Johannes (played by Niklas Kouzmitchev) is a protagonist in Goodbye Soviet Union.
Johannes is a young boy growing up in an Ingrian family in Soviet Estonia during the final years of the Soviet Union. He is the story’s central character, caught between his mother’s attraction to Western ideals and his grandmother’s hopes that he will become a loyal Soviet citizen. He also faces his mother’s emigration to Finland and experiences his first love with Vera. Mother (played by Nika Savolainen) appears in Goodbye Soviet Union.
Johannes’s free-spirited mother is drawn to Western ideals while living with her family in Soviet Estonia. Her outlook places her in tension with Johannes’s grandmother, who wants him raised as a loyal Soviet citizen. Her decision to emigrate to Finland becomes a major change in Johannes’s life and is one of the family conflicts he must navigate. Vera (played by Elene Baratashvili) appears in Goodbye Soviet Union.
Vera is a Chechen girl who becomes Johannes’s first love. Her relationship with him is one of the experiences shaping his life as he grows up in Soviet Estonia during the final years of the Soviet Union. The available plot summary identifies her connection to Johannes but gives no further details about her actions or circumstances.
Goodbye Soviet Union (2020) character relationship network mapped with AI analysis. Explore the connections, alliances, and conflicts between characters.
Characters
Johannes
(played by Niklas Kouzmitchev) — protagonist
Johannes is a young boy growing up in an Ingrian family in Soviet Estonia during the final years of the Soviet Union. He is the story’s central character, caught between his mother’s attraction to Wes...
Mother
(played by Nika Savolainen) — supporting
Johannes’s free-spirited mother is drawn to Western ideals while living with her family in Soviet Estonia. Her outlook places her in tension with Johannes’s grandmother, who wants him raised as a loya...
Vera
(played by Elene Baratashvili) — supporting
Vera is a Chechen girl who becomes Johannes’s first love. Her relationship with him is one of the experiences shaping his life as he grows up in Soviet Estonia during the final years of the Soviet Uni...
Canonical Relationships
Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.
Mother → Johannes
(Family Mother)
The plot identifies Mother as Johannes's mother and describes their family life in Soviet Estonia.
Johannes → Vera
(Romantic First Love)
The plot states that Johannes experiences his first love with Vera, a Chechen girl.
Story Analysis
A boy's coming-of-age story unfolds through family separation, first love, and Estonia's transition away from the Soviet era.
Plot Progression
A Childhood Between Worlds
A Country in Motion
The Finnish Departure
First Love at the Border
Directed by Lauri Randla
Goodbye Soviet Union (2020) · 5.5/10 · comedy, drama
