The film is dedicated to life and creative work of the
writer Venedict Vasilievich Yerofeev (1938-1990), the
author of prose poem «Moscow-Petushki». In
Yerofeev's life it was disseminated mainly in samizdat,
was published a few years prior to his death and
since then practically has become the classical work
of the national literature. The film «I, Venichka...»
tells about the «central» moments of the Yerofeev’s
biography (fallen on the time of the Great Patriotic
War the children’s years, the study in the Moscow
State University and the expulsion from it later,
peculiar «pilgrim years» that allowed to collect materials
for the poem) and also about personal features
of Yerofeev as a man and a writer. The thought that
Venedict Yerofeev all his life strives to be a self-free
man runs through the whole film. All his merits and
shortcomings are followed from this intention. This
thought is not «squeezed out» and not «pulled out
from a hat», it confirmed by facts from his biography
and by his friends’ and acquaintances’ comments.
