Ābols upē AKA Apple in the river ( Aivars Freimanis, Latvia, 1974)
Janis lives on Zaķusala Island in Riga, the capital of Latvia, and has to take a ferry every morning to his work at the shipyard. One day he meets Anita. Their relationship blossoms, until Anita suddenly disappears from the city and from Jankas life Filmmaker Aivars Freimaniss previous films were all documentaries, and APPLE IN THE RIVER began life as a nonfiction film as well. But when the censors raised an alarm over the films uncomfortably candid realism, Freimanis solved the problem by inserting a bitterly tender yet lighthearted teenage romance into the nonfictional urban setting. There was no written dialogue in the screenplay, so the acting was largely based on improvisation. As a result, APPLE IN THE RIVER became an early example of a fiction, documentary hybrid film.
|
|