More fan fiction, but very good. Very quietly and imperceptibly past the domestic audience passed "Winter" - not even the film adaptation, but rather fan fiction based on the cycle of novels by Oscar Luts. Contrary to expectations, he turned out to be better, more beautiful and more soulful than one could imagine, given the previous film adaptation based on Lutsov’s Autumn.
Initially, Oscar Luts decided to write a short story about Estonian schoolchildren of the early 20th century, based on his memories of life in the countryside, and called it “Spring”. The story turned out bright, cheerful, suddenly found enthusiastic readers. Then Luts set about the next work with the same characters, but already older: the book was called Summer. The main characters are the young people from the first book. As in the first part in the center of the book - the tricks of the local mischievous never discouraged Josep Toots. After Summer, Luts wrote two more short novels, and finally completed the cycle with Autumn. Naturally, “Autumn” was no longer a very funny book, all the characters grew up, someone’s life was badly battered, and someone else had to meet their own tests of humanity.
The series of works was so popular in Estonia that in 1969 it was filmed "Kevade". The film is still considered the best filmed in Estonia over the past century. In 1976, Suvi successfully filmed the same actors. After the collapse of the USSR, the Estonians released Autumn in 1990 – despite the presence of a number of actors from previous films, the film turned out to be weak, greatly curtailed in the plot, as well as with completely inappropriate Russophobic attacks. Something, and hatred of Russians in the works of Luts was never.
It is for this reason that my fears about Winter were justified. Given the difficult geopolitical situation, given the mood of a certain part of the Balts in relation to their eastern neighbors, in the Winter one could expect unflattering statements and hints.
In 1992, a man announced that he had inherited unfinished manuscripts from Loots himself, which contained sketches to continue the stories of Toots called 'Winter'. However, this man did not show the manuscript, but presented a processed version of the unfinished work. To this day, it is not known whether this is a sketch of Luts or a fake. Whatever it was, but a full-fledged novel there and did not smell, and “Winter” is more interesting as a mystery – just in case “Talve” hastily published for the authorship of Luts.
However, the lack of an author’s sequel did not prevent director Ergo Kuld from taking and shooting his own version of what, as I mentioned in the title, is fan fiction, not an adaptation.
Now, after a long preface, you can go directly to the film.
First of all, a gorgeous visual series catches the eye. The director from the very beginning said that he would try to show the beauty of Estonia, its fields, forests, meadows, arable land. What a sunset sky over the farm! You can watch the film solely for the sake of the landscapes of this corner of the world.
Then we get to know the main characters.
Pounvere and the surroundings, 1942, Estonia under German occupation, which, however, does not greatly affect the provincial life of farmers. Reading books or watching previous films with horror learns that according to the writers Josep Toots died in the Siberian camps (I was horrified at first, but in general the character of Toots could lead him to such a fate). Teele is still the owner of the farm Raya (yes, it’s still the same actress Riina Heine from the original trilogy, it’s just a delight), lives with her adult son Oscar. Oscar is a worthy descendant of his father, the same hooligan leprosy, but also a firm determination to follow his plans. Right here in Pounver is the Kiir family. Old Kiir (yes, Margus Lepa is also an actor from the trilogy) joined the ranks of the Nazis and leads a propaganda program on local radio. Kiir’s son, Fritz, serves as a telephone operator for the Nazis and is an exact copy of his father as a child – clumsy, short-sighted and complacent.
On the farm Saare from Austria comes the heir - Arnold Tali (son of the main character of "Spring"). There on the farm lives a couple of farm workers with a adopted daughter, who are not delighted with the arrival of the owner, as now they are threatened with eviction.
The daughter of a well-to-do but stingy merchant from Pounver (new characters) claims to be the bride of Oscar Toots, and he likes an orphan from Saare. A classic love triangle or even a pentagon.
The story is not really original. But, first of all, the film is very beautiful, the actors play perfectly (although Arno Tali’s son looks too modern). Secondly, this movie is a sketch from the life of a small, not all-known piece of the world, but people also lived there, dreamed about something, hoped for something, thought about the future. Having a certain understanding and love of Estonian literature, I cannot have a superficial attitude towards Estonia and its history. This small state was constantly located and still stands between the hammer and the anvil, and it is clear that they really want to have their own authentic culture. Despite the positive ending, the thought stuck in my mind that a few years after the end of the war, all these farms, inherited, these hardworking people will again fall under the rule of another state, another regime, another ideology. Perhaps I am too fond of the cycle of works by Luts that I allow myself to think not in the imperial key, but from the point of view of a simple farmer, who cares not who is in power today, but whether rye has risen on the field, or where to get boards to fix the barn.
And finally, the huge plus of the film is following the author’s style. Heroes conduct dialogue, joke, behave, in my opinion, very Lutsov. The writers didn’t try to ruin everything, and for that, thank you. Fans will find a large number of references in the film: in the pharmacy, the heroes meet Jaan Imilik, during the dance the trinity crashes on the floor, as in “Spring”, Toots again shoots a gun and again strips Kiir naked. There will also be a shot from the Paunver (Palmuz) school, where the museum is now.
The film does not see any attacks on the Russians or Russia (except for the fate of Toots Sr.). The fascists are shown to be stupid and funny, in one scene the Obersturmanführer performs in front of the villagers, and someone from the crowd shouts “Speak Estonian, bald.” And from the very beginning of the film, as soon as we see Kiir in German uniform, it immediately becomes clear the placement of accents. My big bow to the director (maybe I didn’t see everything), that he did not score political points on the classics and created a soulful and beautiful picture without regard to ideologies, the search for right and wrong, national and historical comparisons. These were Luts' books. I am delighted with the film adaptation and highly recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary Estonian cinema.