I cannot believe I'm the first one commenting on this film! Twenty years ago, you'd be hard pressed to find one Russian who wasn't head over heals in love with this movie. It's a story told in several parts that takes place over several decades. It begins around the time Latvia was overtaken by the Soviets, with this beautiful love story set against the backdrop of the changing times. Although my recollection is somewhat hazy (it's been 20 years!), I believe the main heroine is a daughter of this rich farmer. She falls in love with a guy who is pro-Soviet, some kind of an activist, who is determined to eradicate people like her father. Needless to say, lots of drama results from this predicament. Then there is a rich suitor who wants to marry her, and her father likes him, but can't get her to change her mind.
Then, the WWII starts with all its chaos. The activist goes into the underground resistance against the Nazis, while the rich suitor becomes one of those Latvian legionnaires (that are now celebrated all over Latvia, even though they were essentially helping the Nazis). Through a series of misunderstandings, she comes to think that the activist was killed. By now, she has a son by him and has to make a difficult choice as to how to survive. For the sake of her son, she accepts the rich suitor's advances. By the time the war is over, the activist learns she married another and decides not to come back.
After the war, she is condemned for living with a Nazi rich suitor and sent to Siberia. I think, twenty years pass or so. All the while, the activist learns her fate and starts looking for her. At some point, she learns that he's alive, but it takes them some time to find each other. The last scene (I am choking up just thinking about it) is them meeting after all these years, with this most beautiful score playing in the background (Raimond Pauls, who composed the score, was the most famous composer of popular music in the former Soviet Union). It ends with them just standing there, looking at each other, realizing that their whole life passed in search for each other, but their love survived.
I know it sounds somewhat made up, but the actors, the music, the scenery - everything came together in this movie. If you get a chance, spend a weekend with it (I think, it's broken up in 6-8 parts). You won't be sorry.
Then, the WWII starts with all its chaos. The activist goes into the underground resistance against the Nazis, while the rich suitor becomes one of those Latvian legionnaires (that are now celebrated all over Latvia, even though they were essentially helping the Nazis). Through a series of misunderstandings, she comes to think that the activist was killed. By now, she has a son by him and has to make a difficult choice as to how to survive. For the sake of her son, she accepts the rich suitor's advances. By the time the war is over, the activist learns she married another and decides not to come back.
After the war, she is condemned for living with a Nazi rich suitor and sent to Siberia. I think, twenty years pass or so. All the while, the activist learns her fate and starts looking for her. At some point, she learns that he's alive, but it takes them some time to find each other. The last scene (I am choking up just thinking about it) is them meeting after all these years, with this most beautiful score playing in the background (Raimond Pauls, who composed the score, was the most famous composer of popular music in the former Soviet Union). It ends with them just standing there, looking at each other, realizing that their whole life passed in search for each other, but their love survived.
I know it sounds somewhat made up, but the actors, the music, the scenery - everything came together in this movie. If you get a chance, spend a weekend with it (I think, it's broken up in 6-8 parts). You won't be sorry.
