Ema

I saw this little gem of a movie at a EU film festival in Kyoto. It had a lot of twists and turns, all built upon the various people who visited the comatose young teacher who (we learn early in the movie) had withdrawn a lot of money from his bank account shortly before being shot. It seems like the parade of visitors, all of whom seem sympathetic to his plight, also have an inordinate interest in the money that was withdrawn and still unaccounted for. When the mystery was revealed, I immediately wished I could watch it over again to see everything again through the new prism.

I agree with the previous reviewer, but wanted to add a few notes based on the comments after the film by the producer, the vivacious Aet Laigu and the excellent lead actress, Tiina Mälberg, who attended the screening. Ms. Laigu, who conceived the story and co-wrote the screenplay, said that the movie was shot on location in 16 days and that the whole production only took 7 months. Knowing that, I have to say the ensemble cast did a great job. They all seemed like real people who knew each other. She also mentioned that the production team was going for an 80's Estonian/Russian TV look where the colors are all a bit washed out, except for the bright flowers in the garden and bouquets that play a big role in the story.

This is a movie that will stick with you.

'Mother', at first seems to be bleak drama about mother who takes care of her comatose son, while her husband stays little distant. Soon, a quirky humor starts to flow in to give the film nice warmth. And soon the mystery starts to unfold. 'Mother' is more of a dark comedy than straight drama, but it doesn't go over the top - the comedy/drama is well balanced and the film never falls into (self) parody.

We are first introduced with the Mother character (Tiina Mälberg) while she's doing everyday chores - cleaning, washing, cooking and taking care of her son, who after strange shooting lies in coma. We learn about the son and the shooting through different people (colleagues, girlfriend, lover, students, investigating police officer, friends, etc.) who go to visit him to confess. But not only - we learn about the life of a small town, where everyone knows everything, but nobody know anything. The local police inspector (magnificently charming Jaan Pehk) who at first seems to be there just for comic relief as a silly small town cop. Although he keeps his comical value, but there are much more depth in the character. The film concentrates more on the characters and tries to show that the mystery surrounding the shooting is not the most important. Little by little we are revealed to different things in such a clever ways that we are starting to wonder - who is the criminal.

'Mother' manages to stay subtle, sweet and compassionate till to the shocking ending.