Blizzard of Souls

This Latvian film depicts hell on the battlegrounds through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old boy named Arturs during World War l. In this period of time, I learned that the Latvians had been infringed and butchered by neighboring countries such as Germany and Russia. To gain freedom, even children had to fight with rifles in their hands and their innocent blood was spilt. Although the overall style of this film is rather subdued, it conveys the pain and the horror the boy experiences very intensely. Even the battle scenes aren't overly dramatic which makes the film more realistic. Very sad yet a powerful story to watch.

Based on true events and the novel by Aleksandrs Grins, it is a moving story of friendships and strong camaraderie amongst the soldiers in the WW1 battlefields of Latvia (part of old Russia in 1915). Undaunted by guns, grenades, snipers, bayonets, blizzards, and all the bloody horrors of WW1 ... fearless Latvians were proud to defend their homeland from the Germans.

Young actors and engaging characters make compelling watching. The Isle of Death and Christmas fights. I usually do not like war movies (bloodshed) but after 30 mins of viewing, I was hooked. l had to watch it to the end just to see what happened to the FRIENDS who fought TOGETHER - HEROES OF LATVIA. Historically, 1.2M Latvians died in that war. Not telling if the boy hero Arturs, or any of his friends survived the war ... but you might need a hanky at the end of the movie.

I'm buying the video from Amazon Prime, as it really is a good movie that you could and would want to watch again, unlike most war films which are too grisly gore fests. It premiered with Screen International on-line screenings yesterday. Good luck to cast and crew with this year's Oscars.

I completely agree with reviewer, fernandojnfalmeida's short but right on the money review:

Quote: "Fantastic, better than 1917 fernandojnfalmeida-672-22614620 November 2020 Let's say it's a 1917, with better cinematography, with a plot at a much higher level and a density and complexity of historical facts stratospheric compared to 1917." Unquote

The movie 1917 that won an Oscar is still a clueless myth to me. The whole movie was merely about two British grunts volunteered or been forced to carry out an alert mission. What we saw was just a camera followed those two young men went through the battlefield with actually nothing to tell, except when a German plane after bombing was shot down by the British riflemen on the ground. That was the only incident worth mentioning. Other than that episode, there's nothing special to tell. We just followed the damn camera which followed those two grunts backs went through the whole lame movie to the end.

But "Blizzard of Souls" is a totally different achievement. Telling us how a young kid under 17 from a farm boy to grow up into a seasoned veteran, who lost his mother, father and later lost his big brother. Wounded so many times, almost was killed several times, even escaped from an execution.

The movie itself is a saga, a journey throughout the four seasons, so many deaths, so many losses, so many bloody battles, bleeding, wounds. When the movie ended and the credit appeared, you would see those photos in black and white shot at that time were all subtly acted, directed and edited with the real actors to realize truthfully. The harshness of the fate of that little country, first invaded and raped by the German, then cheated, manipulated by the Tsars, then again coerced, forced and cheated by the Soviet Russia. A small but tough nation not liberated from the slavery of the Red Communist Russia until late in the 20th Century and finally allow the world to know what a beautiful country it is. What a journey!

If the lousy "1917" could win Oscar, then this "Blizzard of Souls (The Rifleman)" should win more! I am also quite amazed that a small country could produce and present to us such a mature and wonderful war movie. Everything looked authentic and real, battle scenes, costumed, make-up, editing, directing and acting are very very good. Every scene was so detailed and carefully shot. What a nice work! I never got bored, lost focus and became impatient from the beginning to the end.

Highly recommended!

Latvia, the playground of other nations. A small country suffering from the war. You don't often get to see something cinematic from Latvia. And this film in particular can compete with greats in the world. Even if the budget has certainly lost some of its visual power, it is intense and always believable.

Due to the low budget, the film is full of ingenuity. Especially seeing the fight scenes without pompous music is just very stressful and looks very real.

Unfortunately from the second third the film loses its speed and its emotional connection to the viewer. It becomes banal and harmless. In addition, the actors are sometimes not very convincing. Still absolutely worth seeing.

"Blizzard of Souls" tells the story of a young man, Arturs Vanag (Oto Brantevics). This is story like so many other war stories hitting the theatres lately. The difference lies in the details. Once the movie starts, you get sucked into the story, knowing what will happen. After German soldiers kill his mother and the family dog, he signs on with the Latvian battalion of the Imperial Russian Army, along with his father and brother. Then more tragedy strikes. I was really impressed by how the movie was filmed and the awesome acting of Oto Brantevics (first movie role and casted out of 1300 candidates). The last part of the movie is slower paced and makes you think about Artur. All the choices he made seemed the wrong ones. But are there good ones in a war like this. The storytelling tackles two wars and the absurdity of the war. Again, if you like war movies, this one you have to see. There are really awesome scenes you will not forget.