The Rifleman

1915, Latvia. After his mother is killed by German soldiers, sixteen year old Arturs goes to the front with his father and brother. They join the Latvian rifle units formed within the Russian army. They fight in the marshes, they freeze and their numbers thin. Then the revolution comes in Russia and whom the war is being fought for becomes unclear. Dzintars Dreibergs directs. The source is Aleksandrs Grīns's novel; the author fought in the units and wrote the book in the thirties. It was banned in the Soviet period and he was killed in exile in 1941. The Latvian riflemen were a real formation. Raised within the Russian army in the First World War, they took heavy losses and some later went over to the Bolsheviks; the subject is still contested in Latvian history. The film's view is national and not simple. While it honours the fight for independence it does not beautify the war at all; the mud, the sickness and the senseless orders are shown directly. The battle scenes are at large scale and it is among the most expensive Latvian productions. It was made as part of the programme for the centenary of the country's independence and broke box office records in Latvia. Who it is for: anyone interested in First World War films and Baltic history. Who it is not for: there is little character development, the narrative is episodic, and the sides are confusing without the historical context.