Meeting at the lake “A sonata is a piece of music for one or two instruments, consisting of several contrasting parts, united by a common design,” in many ways this definition fits the film. Such a complex musicality is embodied in the multifaceted plot, and in the play of actors and in the visual decision.
The lake, on the shore of which the old farm stands, is friendly and cheerful in the light of a summer day and mysteriously mysterious in the twinkling of the moon; reed thickets, through which the boat slides, the flight of storks - this is the lyrical accompaniment to the history of Laura and Rudolf. But the story is not serene; our acquaintance with Laura takes place in prison, during her meeting with her husband. The stately rigor of the dating room, the guilty timidity with which Rich touches his wife's hands, the tension of Laura, all this gives rise to the feeling of anxiety that will color the entire melody of the film. Rare dates with her husband, serving time for inadvertent murder, care for children, about the house that Laura shares with her mother-in-law, the work of a rural teacher - such is the everyday life of this silent, introverted woman, in whom feelings seem to have fallen asleep, the ability to enjoy life, smile. The personal life of Rudolph, a surgeon, a resident who came to the lake to relax, also did not work out: overload at work, divorce from his wife, the inability to raise a son. When Laura and Rudolph meet by chance, they soon realize that they have a deep feeling. The history of their relationship is traced by the authors of the film and performers of the central roles Astrida Kairish and Gunar Tsilinsky in dramatic swings, in the confrontation of hopes and doubts, joy and sadness. Here is the clash of love with a sense of duty, responsibility for the fate of another person, and a kind of love triangle, and the theme of children growing up without a father, etc. The film invites reflection, moral problems do not lend themselves to unambiguous solutions. Actor's hit is one hundred percent. If the courageous Gunar Tsilinsky is well known to our viewers (involuntarily recalls Zhvanetsky’s statement about Baltic men & #39; handsome men, similar to men, bred artificially). With big hands, which women like so much and like us, smaller men & #39; The actress Astrida Kairisha is less well known, which does not beg her professionalism. Laura turned out to be mysterious in her impenetrable isolation, but in front of us she slowly begins to thaw. In connection with the image of Laura-Kairishi, it is impossible not to mention the lyrical essay of Victor Podlubny ' In Search of Astrida's Smile' in which the author with disarming sincerity explained his love for the harsh Astrida, including her heroine from Sonata.
In Sonata over the Lake, the decisive role was played by the thoroughness of the psychological drawing of characters - and not only the central characters, but also other characters, especially Via and Rich in the expressive performance of Lilita Ozolini and Geert Yakovlev. Another important plot layer is the motif associated with the events that took place in the old farm many years ago. Laura and her children share a home with Via, her husband’s half-sister. Rich and Via are children of the same mother, but Rich’s father, a former kulak of Tomarinsh, an accomplice of the fascists, killed Via’s father, the first chairman of the local collective farm. This tragic story pops up in conversations and motivates relationships. Young Via sincerely despises her brother, and hates the farm with his old things Tomarinsha, rushes to leave the house of the “scoundrel who killed her father.” About Vie should be said separately because Lilita Ozolina brilliantly performed this role literally steals every scene of the film from the main characters. Viewers are used to Ozolina as a blonde, restrained Baltic princess, here she is a bright brown-haired, passionate, torn by contradictions. This is not just another image, purely physically the actress looks different; a fat figure, rough from village life hands and feet, amusing her provincial attempts to seduce the metropolitan Voyager Rudolf. Via is interesting to watch, the role is made to the smallest detail; the words, looks, gestures are all very organic and strong. It is Via who talks about much of what Rudolf and Laura and the elderly Alvina are silent about, it is Via who gives a splash of stagnant energy to the old farm, like a cursed Gothic castle in which these different women languish and from where it seems impossible to escape. Her brother Rich we see literally in several retrospective scenes, but Geert Yakovlev managed to create an image of a kind, broken, eternally drunk Rich, a person as if internally wounded (even with his heredity). It is impossible to ignore Lydia Freymane, who played the role of Alvina’s mother Rich and Via, how much sorrow, longing in her look, this generally not yet an old woman herself drove herself into the trap of gloomy memories and at her own will is serving time on the cursed farm Tomarinsh, her abuser and father of Rich’s son, what passions are hidden in her heart? Zaig’s granddaughter, a teenage girl, seems like a young mirror image of her grandmother, but without her tragedy, she sees everything, understands everything, but tactfully remains silent for the time being. The only light ray in this dark realm is Laura’s seven-year-old son Maris. Suntanned forever squinting from the sun boy with burnt-out whitish hair, Maris without the supervision of his father terribly out of hand and naughty no worse than Emil from Lenneberg (what is the episode with Rudolph's car), in many ways Maris brings not so pathetic tone and humor, defusing the tense atmosphere.
It should be noted that now the film is restored and the beauty of the camera work is seen much better, Guido Skulte showed summer rural Latvia beautiful, wild, spiritual, and did it without tourist sweetness. We must pay tribute to the delicate soundtrack of Imants Kalnins, and the work of artists; the terrible smoked, but majestic farm Tomarins, with a black dried tree at the well, came out just great. Pleasure the eye hipp bows actors, colorful fabrics, mini, even a strict teacher Laura often hairless and in pants. Another important component in the perception of the film is the masterful dubbing of the film studio 'Lenfilm', not only Kirill Lavrov who voiced Tsilinsky, but the entire cast + the young actor who voiced Marisa coped wonderfully.
The result: a clear organization of the action, simplicity and at the same time the versatility of history, visual and musical saturation and restraint, the virtuosity of acting works that in general consist of which consists ' Sonata over the lake', truly a masterpiece of the Riga Film Studio for all time.