Frères Ennemis

It was a movie about the bad situation that Estonians were in during the World War II. This is a 'world' war but Estonians are killing Estonians. Just sad...

If you have ever swum in the ocean and been caught between a receding wave and an incoming tide, you'll understand this film. Without giving away the story line, let me just say, just try to imagine the opposing tidal waves of Soviet vs. Nazi power converging on the tiny Baltic states. This film catalogs the war time experiences of but a few representative Estonian young men involved in the action and political intrigue. Intensely emotive, and frightening, with action filled battled sequences,1944 will have you squirming in your seat and reaching for more than one tissue. I am both happy and sad that I watched it.

To be honest I was expecting a low budget bodged effort with lousy period detail and an awful screenplay. In fact it frankly puts most Hollywood and UK efforts to shame. The uniforms, T 34's are really well done and the combat looks authentic, reminiscent perhaps of Cross of Iron. 1944 highlights the sheer randomness of war both in terms of which side you would be pushed into fighting for and graphically who makes it through..... I feel it emphasises loyalty to the platoon, rather than any ideal and how similar one infantry man is to another. Themes of guilt run through story no doubt echoing Estonia's own history in this period, with no options to offer between the two evils, the men could be conscripted into either side. The film pulls off a difficult task in showing realism, brutality and forgiveness within one of the most unforgiving conflicts in history, whilst avoiding the routine white hats black hats seen in most war movies.

Movie about the 'liberation' of Estland during 1944.

A movie filled with excellent scenes on very realistic looking battlegrounds.

This movie shows the fuzzy distinction between estonians - whom are conscripted for the German SS - fighting against other estonians that are often forced to fight for the Red Army. So you will see a 'war amongst brothers', which eventually causes Estonia to become communist. This movie clearly challenges the viewer to think whether Estonia was really 'liberated' when it became under the power of Stalin.

I rate this movie 7.4/10, almost making an IMDb rating of 8.

This is already a second movie about war that I watch coming from the Baltic countries. First being the Lithuanian "Ekskursante", which I enjoyed very much. And now this one - the Estonian "1944".

Well, I first thought this is some anti-Russian propaganda because of the recent conflicts. But then I realized this movie actually shows that war is wrong in general. People are caught between two fronts. And non of the sides are right. Both have their dictators and cruelty. So, in this movie, in the example of Estonian people, you can see how people of the same land taken by different parties, are obliged to shoot each other.

It's a good movie that shows we're all victims when it comes to war. I enjoyed cinematography more or less. I think it's a fine piece of movie for Estonia. I'm not used to expecting anything of high quality from Baltic countries, but it looks that Baltics have evolved to meet high standards of today's cinema.

So, in a few words, it's a good war movie, with a plot full of drama and combat scenes. Was worth a watch.