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The City on the River is a tragicomedy about the ultimate triumph of human virtues in the face of systematic, institutional inhumanity. It tells the story through eyes of a somewhat naive, yet inherently wise soul - a lowly sign-painter/artist. The sweeping backdrop of the complex history of serial totalitarian occupation puts the story in a global - and extremely relevant – context.
The protagonist of the film, Ansis, has an innocent occupation – he is a sign-painter, just like Adolf Hitler once was. His craft is in demand with all the rules – the authoritarian regime of pre-war Latvia, the communists, and the Nazis. Yet neither of them can take away his soul. Ansis is compelled to cooperate; he paints the signs of the city in line with the green colour of the authoritarian regime, then he has to repaint everything in red for communists and paint over again to please Nazis. Painting over the street name plates develops in a real grotesque – Brīvības iela, the Freedom Street, turns into Unity Street, then changes its name to Stalin Street and finally becomes Adolf Hitler Street. This absurd change of names grows into a catastrophe when Ansis has to paint the text for a notice going under the city name plate: Diese Stadt ist Judenfrei – this City is Free of Jews.
The City on the River is a tragicomedy about the ultimate triumph of human virtues in the face of systematic, institutional inhumanity. It tells the story through eyes of a somewhat naive, yet inherently wise soul - a lowly sign-painter/artist. The sweeping backdrop of the complex history of serial totalitarian occupation puts the story in a global - and extremely relevant – context.
The protagonist of the film, Ansis, has an innocent occupation – he is a sign-painter, just like Adolf Hitler once was. His craft is in demand with all the rules – the authoritarian regime of pre-war Latvia, the communists, and the Nazis. Yet neither of them can take away his soul. Ansis is compelled to cooperate; he paints the signs of the city in line with the green colour of the authoritarian regime, then he has to repaint everything in red for communists and paint over again to please Nazis. Painting over the street name plates develops in a real grotesque – Brīvības iela, the Freedom Street, turns into Unity Street, then changes its name to Stalin Street and finally becomes Adolf Hitler Street. This absurd change of names grows into a catastrophe when Ansis has to paint the text for a notice going under the city name plate: Diese Stadt ist Judenfrei – this City is Free of Jews.