Riga – and Gustavs Klucis
The premiere was in 2008, in Riga, the film about Klucis, ”The Deconstruction of an Artist”. Directed by Peteris Krilovs. And here I stand in front of the Arsenals Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art, where there is an exhibition of the artist (runs until October 26), a very good one and for one who knows his work from the film it is a pleasure to walk around and see all the posters and collages from the film, here hanging with no movements, in the film set in motion in an intelligent presentation and with a superb flown and rythm in the montage.
This is a quote from one of many texts, that has appeared on filmkommentaren.dk about the film:
”Latvian director Peteris Krilovs’ documentary about legendary artist Gustav Klucis took several prizes at the National award ceremony in Riga a week ago: best director, best editor (Danish Julie Vinten), best script (Pauls Bankovskis) and best sound mix (Andris Barons). A big triumph for the company Vides Film Studio and its energetic leader Uldis Cekulis.
So well deserved. The same team has just completed a film from Krilovs. ”Obliging Collaborators”. Here is a promotion text from the internet:
With this full-length documentary, director Pēteris Krilovs delves into an
intricate and intriguing period in modern Latvian history, his father’s death at the hands of the KGB intertwined with the underhanded game played by Soviet Latvian KGB agents against Swedish-English-American intelligence services. In the 1960s, a book was released and a feature film made, later, a pseudo-documentary TV series produced propagandising how Soviet agents fooled their Western counterparts. This “game” and its players and pawns are the focus of Krilovs’ documentary “Uz spēles Latvija”. The compelling personal history, the protagonists, the editing of archival materials, distinct and at times ironic, as well as the powerful visuals will help the viewer to navigate these little-known historical events.
I have seen the film in a Latvian version and yesterday in an English. Unfortunately the screening room for the latter had a bad sound transmission so I did not get the personal commentary from Krilovs. Will get back later with a review.