On the Big Screen

its little finger. In its own strange way, the Kalev team could be compared to a McDonald’s burger or a pair of Levi’s jeans: something exotic and beyond reach, and yet, one could go and see these guys with your own eyes.

basketball-dream one can imagine that it also led us to the independence of our republic.

The Kalev team won the championship of the Soviet Union when the whole Soviet regime was about to collapse.

One cannot also ignore the fact that Musting has juxtaposed the story of endless basketball playing – more than half of the feature depicts the guys playing basketball – with the story of Estonia about to regain its independence. These two levels fit perfectly together: the Kalev team won the championship of the Soviet Union when the whole Soviet regime was about to collapse, thus symbolically becoming part of the so-called singing revolution in Estonia. This is no longer just basketball, but a revolutionary act, an unexpected kick in the ass to a degrading system. It is questionable whether their victory really played such a big part in history, but within this

The film offers even more possibilities for dreaming. The role of Gert Kullamäe, played by Mihkel Kuusk, who doesn’t even get off the substitutes bench, serves well as a symbol for all those who have made an effort, to suffer, or to sweat for their dream. Kullamäe became one of the most significant Estonian basketball players despite remaining on the bench during the crucial match. And however frustrating or draining it may have been for him, it certainly played an important role in everything. It took a huge risk from the film director to make the protagonist of a basketball film someone who won’t even get a chance to play – but this bold decision was totally worth it.

Come to think of it, then talking about Kalev as a sports film won’t paint the whole picture either. It’s rather a heroic story – we take one episode from our recent history, pump it up, decorate it with colourful feathers and show the rest of the world that we have nothing to be ashamed of, we are, too, cool and proud! And this is exactly what one should do. Perhaps instead of hipsters eating local grains on a foggy moor, we should present excerpts from Kalev for some marketing campaign introducing Estonia? I am confident that this would work much better, as it is so far undoubtedly the best domestic feature film of the year. EF