Risttuules

For non-Balts who intend to see this film or have seen it by chance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_deportation could be a useful background, otherwise many events or action could remain incomprehensible, or one might think they are exaggerated. Alas, everything depicted is realistic, but Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union has never essentially apologized or amended injustice - on the contrary, respective attempts by the restored Republics have been labelled nationalistic or rewriting history...

The film in question has found a distinct angle for depicting the mood: using black-and-white and tableau vivant, also appropriate music. Of course, due to limited amount of feature film characteristics, it is not "easy" to watch and follow, not to the taste of those fond of fast shots and twists, thus not expected to attract wider audiences. But, in my opinion, it is definitely more distinct than the Academy Award winner Ida from Poland... And the director has not reached 30 yet! So, if you are prepared how and what to see, then you will have a good watching experience. Otherwise, watch e.g. Purge (2012).

...not only beautiful. or painful. or moving. but useful. for the artistic virtues, off course. but, more important, as remember. not only about the Baltic tragedy. but for each people moved far by his homeland under Soviet regime. Tatars, Bukovinians, Polish, Basarabians. the splendid grace of image. the fine performance. the sound of words. and wise use of letters. a sort of magic. in fact, just key. for define the Eastern recent past .

So here it is 2021 and I am trying to find this title to purchase because I can not forget how hauntingly beautiful and heart breaking this film was. I had thought I was worn out with ww2 films, this would prove to be true of films from the American perspective and this foreign film reminded me there are many more perspectives to view www2 from, stories yet to unfold from this genre that we Americans know nothing about.

It's a great film, but it's most definitely not for everyone.

It employes a highly unusual structure. It's told mostly through a series of live tableaus, various moments "frozen" in place, accompanied by a woman's letters read out in voiceover narration, as the camera weaves in and out of the scene, gliding past characters posed in freeze frame postures. At times, it feels more like performance art or a museum exhibition, and it easily could have been a cheap gimmick. But the filmmakers have performed a near miracle and instead of a cheap gimmick, they've produced something genuinely moving. It is haunting and heartbreaking. The film does demand some patience, but that patience is rewarded.

Here's some historical context:

In June 1940, while the Western European powers are preoccupied with the catastrophe of Dunkirk and the collapse of France, the Soviet Union swiftly and quietly occupies the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. A year later, beginning on June 14, 1941, Soviet forces carry out mass deportations of people from throughout the Baltic region to their new lives as prisoners/serfs/slaves in Siberia. This was just one part of Stalin's systematic dismantling of local/indigenous sources of power, authority, and legitimacy in every territory Moscow controlled. It is also a small part of the decades-long program of ethnic cleansing and "Russification" of Soviet-conquered and Soviet-occupied lands. The euphemism they used was "population transfers".

'Risttuules' is a film from Estonia, a Baltic country uncomfortably located in Eastern Europe. Close to Russia.

In 1918 Estonia got independent; in 1940 the country was occupied by Stalin, in 1941 by Hitler, and in 1944 again by Stalin. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia regained its independence.

This film symbolizes the deportation of more than 500.000 Estonians in June 1941 by Stalin. This happened eight days before Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. It tells the story of a broken-up family, based on genuine letters from the wife to her far-away husband. They would never be re-united.

'Risttuules' is a typical East European film: a fairly slow pace, allowing everyone to take its tragic story in to the full. But what really shines out here, is this film's picturing: very beautiful, and done in a great East European style.

To appreciate this film to the full, I think it necessary to have a knowledge of the complicated 20th-century history of Eastern Europe. And about the mentality & style of its peoples as well. Without these ingredients, in my opinion you will miss too much.