The Shoe

The first feature, shot in black & white, by Laila Pakalnina, whose short The Oak was screened at Rotterdam last year, is about the delicate relationship between the Soviet occupier and the local people of Latvia. Now the country is free again, a way has to be found to live with the Russians who are still there. Its slant is occasionally documentary, but above all poetic and fairy-tale, as The Shoe tackles coming to terms with a traumatic past without pointing the finger at the occupier. The only Russian soldiers we see look as if they are only wearing their weapons as decoration.In the late fifties, at the height of the Cold War, the white beaches of Latvia were ‘combed’ neatly by the Soviet occupier every day. The beach was after all part of their front line and in this way the Soviets could follow any footstep left bya possible intruder (or refugee). In The Shoe, three patrolling soldiers find a woman’s shoe. They sound the alarm. The trail leads to the town of Leipaja. Are illegal activities taking place? Is there a newcomer in town? An investigation is started, but doesn’t seem to get anywhere. The town is much too enticing. The soldiers hang around and have a good time. Pressure increases from higher up, but the shoe doesn’t fit anyone…