Le coeur de l'ourse

This movie is based on autobiographic novel "Bear's heart" written by Nikolai Baturin. It is a movie about an Estonian man Niika who travels to north, where nganasans live. He becomes a hunter. The story explains how Niika learns from ancient nature and people who are shaped by the ways of this nature the principles of life and death. He tries to become (a real) human ("nganasan" means human in Nganasanish). The movie tells a story how the hunter journey is really an inner journey, to find peace and inner tranquility, all this is done by mythical cognition.

It is a real pearl in Estonian literature as well as in filmography. The scenery is pure (authentic) and meditative. It contains scenes that may be shockingly hmmm.... natural. The part is played very well by Rain Simmul who performs flawlessly. It is needless to say that the movie includes quite many best Estonian actors and actresses. The two-hour long feature film only uses part of the text and there are some factual differences e.g. the events take place in 80-s in a book, but 90-s in a movie. In any case the timing has no meaning in a place where time has stood still for centuries. The movie is definitely very beautiful (as it was the most expensive movie in Estonia at the time it was released), but it has an inner side which gives us a glimpse of personal journey of a hunter. The movie is rich of ancient finno-ugric elements e.g. the bear is considered to be Estonian ancestor. The author of the screenplay is considered to be a real word artist that has changed Estonian literature forever. The movie is absolutely enjoyable even to usual western people who are indifferent to nature. In that way we can say that the movie is very "exotical".

I really enjoyed this movie. It was something really different from all the other crap.

Lets begin by bringing out all the good sides of the movie. First the acting was great. Estonian actors really showed they`re class, even in the naturalistic scenes where they had to get naked or do other crazy stuff(let it be a surprise for those who haven`t seen the movie yet). Now the effects... All the effects there were in this movie, were the very best. Etc the one with the beating heart. OK, no hints anymore.

Now about the script. It was really something. The script unforseenably original and magical. Though there is a love story in it, love is viewed from a totally different angle. Actually even the final point is that love is not the most important thing in life. The whole story is about finding out who you are and accomplishing inner peace. And all of it is played out to perfect by Rain Simmul.

The movie really gives something to think about - it`s a one made with soul and heart. I wish only more movies like this were made, I wish that all big bucks would not be wasted on big budget action movies... There are so many more film directors out there with a message to people. But not many of them get a chanche.

It has some beautiful landscape shots and really good cinematography but it ends up being dull and sluggish. The best part of the movie contains the bear scenes, which were truly impressive considering that they used a real animal in these scenes. It is a big movie for east European standards. But stays short of an epic, which it had a potential to be. Overall slightly disappointing experience.

This was a very meaningful movie to me. The raw beauty of the landscape (astonishingly similar to some of my own country's), combined with the almost surreal, harsh, yet melancholic storyline has counted this amongst my personal favourites.

The symbolism is everywhere, the journey of self-discovery here is presented in a way that it never has been on-screen before.

I feel very lucky to have seen this movie when it came as part of a Baltic film series at our best theatre. As soon as I read the preview for it, I felt compelled to see it, as if by instinct, and am now yearning to see it again soon. But will it ever come back? Or be put onto a format which I can play here at home? I have tried contacting the Distributor and the Estonian Film Commission but have not received a response.

I can only echo the comments of others here, especially ise-2's review. This may well become one of the great hidden treasures of cinematic history.

The acting is so superb and sincere, it is as if they are not actors. The landscapes are truly wild and you can almost feel the dampness yet inexplicable warmth of the northern forest.

Some may find it slow and plodding, as I've heard. Pervasive underlying themes and sweeping journeys across the landscape aren't often readily accepted by a majority of movie-goers.

This is far ahead of any other movie about self-discovery. If there ever was a film that could leave a lasting impression on me this is it. And I don't even know Estonian!

Arvo Iho is my Art of Documentary professor in my university, film department. The only thing that I can say - a great person and a great expert in the field of film. A real professional, who has studied at the Moscow film institute.