LEAVING BY THE WAY

The living and the dead cohabit at the end of the world in LEAVING BY THE WAY, a mystic drama based on one the of great Latvian tales, “Mad Dauka,” about a child who walks across a frozen sea to investigate what exists beyond the horizon. In filmmaker Viesturs Kair?ss interpretation, nine-year-old Dauka perseveres with the illusion that his naval-officer father still lives, even though the man almost certainly drowned, having washed overboard into the ocean. Ilga, Dauka's mother, cannot bear informing the son, even though she's consoling herself by having an affair with Viktor, the forester-husband of Ruta, the village postmistress. Ruta goes postal over the infidelity in a most singular and subversive manner; not only does she send Dauka false telegrams from the absent father, promising a return from the sea soon, but as a practicing witch she employs a variety of spells, potions and poisons to keep Viktor at her side or to eliminate Ilga. As a web of lies and deceit engulfs the rural community, Dauka's sister Liga suddenly disappears… Shot in Latgale, one of the most isolated, wildest and remote provinces of Latvia, LEAVING BY THE WAY contrasts red lips and red blood of the women with the joyless black of the men's outfits. These colors clash with the muted shades of nature preferred by young Dauka. In a resonant finale the boy finds a way to navigate around the dangerous shoals of adulthood for the tranquil waters of innocence. (In Latvian with English subtitles)