The Sun Sets in the East

The Sun Sets in the East is a poetic documentary about the daily life of a Soviet peasant. His devotion to God and family trouble are recorded in his diary from 1984, passages of which are read by his granddaughter. The diary contrasts with the static shots of decaying present-day rural Lithuania shown in the film. It is a documentary not just about the period before the fall of the Soviet Union, but also about the struggle of a man of faith to keep his life as stable as possible at a time of rapid political, ideological, and societal changes, just like in today’s world. It also acts as an exposition of the global rural to urban shift in population dynamics.