Four novels, portraying kids in different Lithuania’s epochs: before the war, during the war, after the war and the 50s. The chapter We Need No Longer (Mums nebereikia) transports the viewer into the interwar Lithuanian village. Nine-year-old Juozukas is taken out of class by his brother since a wealthy farmer came to “buy” a shepherd. The chapter Nightingale (Lakštingala), presents the story of a boy called Lakštingala, who, pretending to be a village fool lures a German squad into the forest where partisans are lying in wait for them. The plot of the story The Last Shot (Paskutinis šūvis) is also minimal: a little girl who has befriended and looks after the swans that had settled on the river encounters an armed man. The girl follows him into a tunnel, his hiding place, and carries out his ammunition, in a juxtaposition of good and evil, life and death. In the final story The Living Heroes the main protagonists of the story, the two boys, are contemporaries of the viewers. They dream of becoming heroes, but at the end of the chapter, they learn that dedicated work can also be a heroic deed.
CLASSIC CINEMA SECTION
The Living Heroes
Classics O’Clock I, Friday March 1, 19:00
Screening courtesy of Lithuanian Film Center
ENGLISH TITLE:
The Living Heroes
ORIGINAL TITLE:
Gyvieji Didvyriai
DIRECTOR:
Arūnas Žebriūnas, Balys Bratkauskas, Vytautas Žalakevičius, Marijonas Giedrys
COUNTRY:
Lithuania
GENRE:
Fiction
YEAR:
1959
LENGTH
79’
CAST:
Eduardas Čepulis, Regina Zdanavičiūtė, Kazimieras Vitkus, Nijolė Narijauskaitė, Nerijus Narkis, Vytautas Buizys, Gediminas Pauliukaitis
A QUOTE FOR THE FILM:
“Why did they shoot our teacher, mister?”
SELECTIVE LIST OF FESTIVALS AND AWARDS:
1960 – XII Karlovy Vary Film Festival – FIPRESCI award
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Arūnas ŽEBRIŪNAS (1930-2013, Lithuania)
was the son of a military officer and grew up excelling in basketball and rowing. In 1955 he graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts with a degree in Architecture and joined the Lithuanian Film Studio. He made his directorial debut in 1959, directing the chapter ‘The Last Shot’ from The Living Heroes.
Balys BRATKAUSKAS (1923-1983, Lithuania)
was an actor and director. He started his career as a theatre actor and joined the Lithuanian Film Studio in 1955. In 1959 he co-directed The Living Heroes. That same year, Bratkauskas co-directed the historical drama Julius Janonis, about the Lithuanian poet. He made his final feature film, When the Rivers Merge (1961), before turning to television. He directed numerous TV films, series and plays.
Vytautas ŽALAKEVIČIUS (1930-1996, Lithuania)
joined the Lithuanian Film Studio. In 1959, he directed the chapter ‘Living Heroes’ from The Living Heroes. He gained international recognition with his 1965 film Nobody Wanted to Die, which was nominated for Best Film at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. From 1961 to 1974, Žalakevičius was the artistic director and head of the Lithuanian Film Studio. After Lithuania gained independence, he co-founded the film studio 2000 and directed his final film, The Beast Rising From the Sea (1992).
Marijonas GIEDRYS (1933-2011, Lithuania)
graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow in 1959, before joining the Lithuanian Film Studio. He co-wrote and co-directed his first film, The Living Heroes, in 1959. In 1973 he was granted the honorary title of People’s Artist of the Lithuanian SSR. In 2008 Giedrys was awarded a Golden Crane by the Lithuanian Film Awards in honor of his contributions to Lithuanian film.
