Aloiz Brench

Directing

Aloiz Brench

Born — Died

1929-06-06 — 1998-10-29

Place of birth

Riga, Latvian Republic

Known for

Directing

Credits

24 titles

The director who started the detective and thriller genre in Latvian cinema made his finest movies in the 1970s. In his work Brenčs accentuated the psychological motivation of the criminals and the causality of events. In a time when doubts were unacceptable, he allowed his characters to doubt, raising questions about personal choice and responsibility.

Known for

Behind the camera

To Be Unwanted poster
6.5

Valdemārs 'Voldis' Viters is released after seven years in prison. He is 46 years old and has no family or job. Some of his old friends have abandoned the life of crime, and policeman Leo Aleksandrs, as well as the beautiful taxi driver Irēna, try to persuade Voldis to forget the past and move on. But when the crime boss Teksis proposes a plan to rob a jewelry store, Voldis agrees, thinking this will be his last crime before starting a new life.

To Be Unwanted

1977

No artwork available
4.3

Ecological criminal intrigue during the international billiard tournament in Riga.

Duplets

1992

Light at the End of the Tunnel poster
7.2

A load of gold is stolen. Detectives make criminals play by their rules.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

1974

No artwork available
NR

The film tells of faithful devotion to spiritual ideals. It is based on Riga St. Anna Stocken's Life Story of the Cistercian Monastery of Mary Magdalene.

Anna

1996

No artwork available
NR

The film tells of faithful devotion to spiritual ideals. It is based on Riga St. Anna Stocken's Life Story of the Cistercian Monastery of Mary Magdalene.

Anna

1996

Keys to Paradise poster
6.3

Successful work and life of a brave militia captain who does not know much about human psychology.

Keys to Paradise

1976

Rally poster
5.6

During an international rally two contestants find a hidden painting in the door of their car. In order to not get removed from the track riders do not report to their team management.

Rally

1978

The Zitar Family poster
5.0

The epic film is based on the motifs of Vilis Lācis' novel "The Zītari Family". The tragedy of the Zītari family is a model of Latvian national history. With the beginning of World War I, the patriarchal way of life of Captain Andrejs and his wife Alvīne, their children Kārlis, Ings, Ernests, Elza and Janka changes, with years spent at work and in rare, modest celebrations. Kārlis voluntarily goes to the front, Ingus disappears without a trace on long sea voyages. Not wanting to live in the territory occupied by the German army, the Zītari evacuate to the distant Altai region. The unusually difficult living conditions and the drastically changing political situation of the post-revolutionary period also affect each member of the Zītari family. When the opportunity arises to return to Latvia, Andrejs and Alvīne are no longer among the living. The old sailor's nest has collapsed and the young Zītari are no longer able to preserve their father's house - all the property is stolen.

The Zitar Family

1990

Gifts over the Phone poster
5.5

After the train conductor Pētersons receives money transfer from an unknown source, he suspects foul play involving the cargo he's transporting. He decides to do his own investigation into the matter, not realizing that he's putting himself and those around him in danger.

Gifts over the Phone

1978

Double Trap poster
5.8

A police is trying to fight the criminal organization responsible for the illegal export of arts abroad. He pretends to be a criminal to enter and destroy their gang.

Double Trap

1986

The City Under the Limes poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

The City Under the Limes

1971

My Riga poster
NR

A protopoetic short about Riga and the people of Riga in their twenties.

My Riga

1960

Checkmate to the Queen of Diamonds poster
5.4

A detective and a militia captain are working together investigating a murder. When their job is done, the feelings do not let them say goodbye.

Checkmate to the Queen of Diamonds

1973

24-25 Doesn't Come Back poster
6.5

In the experimental clinic, a batch of valuable drug was stolen. Major Grigast suspects that someone from the clinic is involved in this. He entrusts this complex matter to a young investigator Mara. An investigation leads her to a distant border town in the south of the country, where the offender intended to ship the drug abroad.

24-25 Doesn't Come Back

1969

Long Road in the Dunes poster
5.9

The action of the film takes place in Latvia and spans the period from 1939 to the early 1970s. The events that occurred in the country had various effects on the fates of the characters. But throughout it all, love guided them — it scattered and gathered, made them suffer terribly, and made them the happiest people in the world...

Long Road in the Dunes

1982

When Rain and Wind Hit Against Your Window poster
10.0

The Second World War has just ended, but national partisans are still hiding in Latvia's forests and fighting against the Soviet regime. Ansis Leinasars, who has been tasked to spark a coup in Latvia, arrives by night from across the sea, but his work is hampered at every step. His last hope is a meeting with the partisans in a church...

When Rain and Wind Hit Against Your Window

1967

The Large Amber poster
NR

A band arrives late at the competition. They try to find the jury and show their performance.

The Large Amber

1972

The Large Amber poster
NR

A band arrives late at the competition. They try to find the jury and show their performance.

The Large Amber

1972

Depression poster
5.0

A crime story which take action in Riga Sea Port.

Depression

1991

Autumn Is Still Far Away poster
7.5

A young girl is puzzled when she has to choose a husband. She cannot decide whether to marry her childhood friend or a recently met nouveau riche.

Autumn Is Still Far Away

1966

Romance, Russian Style poster
6.6

In Venice, the famous film actress Anna Zakharova meets the artist Mario. The meeting makes a lasting impression on the young man - he is in love. On her return to Russia, Anna is met with failure: she is removed from the role, breaks up with her lover-colleague. Desperate, the actress gives up everything and goes to Mario dying of passion, but during the sea voyage falls in love with the captain of the ship. Learning about it, Mario fails to control the car, gets into an accident and goes blind. All that is left for Anna, who feels guilty, is to go with him to the wedding...

Romance, Russian Style

1994

Without Legends poster
NR

In 1968 Herz Frank made Without Legends (Bez leģendām) at the Kuibishev studios, together with Aloizs Brenčs and Aleksandr Sazhin. The film is based on the memoirs of Hero of Socialist Labor Professor Ivan Vasilyevich Komzin, former head of construction of the V. I. Lenin Volga Hydroelectric Power Station; Hero of Socialist Labor excavator operator V. Klementyev; Honored excavator operator Viktor Vasilyevich Starikov; and writer Konstantin Kirillovich Lapin. Documentary filmmakers from Kuibyshev were making a film about the excavator operator and Hero of Socialist Labor, Boris Yegorovich Kovalenko. However, the material turned out to be too ambiguous to create a film about a model Soviet working man. They turned for advice to the Riga-based documentary filmmaker Herz Frank. He shot additional footage and edited the collected material in such a way that it became a story without legends—about an ordinary person.

Without Legends

1967

No artwork available
6.0

The story of love, trust, and compassion for one another.

You and Me

1963

The Triple Control poster
8.0

A Soviet officer serves as a counterspy amidst enemies.

The Triple Control

1970