DAWN

Latvia in the 1950ies. The proletariat has taken power and God and private property have ceased to exist. The tiny Soviet satellite state is fast on its way to becoming a classless society. Alas, a leftover bunch of diehard reactionaries continues to resist communism and the collectivisation of agriculture: the “Whites” or “kulaks”. Janis’ father, a notorious drinker, who runs a farm that’s seen better days and is just about the polar opposite of the new socialist human, is one of them. Janis, a Young Pioneer steeped in the official party line, does exactly what the regime expects its citizens to do: he betrays his old man. For his deed, the boy is celebrated as a hero and becomes a role model for Bolshevist youth. His father, however, quietly plots his revenge and won’t rest until he has turned the tables on his son. DAWN paints an archaic and apocalyptic picture of the early Soviet era in Latvia, shaded with dark irony and full of absurd instances of alienation. Director Laila Pakalniņa plays with motifs borrowed from classical tragedy and Soviet propaganda films and revives an endeavour begun 75 years ago by Sergei Eisenstein and left unfinished: a film about the legendary socialist martyr Pavlik Morozov.