Latvian socialists smuggling guns to start a revolution? This forgotten Soviet gem is gloriously unhinged.
Season 1 • Episode 2
LatestAt the beginning of the summer of 1905, representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party Krasilnikov and Elkonen turned to Captain Zhanis Trautman, a Latvian political emigrant living on the outskirts of London, with a proposal to lead a steamer with a cargo of weapons to the shores of Russia. Having recruited a team of old and tried comrades, Trautman changes the crew of an English cargo ship bought by the front men. In the course of the squabble that arose on this occasion, a sailor of the old crew, David Blake, was stabbed. The wounded Blake and the veterinarian Gruber, who accompanied the cargo of anthrax drugs, are forced to leave on board. On the high seas, weapons and explosives were loaded on board. The steamer headed for the Oresund Strait, where a messenger was to meet him.
Direction
Rozenbergs squeezes tension from every cramped ship corridor
Acting
Paukstello's Trautmann: exhausted idealism in every glare
Production
Authentic 1905 detail on clearly limited budget
Janis Paukstello
Jean Trautmann
Juris Plavins
Khristofor Pavlovich Krasilnikov
Juris Strenga
Paul Elkonen
Jonas Pakulis
Rataev
Juozas Budraitis
Baron Heinrich Adelberg
Rolands Zagorskis
Blake
Ernst Romanov
Nikolay Ottovich Gruber
Ingūna Zemzare
Nastenka - daughter of Gruber
Andris Berzins
Martin
Romualds Ancans
Maksim Maksimovich
Helmuts Kalniņš
Konshin
Mirdza Martinsone
Elena Pavlovna
Akvelina Livmane
Ann
Arnolds Liniņš
Snicker
Andris Mekšs
Reppo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real John Grafton incident (1906) was a disastrous weapons smuggle to Finnish revolutionaries; the Soviets mythologized it heavily.
Director Rozenbergs shot this during the late Soviet period when Baltic filmmakers smuggled nationalist subtexts past Moscow censors.
SU
