source: The Rifleman

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.

It has the virtue of questioning nationalisms and loyalties in the context of the WWI, building a story that does not pretend to be pacifist, but that reflects on the meaning of war. And it certainly achieves a good visual result on a low budget, hiding the enemy in mists and shadows. However, it lacks a director who can strike a balance between the battlefield and the intimate story. Everything is as correct as it is unexciting.

...But a decent enough war drama based around true events Winter scenes were impressively shot, giving you the feeling that you were there

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.

It's hard not to draw similarities between this film and All Quiet on the Western Front ... Its clearly anti-war and anti-Soviet/communist ... The fact that's it's based on real life experiences as mentioned in the end credits lifts this film above the ordinary war film ... This is a great film if you enjoy gritty realistic war films and in some ways it reminds me of Cross of Iron in that respect ... As of Dec 2020 it's on Sky Cinema so if you get a chance watch it ... 10/10 from me

The movie was realy good, it is definetly the best latvian war movie, and prehaps the best ww1 movie out of all of them. The only problem i can pinpoint is the acting and sometimes the diolouge, wich was decent for most of the characters but sometimes the main characters voice acting was just terible in my opinion. I wouldnt say that the acting ruined the movie tough. Most of it was realy servicable, and i quite like that they didnt take all the overused latvian actors wich were realy tireing. Overall, the movie was fantastic, telling a almost completely unexplored ww1 front, especialy when it comes to wich part of the front. Definetly would recomend to anyone even remotely interested in ww1.

Considering the budget cast is working with.. its very well made. Acting on other hand.. Could have been better but in general enjoyable movie to watch.

It looks like about Latvia but people behave and talk like russians. On my grandmothers lap I've heard many stories about WW1 but none that people burn their houses in anticipating germans to free them from russians.

Great movie, just watched it in an English cinema with subtitles. The visit was spontaneous with no prior knowledge of the movie nor the preceding book. It was a fantastic representation of the suffering of a small country torn apart by war. The story gets off to a swift start and scarcely moves away from the battlefield. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but it's a fairly constant rollercoaster of ups and downs during perilous times. I would highly recommend anyone to watch the movie, very good, and thought provoking. Enjoy.