''A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve'' (, ) is a 1981 Soviet-

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n comedy-drama film directed by

Jānis Streičs Jānis Streičs (born 26 September 1936) is a Soviet/Latvian film director. Streičs' 1991 comedy film ''The Child of Man'' was runner-up for the Chicago International Children's Film Festival Rights of the Child Award in 1994. It had previously b ...

. Movie was produced by

Riga Film Studio Riga Film Studio (, ) is a Latvian film production company based in Riga and founded in 1940 on the basis of the earlier private film companies. In 1948, the Riga Documentary Film Studio was founded. In 1970–80, the company produced 10-15 fil ...

. The film was awarded the Latvian National Film Prize

Lielais Kristaps ''Lielais Kristaps'' is the highest award given in Latvian cinema. Established in 1977, it is given out at the ''Latvian National Film Festival''. Due to different reasons, the festival has not been held in 1992, 1994 to 1995, 1997 and 1999 ...

in 1981. The film is included into Latvian Culture Canon, and voted all-time best Latvian film in popular vote. It is shown every year on TV prior to the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

festival of

Jāņi Jāņi () is an annual Latvians, Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Although, astronomically the solstice falls on the 21st or 22nd of June, the public holidays—Līgo Day and Jāņi Day—are on the 23rd and 24th of June. The d ...

, which is a national holiday in Latvia. The movie is about the struggle of two related families for the eighty-year-old aunt's inheritance through comic and romantic events.

Plot

The movie begins when old auntie Mirta (Mirta Saknīte) succeeds in a lottery and wins a car which every Soviet citizen longs for – a Zhiguli car. Because of her old age, she cannot use the car herself. And when the word spreads out about her luck, different family members all of a sudden come to her countryside house to 'be helpful' in favour to get the car after aunt's death. Mirta's nephew Ēriks with his wife Dagnija and their son Uģis decided to give up their holiday to

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

just to lay their hands on aunties' legacy. Not only Mirta's nephew decided to surprise her with his arrival but her ex-daughter-in-law Olita together with her new family including her new husband Viktors and their offspring Lāsma. The funny rivalry between two sides of the family, foolish jealousy of the near living peasants' family, who had always non-selfishly been there for auntie Mirta, is a caricature of greasy human nature. This is a slight humor of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

life details as well. But aunt Mirta isn't a fool, she is still young in her heart until her very last breath, which also can be seen in her last will - to whom she left her car to, a Limousine The Colour Of Midsummer's Eve.

Family members

*Aunt Mirta (Mirta Saknīte) — Lilita Bērziņa

Tūteri family

*Dagnija —

Olga Dreģe Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

*Ēriks —

Uldis Dumpis Uldis is a Latvian male given name that is a variant of the Germanic name Ulrich, which means "powerful heritage". The name may refer to: * Uldis Augulis (born 1972), Latvian politician * Uldis Bērziņš (1944–2021), Latvian writer * Uldis ...

*Uģis — Gundars Āboliņš

Sprēsliņi family

*Olita —

Baiba Indriksone Baiba Indriksone (22 February 1932 – 14 May 2024) was a Latvian film and stage actress, affiliated with the Latvian National Theatre. Life and career Indriksone was born in Riga on 22 February 1932. She graduated from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvi ...

*Viktors — Boļeslavs Ružs *''Lāsma'' — Diāna Zande

Awards

''A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve'' in 1981 was named as the best full-length movie that year by Latvian National Movie Festival "

". The movie was also included into Latvian Culture Canon.

Reconstruction

In 2008, the movie was restored from what it originally looked like. All the technical failures that occurred during the filming were improved, including the soundtrack of the film and colours were added where necessary. Also, more detailed information about the main heroine of the movie ( Lilita Bērziņa) was included into the DVD.

Cast

* Lilita Bērziņa ..... Aunt Mirta *

..... Dagnija Tūtere *

..... Ēriks Tūters * Gundars Āboliņš ..... Uģis Tūters * Romualds Ancāns ..... Jāzeps Gilučs *

..... Olita Sprēsliņa * Boļeslavs Ružs ..... Viktors Sprēsliņš * Diāna Zande ..... Lāsma Sprēsliņa * Ēvalds Valters ..... Pigalu Prīdis *

Līga Liepiņa Līga Liepiņa (born August 1, 1946) is a Latvian actress. Biography Liepiņa was born in Naukšēni. Her father was a forest worker, her mother worked in a kindergarten. She finished school in 1964, the People's studio of the actor at the Ri ...

..... Veronika Giluča

References

External links

* 1980s Soviet films 1980s Russian-language films Soviet comedy-drama films Russian-language comedy-drama films 1981 films Soviet-era Latvian films Riga Film Studio films Films directed by Jānis Streičs {{1980s-USSR-film-stub