When Jānis Striečs film “A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer’s Eve” came out at the end of 1981, no one had any idea that several decades later it would still be so relevant, even acquiring new generations of fans and becoming eminently quotable!
Mirta, a little old lady living in the country, has won in the lottery what every soviet citizen longs for – a Zhiguli car. Suddenly, her country house if full of relatives who, up to then, had completely forgotten about her. Mirta’s nephew Ēriks, with wife Dagnija and sonUģis, immediately cancel their vacation plans, and Mirta’s ex-daughter-in-law Olita – with husband Viktors and daughter Lāsma – also show up unexpectedly. Each family tries to get Mirta on their side, so that she will leave her car to them. Things heat up when out of spite, Lāsma begins to secretly flirt with both Ēriks and Uģis.
The film has consistently been voted by the public as the best Latvian film of all time, and is part of the Latvian Cultural Cannon. Thanks to the sharp wit of the director, the film has achieved special status as everyone’s favorite comedy, and numerous quotes from the film have since entered the common Latvian lexicon.
Director: Jānis Streičs
Screenwriter: Māra Svīre
Cinematographer: Harijs Kukels
Art director: Vasilijs Mass
Composer: Raimonds Pauls
Riga Film Studio, 1981
Cast: Mirta – Lilita Bērziņa, Dagnija – Olga Dreģe, Ēriks – Uldis Dumpis, Uģis – Gundars Āboliņš, Jāzeps – Romualds Ancāns, Pigalu Prīdis – Ēvalds Valters, Olita – Baiba Indriksone, Viktors – Boļeslavs Ružs, Lāsma – Diāna Zande and others.