Algimantas Puipa directs this doomed romance story, one of only three films to be produced in Lithuania in 1999. At the end of the 19th century, proud but poor fisherman Jurgeitis (Kostas Smoriginas) gets imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. His beautiful daughter Elze (Egle Jaselskyte) is sent to live with rich German merchant Michael. There, she falls for his son Endrik (Andrius Paulavicius), but when Michael dies, their love is imperiled by the merchant's psychotically-vengeful widow Grita (Janina Lapinskaite). The screenplay, by
Vytautas Zalakevicius, was produced posthumously. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi