Vasili PICHUL
Василий ПИЧУЛ
Vassili PITCHOUL
USSR, 1988, 135mn 
Colour, fiction
Malenkaya Vera
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Маленькая Вера

 

 Little Vera

 La Petite Véra

 
Directed by : Vasili PICHUL (Василий ПИЧУЛ)
Writing credits : Mariya KHMELIK (Мария ХМЕЛИК)
 
Cast
Andrey FOMIN (Андрей ФОМИН)
Mariya KHMELIK (Мария ХМЕЛИК)
Yuri NAZAROV (Юрий НАЗАРОВ)
Natalia NEGODA (Наталья НЕГОДА)
Aleksandr NEGREBA (Александр НЕГРЕБА)
Andrey SOKOLOV (Андрей СОКОЛОВ) ...Sergueï
Lyudmila ZAITSEVA (Людмила ЗАЙЦЕВА) ...La mère
 
Cinematography : Yefim REZNIKOV (Ефим РЕЗНИКОВ)
Production design : Vladimir POSTERNAK (Владимир ПОСТЕРНАК)
Music : Vladimir MATETSKY (Владимир МАТЕЦКИЙ)
Sound : Pavel DROZDOV (Павел ДРОЗДОВ)
Companies : Gorky Film Studio
Spectators : 54.9 millions of spectators
 
Sites : Allociné, IMDb
Release date in France : 1989-06-07, Site

Awards :
Best actress Natalia NEGODA , "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 1988
FIPRESCI Prize, Critics'week, Venice International Film Festival, Venice (Italy), 1988
Prix spécial du jury à Montréal, 1988
Prix du meilleur rôle féminin à Natalia Negoda à Chicago, 1988
Prix du meilleur premier film à Agers, 1989
Prix Felix de l'Académie Européenne de cinéma du meilleur scénario

Plot synopsis
The title character of the Russian Little Vera is a headstrong teenage girl, played by Natalya Negoda. To the dismay of her parents, Vera lives only for the moment, making no provision for her future. She'd rather hang out at local cafes in garish makeup and provocative clothing. A chance meeting with handsome student Sergei (Andrei Sokolov) develops into a sexual relationship. Her parents send out Vera's brother (Alexander Alexeyev-Negreba) to talk some sense into her. This proves doubly dicey when it turns out that the brother is an old acquaintance of the rebellious Sergei. Vera lies that she's gotten pregnant by Sergei, so he obligingly marries her and moves in with her family, which serves only to make matters worse. Vera's drunken father (Yuri Nazarov) ends up stabbing his son-in-law. Persuaded to lie about the incident to keep her father out of jail, Vera takes her family's side. A last-minute tragedy is barely averted, but we get the distinct feeling that Vera's problems with her family in particular and her life in general are far from over.
[synopsis from All-Movie Guide]
 

commentaries
Les dix plus grands films soviétiques des années 1980, RUSSIA BEYOND, 2023
Cinéma: quand soviétique rimait avec érotique…, Ekaterina SINELCHTCHIKOVA, RUSSIA BEYOND, 2019
« LA PETITE VERA » : QUAND L’URSS JETAIT SES DERNIERS FEUX, Tony PARODI, profession-spectacle.com, 2018
La petite Véra (Malienkaïa Véra) de Vassily Pitchoul (1988), cineclub.ens.fr, 2015
La Petite Vera (1988), Plusieurs auteurs, senscritique.com, 2014
Little Vera, Frank BEARDOW, I.B.Tauris, 2003
La Perestroïka et son cinéma osé [Interview d'Eldar RIAZANOV], Eldar RIAZANOV, Elena Joly, youtube.com,
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Best Soviet films according to Russia Beyond, kinoglaz.fr (France), 2023
- Russian or Soviet films awarded at Berlin, Cannes or Venice, kinoglaz.fr (France), 2023
- Festival Univerciné Russe délocalisé à Pornic, Pornic (France), 2020
- Nantes Russian Film Festival, Nantes (France), 2020
- Journées cinématographiques, Saint Denis (France), 2018
- Russian Film Festival in Niort, Niort (France), 2018
- Russian Film Festival For Another Russia, Paris (France), 2018
- Russian Film Festival For Another Russia, Paris (France), 2016
- Festival international du film de Marrakech : FIFM, Marrakech (Morocco), 2016
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2011
- Retrospective Russian cinema at the "Reflet Médicis", Paris (France), 2009
- Cinémas russes à Montauban, Montauban (France), 2009
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2009
- Paris Russian Film Festival, Paris (France), 2008
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2008
- Russian Film Week in Paris : Regards de Russie, Paris (France), 2006
- Nantes Russian Film Festival, Nantes (France), 2004
- "Vyborg" Russian Film Festival (formerly ''A Window to Europe''), Vyborg (Russia), 2003
- Nantes Russian Film Festival, Nantes (France), 1998
- Release in France of the film, Different cities (France), 1989-06-07
- Berlin International Film Festival : Berlinale, Berlin (Germany), 1989
- Venice International Film Festival, Venice (Italy), 1988
- "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 1988

Images