Why Lacplesis (1930) is the weirdest, coolest silent epic you haven't seen

Is it worth your time?

If you have any interest in how countries used to make their own 'superhero' movies before the MCU existed, then yes. You should watch it.

History nerds and people who like grainy, flickering silent films will find a lot to love here. If you can't stand reading title cards or movies without 4K explosions, you’ll probably be bored to tears within ten minutes.

I honestly didn't expect much when I hit play. I figured it would be a dry, boring history lesson about Latvia, but it’s actually kind of wild.

The movie does this weird thing where it flips between two different worlds. One is this mythical land with a guy named Lacplesis who has bear ears on his helmet.

Then, without much warning, we are suddenly in 1919 watching soldiers in the mud. It’s Janis Vanags and Mirdza Saulite trying to find love while people are shooting at them.

The mythical stuff is definitely the highlight for me. The costumes look like they were made with a lot of passion but maybe not a lot of money, which gives it a great vibe.

Lacplesis himself is played by Kristaps Kreicbergs, and he has this very intense way of staring at the camera. He looks like he hasn't slept in three days, which fits the 'hero of the nation' vibe, I guess.

I noticed that in the fight scenes, the choreography is a bit... stiff? It looks like two guys trying really hard not to actually hurt each other with props.

But then you get these shots of the landscape that are genuinely beautiful in a cold, lonely sort of way. The river scenes feel very heavy and important.

The Black Knight is the villain, and he’s just as brooding as you’d hope. He reminds me a bit of the dark figures in The Power of Evil, just purely there to be a jerk.

There is this one moment where the mythical world and the 1919 world sort of bleed together through an overlay. It’s a bit blurry, but it makes you feel like the ghosts of the past are watching the soldiers.

Speaking of soldiers, the 1919 scenes are surprisingly gritty. It’s not as polished as something like Michael, but it feels more 'real' because you know these people were filming in the actual places where things happened.

Mirdza, played by Lilita Berzina, has these incredible eyes. She can say more with one blink than most actors can with a five-minute monologue.

I did get a bit confused about who was who in the trenches sometimes. Everyone has the same hat and a mustache.

The pacing is a bit of a mess, honestly. It slows down way too much during the romantic parts, and I found myself checking how much time was left.

But when the action kicks back in, it’s great. There’s a scene with a bridge that kept me actually leaning forward in my chair.

Small things I noticed:

• The bear-ear helmet is actually kind of cute, even though it's supposed to be intimidating.
• There is a dog in one of the 1919 scenes that looks very confused by the filming.
• The makeup on the Black Knight is thick enough to be a mask.
• The way they use light to show 'hope' is very old-school and charmingly obvious.

It’s not a perfect movie by any means. It’s lopsided and feels like two different scripts were stapled together at the last minute.

But there is a soul in this movie. You can tell the people making it really believed that these stories mattered.

It’s much more interesting than some of the stuff from that era, like Being Respectable, which just feels like people talking in rooms.

Lacplesis is out there in the world, literally. It’s big, it’s messy, and it’s very Latvian.

I wouldn't watch it every day, but I'm glad I watched it once. It’s a strange little time capsule.

If you're looking for something that feels like a dream someone had after reading a history book and a fairy tale at the same time, this is it. 🇱🇻