Legend of Latvian film history, cinematographer Miks Zvirbulis celebrates his 85th birthday: “There’s nothing to be wary of”

Photo: Timur Subhankulov

Diana Jance, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”

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Tomorrow, November 9th, the legend of Latvian cinema history, director of photography and Knight of the Order of the Three Stars Miks Zvirbulis will celebrate his 85th birthday. Celebrating the important anniversary and honoring the outstanding personality, the Latvian Filmmakers Union and the “Latvijas Mediji” publishing house at the “Splendid Palace” cinema at 6:30 pm, an anniversary event and the book by director Brigita Eglīte “Miks Zvirbulis. I am calm as a loaded cannon” opening the celebrations.

Miks Zvirbulis is one of the first professionally trained filmmakers in Latvia, one of those masters whose talent and principles allow us to talk about the high level of Latvian filmmakers’ art, which is also appreciated in the world context.

A few days before the holidays, “Latvijas Avīze” had the opportunity to meet the respected cinematographer. Our conversation took place very close to “Splendid Palace” – sitting on a bench in Värmanes Park – and Miks Zvirbulis with an extraordinary memory continued and added to the stories of the newly published book. Can you tell what’s important in a conversation? Unable to. You can just start the conversation and advise readers to keep reading the book and, of course, to watch the movies.

How was the book born?

M. Zvirbulis: I haven’t really looked at the book yet, I just flipped through it for 20 seconds. I have a trick: never stay in a hotel when I’m traveling, if possible I try to find a place in people’s homes, because then I get information that can be useful in a future film.

Now it’s like anger, because at that moment there were no cameras and so much intelligence that you should be recording what you heard on a tape recorder, but not at all. Especially in the environment of many experienced fishermen, I could have marked it in the notebook, now there is only what is left in my memory. But there were so many observations … Knowing this, Biruta Eglīte asked – tell me what you experienced when you met people outside the shooting range. There were so many interesting things that I experienced while filming expeditions outside Riga – to Salacgrīva, Kalten, Roja, Zvejniekciem … And Smilten – this is what you could call almost every place in Latvia where I shot. They say Latvians don’t have a sense of humor – I think there is no more stupid statement, of course there can be a category of people who really don’t have a sense of humor, but when a fisherman opens his mouth, it comes out. a saying that can’t even be written in a newspaper! Perhaps these stories are created by their harsh working conditions, perhaps by the fact that the presence of the boss is severely limited in the daily life of the fishermen.

Would you like to grab a camera and take something?

Now I only film in my dreams. Obviously it lacks the atmosphere of the filming of the movie, there is nothing you can do there. I know a number of people who have said – you know, Zvirbuli, you are a happy person, the years we worked in the studio were the happiest in life, but you’ve had over thirty. Despite the limitations and shortcomings, I know that an excellent team worked in the Riga film studio and there was an excellent atmosphere. I remember once in Germany, during the filming of the episodes of the movie “Rally”, the German colleagues wondered how it was possible that the cameramen were winding up the cables and that the people in charge of the lights knew how to adjust the focus of the camera. camera. What was instilled in the study, even a certain patriotism, was not observed in other studies. I know that in many places people were looking at their clocks exactly when the shift would be over and the duties would be over. This was not possible in our studio.

Fifteen years ago they could have worked even in the current conditions, but then I would have had to overcome a lot inside myself. Of course, I can’t deny how people work now, but these are different conditions and I have a slightly different school. I remember a time when I started working in the Ekis Television (NTV) studio, which was on the top floor of a multi-story building, and the movements were mainly via the elevator. I was surprised that one of the news cameramen, who had studied at the Academy of Culture, had put his camera in the door, not his foot, as he was walking towards the elevator. I can compare it: in my day, when I came to practice in Cēsis, where the film “Ilze” by Rolanda Kalniņa was shot, I sat on the metal box of the camera. One of the senior employees of the film crew, in charge of the shooting technique, came to me and said: never do this again in your life, sitting on the camera box is the same as sitting with your bare butt on the dining table. Consider that the camera is your sister-in-law, what your attitude towards technology will be, this will also be the attitude towards many important things.

What has decided your destiny as a cinematographer?

A special place in my biography belongs to the playwright Gunāras Pried. After our documentary on Salacgrīva was interrupted, it was thanks to him that I found a job in my first feature film without a diploma or an internship. Rumor has it that he offered Pavel Jankovskis, the director of the Riga Film Studio, that I had a script ready, but I sell it to the studio on the condition that it was shot by the artists Gunārs Pauzer and Uldis Balodi, Gunārs Pies is supposed to be the director and I should be the cameraman. The manager was worried: how can I trust them with money and everything if they don’t even have a diploma! However, they have decided to allow us to do some film tests, to see what will happen there. That’s how I started gradually. Gunāras Priedi and I were linked by many, many sympathies, although we were very different in character. But I’ve already learned something very important from each author, not to mention the timing of collaboration with directors in various films.

At the time, this was happening in Salacgrīva: both Gunāras Piesi and I came from the institute with a camera, a limited amount of films and a scholarship for a graduation thesis. Since we had no light or means of transport, we connected with the television, they helped us with technical support, but then the material was apparently seen by people from the Limbaži Party Committee. Those who had a say and decided usually didn’t talk to the writers at all, later told us they were accused of showing people with black teeth in the film – those who had served in the legion or other military facilities, they were expelled to Siberia. The dentures were something like that [piesit pie parka soliņa skrūves] coloured. The film was discontinued and the thesis was completed well after the deadline. The conclusion of the commission was to expel me from the institute with the right to defend myself within two years. I was thrown from the boat … And then came “Four white shirts”. Of course, when I took an artistic feature film to the Moscow Institute as a thesis, it was another value, I concluded with honors.

Also, the art film could have been banned. Were you careful while filming afterwards?

What should i pay attention to? There is nothing to be wary of. I’ve always tried to work with directors who have a point of view. There have been so many movies with what I call “co-writers” watching and studying shooting. I believe that to some extent any objection is good for developing your imagination and finding a way to overcome it without deviating from the basic idea. When he worked together with director Rolanda Kalniņa, this was particularly pronounced, even with others.

However, it was with Rolandas Kalniņu that the film “Chetri balti krekli” did not come out on the big screen …

How did he fail! Success! The fact that the film was shelved was one thing, but Rolands Kalniņš did not deviate from the initial idea of ​​the film. Years passed and the film came out. It would have been much worse if I had tried to adapt to some degree of the censorship and had done my best to get the film accepted for screen projection. I was lucky enough to work with Gunārs Priedi, Egonas Livas, Zigmunds Skujiņas, Alberts Bela, Alvi Lapiņas, there would have been a whole host of other authors who always had their own distinct artistic intention and were looking for an opportunity to defend it in controversial moments. Since I had studied in Moscow and my knowledge of Russian was better than, for example, Roland Kalniņš, during the translation of the film I was able to follow the reaction of the management a bit, it was an interesting work behind the scenes.

The screening of the film “Four White Shirts” at the Cannes Film Festival (2018) was one of the most exciting moments in the triumph of Latvian cinema. How did you feel then?

Nothing, it was not my first time in Cannes, my first real trip abroad was in France on Christmas 1962. At that moment I was walking along the Cannes promenade, observing how the place is, where the screening of most important films in the world. That time, when they called me to inform me that the film was a candidate for screening in France in the “Cannes Classics” program, I realized that it was pleasant, but in the end it was a normal phenomenon, because at that time it was the time for celebrations of Latvia’s centenary, that’s how it was supposed to be. I remember when they told me that I should travel too, I was very ignorant, because operators are only invited to Cannes if they are nominated as possible contenders for the main prize. And then they said it was very serious and we left with Roland Kalniņas and his nephew Valtas Kalniņas. To a certain extent I was distracted, we were received so favorably, treated in a friendly way and interviewed, I understand that it was probably the great delicacy of the French people. However, when “Four White Shirts” was shown, the hall was full and didn’t seem small. I noticed that during the film, some were going in and some were going out, and that was normal, right? But when the audience stood up and cheered after the film, I realized that hundreds of people can’t be hypocrites. Although the film was in Latvian with English and French subtitles, it seemed surprising that after so many years in a completely different country, people understood what it was all about and appreciated not only the melody but also the lyrics of Mārs Čaklā. I was also surprised by the excellent quality of the “Lokomotive” studio which restored the film, especially in terms of colors. It was a big surprise from start to finish, including being greeted by four men in white shirts, musicians who were touring France at the time. It was all fabulous, but it doesn’t usually happen that way.

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