FILMO „HERKUS MANTAS“ ISTORIJA: KAIP SOVIETMEČIO LIETUVIŲ KINEMATOGRAFAS BUVO (NE)PANAUDOTAS LIETUVOS DIDŽIOSIOS KUNIGAIKŠTYSTĖS VAIZDINIO REFLEKSIJO
The Film “Herkus Mantas” History: the (Mis)use of Soviet Lithuanian Cinematography for the Lithuanian Grand Duchy Image Reflections

Summary/Abstract: This article reconstructs the creation of the only Lithuanian historical epic “Herkus Mantas”. The archive documents and the use of the oral history method revealed that the first director of “Herkus Mantas”, Almantas Grikevičius, had to resign after failure to tackle a few difficult challenges. These challenges included the realization of a complicated script, poor infrastructural capacities of the Lithuanian film studio, lack of experience in filming crowd scenes, difficulties of recruitment of actors’ troupe, and finally the challenging personality of the director. Following Saulius Šaltenis’ script, Almantas Grikevičius aimed to create a non-linear film story filled with retrospective fragments alongside symbols, metaphors, and allegories with a great focus on recreating the portraits of various profound personalities. The change of film directors saved “Herkus Mantas” from failure. The fact that Marijonas Giedrys became the second film director of “Herkus Mantas” meant that the film crew were prepared to abandon the ambitious attempts to reveal the complex ideas that lay in the script and to invoke the artistic-ideological-historiographical conventions of the soviet epoch. Grikevičius’ reluctance to apply these conventions was the main cause of failure. Despite Giedrys’ decision to reach a creative compromise, the appearance of “Herkus Mantas” in cinemas at the end of 1972 became a profound sociocultural phenomenon of the soviet epoch. This phenomenon made a significant impact on Lithuanian society’s consciousness and historical memory.

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