Making Films In Latvia - First Motion

filmmaking, but they did it with the conviction that cinema is a relevant tool of
patriotic education and shaping of national awareness. Film had to include
information about how the Republic of Latvia was formed, about the freedom fights
etc., endeavouring to promulgate ”nation’s aesthetic and ethical values.” This
tendency became a significant feature of the films during the first period of Latvian
independence. The first Latvian feature Off to War (Es karā aiziedams, 1920, Vilis
SegliĦš) noted the necessary aspects for the future national cinema: roots in Latvian
mythology (it is indicated by the film title itself – it is a line of a folk-song) and
consciousness of the national mission. It is substantial to notice that already with the
first film the later important tradition of inviting famous theatre actors to play in a
film was formed. Just like in Scandinavia and other Baltic countries, nature became
an essential part of film narratives. National melodrama – that could be the
appropriate term of the genre which dominated the interwar period. Circumstances
that fatally affect people’s lives and feelings, were defined by particular or symbolic
events regarding the formation of the Latvian Republic. The highest achievement of
this genre in silent cinema was Bear-slayer (Lāčplēsis, 1930, Aleksandrs Rusteėis),
but in the sound period the film Fisherman’s Son (Zvejnieka dēls, 1940, Vilis
Lapenieks).
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There are several stages of Latvian cinema industrialization, closely affiliated
with the political and economical situation in the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that
already in 1940 it was planned to produce 5 to 6 motion pictures a year, Latvia
reaches this amount only in the beginning of the 1970’s, after that the number rapidly
rocketing to 9 – 10 films a year. From 1940 until circa 1965 there is a strong
tendency of talking about industrialization preliminary plans and step-by-step
preparation for mass-production. The period from the middle of the 1960’s until
approximately 1989 is a phase of well-organized industry, that was followed by a
dramatic collapse of film production.
Regarding the united study system and Socialist Realism as the only accepted
artistic method in the Soviet Union, we can speak of Latvian classical cinema as a
fixed aesthetic system/stylistical tendency of a particular way of production and
political structure. Artist’s individual choice when thinking about the essence and
overall style of their piece of art was very limited. Within the Soviet film industry
most brave innovative ideas were axed in an early development phase. The director