Velta Straume

The colourful musical comedy Maritime Climates could have been a triumph of smart political satire – if people in positions of power hadn’t got worried by the rushes they saw, which lead them to terminate the production. In 1992, Rolands Kalniņš made this edit of the remaining material – an elegy to lost hopes and illusions.

Young Juris is being raised by his mother alone in a rural village. She is in love with Jānis, a collective farm driver, and the two plan to get married. As the wedding approaches, Juris prepares a special secret gift for them—a “sun candle” plant he is growing in a forest clearing.

Nina and Nikolai Jansoni seem to have everything: successful careers, a comfortable home and a car. When Nina gives birth despite doctors’ warnings, a tragic mix-up leads her to believe that her baby has died. Afraid to tell her husband the truth, she accepts another child as her own. When the mistake is eventually uncovered, Nina rejects her biological child, who is taken in by a nurse, Inta. Years later, her dormant maternal feelings awaken, and Nina sets out to reclaim the child she once gave up.

Latvia in the 1920s. The enterprising Edgars Ceplis establishes a company to produce bricks from Latvian clay for export. Many are involved in his project, hoping for the huge profits the venture promises. Ceplis soon becomes infatuated with his office typist Austra Zīle and starts neglecting the business...

The elderly nursing home residents for years feel worthless and troublesome. But then a crazy idea strikes them - to waive their pensions and enroll in the army as volunteers thus saving the country from financial crisis and spending excitingly the last years of their lives. The oldies are wise enough at organizing this event and now real adventures begin.

Marta will meet a charming and rich man, but love will blind her eyes and Marta will not notice the true intentions of her new sweetheart behind her rose-colored glasses.