''Four White Shirts'' () or ''Breathe Deeply'' (''Elpojiet dziļi'') is a 1967 romantic drama film directed by

Rolands Kalniņš Rolands Kalniņš (9 May 1922 – 17 May 2022) was a Latvian film director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Rolands Kalniņš was born on 9 May 1922 in Vecslabada, Istra Parish, Latvia to a post worker family. From 1937 to 1940, he s ...

. The film was prevented from being screened by Soviet censors for 20 years following its release. In 2018, Four White Shirts was featured in the 2018 Cannes Classics program.

Plot

The film centers around a telephone repairman named Cēzars Kalniņš, who writes music for his friend's rock band “Optimisti” (The Optimists). Culture worker Anita Sondore reports Kalniņš’ lyrics to the authorities due to their criticism of prevalent social values, leading to conflicts between Kalniņš, his bandmates, and the Soviet authorities.

Cast

Uldis Pūcītis Uldis Pūcītis (15 April 1937 – 14 December 2000) was a Latvian television, theater and film actor, scriptwriter and film director. Early life and stage career Uldis Pūcītis was born in Ranka parish, Gulbene district to Jānis Pūcītis ...

as Cēzars Kalniņš * Dina Kuple as Anita Sondore *

Līga Liepiņa Līga Liepiņa (born August 1, 1946) is a Latvian actress. Biography Liepiņa was born in Naukšēni. Her father was a forest worker, her mother worked in a kindergarten. She finished school in 1964, the People's studio of the actor at the Ri ...

as Bella *

Pauls Butkēvičs Pauls Butkēvičs (born 8 August 1940 in Riga) is a Latvian film and theater actor, best known for starring in '' I Remember Everything, Richard'' and '' Elpojiet dziļi!'' (1967, also known as ''Četri balti krekli''). He also starred in '' Ilgai ...

as Ralfs

Music

The film's music was written by

Imants Kalniņš Imants Kalniņš (born 26 May 1941) is a Latvian composer, musician and politician. Having studied classical and choral music, he has written seven symphonies, several operas (including the first rock opera in the USSR, ), oratorios, cantatas ...

and lyrics by the poet

Māris Čaklais Māris Čaklais (16 June 1940 – 13 December 2003) was a Latvian poet, writer, and journalist. Biography Čaklais studied journalism at the University of Latvia until 1964; his first publications appeared in 1960. He translated to Latvian Be ...

. The music was sung by actors Līga Liepiņa, Pauls Butkevičs, and Juris Strenga. Despite the film being informally banned for twenty years, many of the songs including “Dziesma par Napoleonu” started being played by Kalniņš’ band Menuets and became well-known hits. In 2014, music publisher ''Upe tt'' released Māris Čaklais' book ''Stikla saksofonists'' with two CDs. On the first CD, the writer reads his poetry, and the second CD includes original music from the movie. This is not only the film's first full-length movie soundtrack, but also the first music album. The tracks include: # Viņi dejoja vienu vasaru # Dziesma par krekliem. 1. variants # Dziesma par Napoleonu # Šeiks # Dzeguzes balss # Es esmu bagāts # Pirmā pīle # Dziesma par krekliem. 2. variants # Cik mēs viens par otru zinām

Censorship and release

The film's screening was restricted by Soviet authorities for nearly twenty years after its original premiere due to its controversial stance on censorship, not becoming widely shown until 1987. In 2018, the film was digitally restored and shown at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

by director Rolands Kalniņš in the Buñuel Hall of the Festival Castle.

Legacy

The film has been included into the Latvian Culture Canon as one of 99 elements in recognition of its historical and cultural value, one of just twelve films.

References

External links

* Soviet films based on plays Soviet romantic drama films Soviet musical drama films Films set in the Soviet Union Films set in Latvia 1967 films 1967 romantic drama films Soviet-era Latvian films {{1960s-USSR-film-stub