie?” No one even remembers it nowadays, and, sure, no one will watch it more than once, if ever at all.
BTW, “malen’kaja Vera” is one more “krylatoe vyrazhenie” which you, probably,  won’t find in any dictionary. If it is used when talking about movies or books, it means “not worth watching or reading it”, to put it mildly.

I myself would choose “Voditel’ dlia Very” from all those mentioned. It may be the best choice for students, no matter that it is not exactly about Russian women.  It is much more picturesque, so to say, more dynamic, it gives some insight into the history, and at the same time it says a lot about the essence of Russia and her people. And much more than all those films like “Interdevochki” or “Malen’kaja Vera” which, to my big surprise, managed to land somehow in some very very distant  libraries. And "Voditel dlia Very" is definitely the movie one may want to watch more than once, to my mind. 

Regards,
Maryna Vinarska


		
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