Stellar movie with great acting, outstanding visual language and excellent sound making a wonderful whole. Very well paced.
Couple of helpful notes for foreign watchers unfamiliar with the novel's historic background:
- The story opens with Andres having bought a farm on a loan, and there are several references about "having to work to pay it off". It was a very contemporary and important theme at that time, as most land was yet owned by nobility and farmers were in process of first buying the land for themselves.*
When you can own a farm and leave it to your children, having "an heir" can also become more important.
- The 5-volume pentalogy by A. H. Tammsaare is a philosophical novel that deals with a person's interaction with the land, god, society and themselves. That is reflected in both characters and themes. The movie is based on the first volume, that took over 20 years from idea to execution.
- Not all answers or judgments are easily provided, but the watcher (reader) will come to their own interpretation/conclusion. This is how a masterpiece engages the audience and that has been masterfully translated from novel to screen.
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* Buying land by farmers was made easier by new laws in 1849 (Livonian**) and 1856 (Estonian***), earlier regulations from the same century first permitting it were not effective.
** Governorate of Livonia- contemporary southern Estonia and northern Latvia
*** Governorate of Estonia - contemporary northern Estonia
