The story of the film basically takes place in the 70s and 80s of the last century. It centers on Astra, a promising young doctor who initially seems to have bright opportunities for advancement until an incident in Leningrad completely ruins her career and soon her whole life. Astra’s only support in the fight against depression and helplessness is her daughter Nora.
According to the director Ināra Kolmane, when she read the book for the first time, she saw it in the pictures and it was clear to her that she wanted to make it into a film. The support of the author of the novel, Nora Ikstenas, was an even greater incentive for it.
When the film began to be shot, there was no idea that the historical background of the Soviet era could resonate so much with today, Inara Kolmane admits: “That breath is in the back of my head. Also seeing what is happening in Ukraine and seeing what is happening to the people of Russia. In the film, I , of course, the most important are the human relationships that are represented in it, but this Soviet background was very important to me, to remind people how we really lived, and for the new generation to have ideas about it.”
The role of Astra’s daughter Nora in the film is played by Ruta Kronberg, who we already met as little Billy in Inara Kolman’s film “Bille”. Ruta in the role of Nora is excellent in her cooperation with actress Maija Doveik, who plays the main role of Astra. Doweika admits that Astra in this story is destroyed by time and the system that rules it, but the story is generalizable and multifaceted: “I will say that time could be just one of the similar factors that can be in a person’s life.
A person’s life can just as easily be destroyed by despotic parents, self-doubt, or health problems. Many similar factors can destroy a person, a person’s ability to rise again in some very difficult situations.
Regarding the match with Ruth. The role of Nora must be a very smart girl. Ruth is exactly like that. She is very smart both in the way she operates on the court and also in how simple she is to grasp things. Also, I admire her humor and her sincere investment in the tasks that the director gave us.”
About her character Maija Doveika says: “One of the themes of fear in Astra’s life is the inability to resist these demons of hers, the inability to find joy in life and the inability to see meaning in life. Astra tries to stun reality. As Imants Ziedonis says in an epiphany – you can stun with dice, with cards, with opiates. And Astra also in a way tries to numb this reality, which is a harsh testimony of how broken her dreams are, how hopeless the near and far future is.”
The music for the feature film “Mother’s milk” by Inara Kolmane was composed by Raimonds Tiguls. The premiere of the film will be on February 1st at the “Splendid Palace” cinema, from February 2nd it will be shown all over Latvia.
Inara Kolmane’s film “Mother’s Milk”3 min
Highlight the text and press Ctrl+Enterto send the text fragment to be corrected to the editor!
Highlight the text and press on Report a bug buttons to send the text fragment to be corrected to the editor!
