When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the citizens of new nations found themselves suddenly pushed into a new era. Once they had relied on the Soviet system of socialism and central planning to dictate every aspect of the lives. Then in the post-Soviet era, their newfound independence forced them to face an obstacle of changes. “.. once Russia under its newly elected president, Boris Yeltsin declared independence from the Soviet union in 1991, no Soviet state remained… it had turned into terminal crisis for the Soviet Union” (Bacon-Wyman 22).
All they once knew had disappeared—the old government, the old economy, and the old Marxist idealism had all collapsed. The ideas of community and unity had disappeared and suddenly it was “everyone for themselves”. People were willing to improve their lives in the expense of others. The movie, Adam’s Rib, highlights this transition from the Soviet to Post Soviet life. Each character is significant because of what they each represent—the old value of Soviet Union or the New Russian’s concepts in the Post Soviet era.
Adam’s Rib was released in 1990, a crucial year between the Soviet Union and its’ collapse. This crucial year became highly relevant in the movie due to its dramatic effects shown among the three generations of women. The financial, emotional and social difficulties of the Post Soviet Era was seen and portrayed differently in each generation’s attitude and behavior. The setting of the movie was mostly filmed in the protagonist’s apartment, Nina, where she lived with her paralyzed mother and her two daughters Lida and Nastya.
The characters Nina and Lida represent the old values of the Soviet Union through their gestures, personality and the respect they have for the grandmother by taking care of her every need. However Nastya, the youngest who rarely helps out with the grandmother and doesn’t pay mind to her mother or sister represents the Post Soviet’s way of living. Nina, the mother, is the character who tries to keep everything and everyone together. She is highly educated, and is considered a portrait of intelligentsia.
This is seen, in her job as museum tour guide and by the way she takes pride in introducing her history to foreign tourists. However, Nina doesn’t really have much of a personal life. We discover her mother had ruined two of Nina’s marriages with her opinions and high expectations. But despite this fact, Nina is still there for her mother and shows her the greatest respect a grandmother deserves as an older, wiser generation. Nina also chooses not to have a personal life of her own and focuses on her family’s well being instead.
This is the mentality of a woman from the Soviet Union. She is a mother who puts everyone else before herself (Gerhard, 6). Lida’s character carries both aspects of the Post Soviet life and the Soviet Union. Her post- Soviet life is depicted when we discover she is having an affair with her boss. She is perfectly aware of the fact that he is married and has children but she still hopes he will leave his wife once they depart for their vacation. When Lida is ready to leave for the vacation, she is told by the boss’s wife, that he had already left with Lida’s best friend.
Only then, she realizes what she had done. She was looking out only for herself and did not care about the boss’s wife and children as long as he was with her. It was her gain at the expense of others. However, Lida portrayed a sense of morality for a moment when she sympathized for the wife’s messy situation. Showing that she cared is a value learned from the Soviet Union Era. This is one aspect to the Soviet’s way of living. She also willingly helps out at the apartment, with her grandmother’s needs and tries to teach her younger sister, Nastya, to do the same.
She yells at Nastya when she is being rude and teaches her to be polite and respectful to her elders. Nastya, only 15, turned out to be the sneakiest one out of the whole family. She lives the ideal lifestyle of the Post- Soviet life. She manipulates and cheats the system in order to get what she wants. She steals food from the grocery store that she is training at. Although she takes food without asking permission, she considers this to be “borrowing” from the narod since things are limited. People need connections in order to retrieve what they need and Nastya uses her job exactly for that purpose.
She states, “Communism is when everyone has a butcher for a friend. ” She barely helps around the house, rarely takes care of her grandmother and can be up right rude. However, compared to the other characters, she shows more individualism through her strong personality. When Lida’s father, Victor discovers that Nastya is pregnant, he offers to use his connections to put her boyfriend in jail with the accountability of rape. His comment signifies the lack of authority in Russia, and the bribes that take place among the Russian people. Annual report on corruption says that bribes paid to officials by businessmen may have grown as much as 10 times over the last four years alone” (Eke). Victor represents this concept by exploiting his power to get what he wants rather then what he needs. By using a domestic setting, Adam’s Rib enabled the Russian population to recognize the transformation and empathize with the characters. As opportunities come for a better future they find their lives turned upside down confused with the ideas of a proper lifestyle.
Nina and Lida are shown as the faces of the Soviet Union because of their intelligentsia and high morality. While Nastya represents the modern way of living in the Post Soviet Era. In conclusion, Adam’s Rib confronts the transition of USSR society and its effects among the Russian people after its destruction. Adam’s Rib. Dir. Vyacheslav Krishtofovich. Perf. Inna Churikova, Svetlana Ryabova and Mariya Golubkina. VHS. Eke, Steven. “Corruption ‘skyrockets’ in Russia. ” BBC News. Gerhard. “Conduct. ” 3-42. Print.
