This movie is a story of the legendary Lithuanian peasant- Tadas Blinda (1846-1877), a Lithuanian folk hero of the 19th century often compared to Robin Hood. He is shown as a leader of serfs battling and ridiculing the Polish landlords and the Russian Empire that governed Lithuania, Lithuania after the law about the end of serfdom. The movie is a an intense drama with a mix of cruelty and love, comic situations and jokes, heroism and treason.
Film, based on a story by Latvian novelist Egons Līvs, focuses on the resolve of a human being and the whole Lithuanian nation in the face of cataclysmic events to find the time and room for simple emotions. The film depicts a chaotic period through the relationship of the two brothers, one dedicated to his family and conscience; the other dedicated to a political ideal. These divided brothers can be read as a representation of a country torn in two, of a history rudely divided. Lithuania has a history of occupation and the struggle to survive is as much personal as it is cultural.
Under the USSR oppression a family breaks up and its members find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades. Based on the Mykolas Sluckis' novel, the film tells the story of a dramatic and painful reality of the post-war Lithuania.
Early twentieth century. The future poet, the nurturer of lyrics of love, Julius Janonis, is maturing among the students of Šiauliai Gymnasium. The son of a poor peasant, sick with tuberculosis, spotted a classmate, Milda, from a wealthy family admiring his talent. Unfortunately, at a high society party held at Milda’s parents house, where Julius reads his poems, guests make fun of the poet. When World War I comes, Janonis is taken to Voronezh, to the Lithuanian diaspora.
