Spoiler warning.
Most of us, who are not Latvian, do not know much about how Latvia was crushed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This film is therefore a different World War II story. It follows the days up to the Soviet invasion in June 1940, and seem to assume a Latvian knowledge as the dates are announced one-by-one in a countdown. It does seem very strange to us that (some) people gladly fled to Nazi Germany which was already at war with most of Europe. The Latvian Foreign Minister has German nationality and also an aristocratic Russian wife on good terms with the Soviets.
The plot concerns an attempt by Wilhelms Munters, the Latvian Foreign Minister, to steal the entire Latvian national wealth deposited abroad. Is this historically true? The central character is a humble radio announcer, Roberts, who pursues an affair with Izolde, a Germano-Latvian with establishment connections, and thereby frustrates Munters' schemes, in that Izolde lingers in Riga and does not deliver Munters' papers to Germany. It is somewhat surprising that he needs to get papers into Germany so that he can claim deposits with a bank in London.
The triumph of Roberts-Izolde over Munters is a classic Hollywood device, but the casual death of Roberts to a Soviet machine gun would not be found in a modern Hollywood film. The period details of radio broadcasting are fun. Certainly a film worth catching if you get the opportunity. The fact that the woman is called Izolde (Isold) is not allegorical - Roberts is no Tristan.
Most of us, who are not Latvian, do not know much about how Latvia was crushed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This film is therefore a different World War II story. It follows the days up to the Soviet invasion in June 1940, and seem to assume a Latvian knowledge as the dates are announced one-by-one in a countdown. It does seem very strange to us that (some) people gladly fled to Nazi Germany which was already at war with most of Europe. The Latvian Foreign Minister has German nationality and also an aristocratic Russian wife on good terms with the Soviets.
The plot concerns an attempt by Wilhelms Munters, the Latvian Foreign Minister, to steal the entire Latvian national wealth deposited abroad. Is this historically true? The central character is a humble radio announcer, Roberts, who pursues an affair with Izolde, a Germano-Latvian with establishment connections, and thereby frustrates Munters' schemes, in that Izolde lingers in Riga and does not deliver Munters' papers to Germany. It is somewhat surprising that he needs to get papers into Germany so that he can claim deposits with a bank in London.
The triumph of Roberts-Izolde over Munters is a classic Hollywood device, but the casual death of Roberts to a Soviet machine gun would not be found in a modern Hollywood film. The period details of radio broadcasting are fun. Certainly a film worth catching if you get the opportunity. The fact that the woman is called Izolde (Isold) is not allegorical - Roberts is no Tristan.