Lotus
A nightmarishly absurd tale of filmmaking in 1910s Latvia, this feverish kindred spirit to Guy Maddin blends history, fantasy, mysticism, and cinephilic references with unrestrained imagination.
Lotus is a wild and absurdly imaginative story about filmmaking and the revolutionary power of art in 1910s Latvia. It shows how experimentation can serve as a mirror to the past by boundlessly combining history, fantasy, mysticism and film references.
Alice von Trotta (Severija Janušauskaitė) arrives in Latvia to investigate her late father’s inheritance but ends up becoming part of the mystical Viva La Mort group, which pressures her to make a propaganda film for them. Alice gets acquainted with filmmakers who try to help her break free from the group’s grip and rediscover herself.
The plot description doesn’t reveal much about this nightmarish film. However, there is a great deal to describe in terms of the film’s aesthetics and narrative. Signe Birkova’s Lotus is kindred to Guy Maddin in its drawing on early film aesthetics and reimagining the past with a frenetic logic. The film is filled with references to film history (including Alfred Hitchcock, Georges Méliès, D.W. Griffith, and Asta Nielsen), and cinematographer Mārtiņš Jurevics’ camerawork, partly shot with a century-old camera, plays with the boundaries between reality and imagination.
Helmi Kajaste (translated by Pauliina Jännes)
Trailer
