Panorama review - ESCAPING RIGA by Davis Simanis

Isaiah Berlin and Sergei Eisenstein - two important and innovative figures of the start of the 20th century - subjectively explored by filmmaker Davis Simanis in his film Escaping Riga, presented at the 27th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

 

Isaiah Berlin was a Russo-British Jewish social and political theorist, throught by many to be the dominant scholar of his generation. Sergei Eisenstein was a bold an audatious visionary filmmaker, whose experimentations during the pioneering days of cinema left an indelible mark on his artform of choice. These two men had very different personalities, Berlin being more quiet, passive and observant while Eisenstein was more exhuberant, fiery and extrovert. However, despite their contrasting natures, they were made one by their birthplace of Riga, and their physical distancing from this place somehow heavily helped to shape their lives and allowed them to evolve into the imposing modern historical figures they became.

Davis Simanis, himself residing in Riga, playfully discovers the lives of these two men and knowledgebly picks out fun anecdotes from each of their lives - most of which help us understand the process of their afore mentioned evolution, and balancing out the elements that inspired their works. The soothing voice enarrating the story in a sublime British accent also convenys the meditative nature of this delightful essay documentary that also playfully creates a greatly involving atmosphere through its visuals. 

 

These are constructed not by archive footage, as one would naturally expect, but through re enactments. Thus, this is recreation as much as it is representation. Yet, simanis is careful enough to encapsulate the aura and atmosphere of these days of mechanical advancement and distinctive modernist elegance by channelling the spirit of cinema of the times. The footage was in fact shot on 8mm film, and in stunning black and white, making use of organic processes that not only suitably recall Eisenstein's works, but more generally the style of filmmaking of its time.

 

All this also aids the glorification of a subjectivity that refers to the filmmaker himself, who almost tries to imagine through Eisenstein's and Berlin's experiences what it would be like to 'escape Riga'. Charmingly, Escaping Riga becomes a film about travel - for the two men travelled extensively - and how movement broadens horizons but also helps shape viewpoints and promotes thinking outside the box.