Estonian Film 2021/2

Page 42

REVIEW

A World-Class

SPY FILM Dawn of War can humorou­sly be called the Estonian Tenet – in both films, there are spies as the main protagonists, scenes filmed on the same street in the middle of Tallinn, and a key scene depicting an airplane waiting for take-off on a runway.

F

irst and foremost, both Dawn of War and Tenet are films with enor­ mous budgets, brought to cinemas during the risky era of a practically stagnant box-office. Dawn of War is a monumental spectacle looking into our recent history – a subject that has always attracted the Estonian cinema au­ dience. Mentioning the year 1939 opens up numerous wounds; it was a pivotal year that led nations to Second World War when Molotov and Ribbentrop signed the non-ag­ gression pact between Nazi Ger­

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ESTONIAN FILM

Ink Big! The critics have done their job

many and the Soviet Union, after which Estonian territory was an­ nexed by the Soviet Union. The feature film, with impres­ sive editing, begins with the histori­ cal events known to the whole world. The opening song performed by Kadri Voorand accompanies scenes depicting inflammatory speeches by Hitler and Stalin, as well as the devastating results of the Second World War – only back­ wards (again, just like in Tenet), while referring to the much less known pre-war era. That is where we find Feliks Kangur (Priit Võige­ mast), an intelligence officer whose

Dawn of War By Andrei Liimets First published in Postimees


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