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The Chronicles of Melanie
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Wikipedia article
'The Chronicles of Melanie' is a 2016 Latvian biographical drama film directed by Viesturs Kairis, starring Sabine Timoteo. The film is based on the real life of Melnija Vanaga. It was produced by Latvia's Mistrus Media and co-produced by the Czech Republic's 8Heads Productions and Finland's Inland Film Company.
Two weeks after its domestic release on November 1 the film was watched by 35,000 people, making it the most-watched Latvian film of 2016.
Plot
Melnija and her son are forcefully moved from their home in Latvia to a slave camp in Siberia as part of the June deportation in 1941. For the next 16 years, she retains her will to live by writing letters to her husband, whose destiny she knows nothing about.
Cast
* Sabine Timoteo as Melnija
* Edvns Meks as Andrejs
* Ivars Krasts as Aleksandrs
* Guna Zaria as Katrna
* Maija Doveika as Vilma
* Viktors Nemecs as Ampalov
* Erwin Leder as Jakob
* Evija Rudzte as Biruta
* Baiba Broka as Anna
* Kirils Zaicevs as Lieutenant of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs
* Astrda Kairia as Melnija's mother
* Lilita Ozolia as deported woman
* irts Krmi as Katrna's husband Krlis
* Evija Martinsone as opera soloist
Awards
The Chronicles of Melanie received the award for best cinematography at the 2016 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. It was selected as the Latvian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
In the 2017 Latvian film festival Lielais Kristaps The Chronicles of Melanie won the award as the Best feature film, while members of the film crew received awards as the Best Director, Best Actress, Best Design and Best Costume Design.
Reception
Wendy Ide of 'Screen Daily' described the film as "a potent account of the human cost of Soviet ethnic cleansing in the Baltic region". She compared it to the 2014 Estonian film 'In the Crosswind', which also is about a woman subjected to the June deportation, and wrote that 'The Chronicles of Melanie' is "less experimental in approach". Ide wrote: "The distorted sound creates a sense of delirium; the painfully slow movements of the malnourished women gives the film a nightmarish quality. Time slows down, both for the exiled Latvian women and also, at times, for the audience. It all amounts to a challenging viewing experience."
See also
* Population transfer in the Soviet Union
* List of submissions to the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Latvian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
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