Alexander Hahn

English subtitles are inconsistently present. In Latvia on midsummer's eve. Action jumps between several different story lines which eventually converge, more or less. An American male is searching for the daughter of his dying father's paramour and is given a Latvian education by the cab driver. Two Liverpool firemen have come to visit their 'sister city' fire department in Riga and are invited to look for the 'flowering fern' during their beachside beer fest. A French widow and her gay poet companion thought they were coming to Lithuania to bury her husband's ashes and get a lift from a Latvian with a funeral van. A German and a Russian investors are wined & dined by a Latvian who wants them to sign a contract. Did I forget anything? The sex-crazed Latvian star who is bringing a Japanese boyfriend to meet her parents.
We are treated to some traditional folk dancing, singing and fire-jumping. Memorable was an early line, as the American is told by customs that he needs to be fingerprinted: "You fingerprint us, we fingerprint you." said in a deadpan.… (meer)