March, March, Tra-ta-ta!
Raimundas Vabalas, 1964, 80 min

Introduction by Lina Kaminskaitė & Ehsan Khoshbakht

“A political satire created behind the Iron Curtain, in the Soviet Lithuania, at the same time as Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Fail-Safe (1964), March, March, Tra-ta-ta! is a unique  commentary on the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis of the early 1960s. Ironically, the film was never allowed to be shown outside the USSR due to Russia's ongoing policy of suppressing non-Russian films for international distribution.

The film takes place at the frontier of Centia and Groshia, two imaginary countries that are in constant fight, and tells the story of two lovers from the opposite sides of the border. Some of the most prominent Lithuanian actors appear in the film, including, perhaps more familiar to the non-Lithuanian audience, Donatas Banionis who went on to play the leading role in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972). The original colour pallet of this first colour film in the history of Lithuanian cinema – the outstanding work of cinematographer Donatas Pečiūra – can be enjoyed fully thanks to the digital restoration of the film. Also remarkable are the work of costume designers Juzefa Čeičytė and set designer Jeronimas Čiuplys, adding enchanting visual qualities to this Lithuanian Monty Python.” – Lina Kaminskaitė

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Supported by Lithuanian Film Centre and Lithuanian Culture Institute

Never on Sunday is a series of screenings of rare classics, archive masterpieces, obscure delights and forgotten gems carefully curated and introduced by Ehsan Khoshbakht and taking place the last Sunday of each month at Close-Up.