Soon after the Second World War a boy Maecenas had a psychological trauma and he can't speak anymore so he is sent for summer to the old man Jakub who is a bombing ground keeper on some deserted isle. Now only an old man, a boy, a horse and bees live on this empty island. When young the Jakub used to be a missionary in Africa so now he tries to offer some of his knowledge to the boy and also he's translating Virgil's Georgics into Swahili. While dark remembrances of the boy and lighter ones of the old man go before our eyes there is a friendship slowly growing between them. And no one may suppose that a tragedy lies in waiting in the nearest future. This profound, mighty drama is lyrically sad and full of reverberations from Virgil's bucolic poem.
3 Reviews
On a deserted island, where the russian air force does his target practice'ing...
aavik29 January 2003
It is a very very good movie about the times of the soviet empire and of what was going on behind the iron curtain. Although my uncle Evald Aavik was starring in the movie it would not have made it worse in my eyes if he didn't. The movie itselt and my uncle won al lot of prizes. And without a doubt - they were worth it! ;)
Dogmatic and dull.
technosnob21 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a very dogmatic, unfocused and, worst of all, a dull film. The premise is poetic, rather beautiful in fact, and had the potential to be interesting. But the metaphors are laid on too thick and too fast, relying on stereotypes of femininity to justify Freudian psychological damage, and religious iconography as a redemptive pursuit. The Mother / Whore figure as a sole cause of all the trauma the main protagonist, and Christianity is his only saviour. I will point out that I have nothing against religious iconography in a film, or films about faith in Christianity. But the heavy handed nature of the treatment of Christian doctrine restricts the viewing pleasure for a none Estonian, none Christian viewer to a level of analytical study over film pleasure.
The frustratingly obtuse and ambiguous dialogue may be poorly translated, or simply lose the impact in the course of translation. But if the subtitles are an accurate representation of what is said on screen, it's clear that the film was made for an extremely select audience. An audience with an extensive biblical knowledge in order to derive sense from the sections of prayer (or song I am unsure which)that intersect each section.
One of the films few redeeming features in the central performance from the elderly man one the island. The film is carried through on the basis of his performance. Without his presence, and the use of a cut away to a book to indicate the start of each section,the film would simply lose all momentum, drifting aimlessly from one scene to another.
The frustratingly obtuse and ambiguous dialogue may be poorly translated, or simply lose the impact in the course of translation. But if the subtitles are an accurate representation of what is said on screen, it's clear that the film was made for an extremely select audience. An audience with an extensive biblical knowledge in order to derive sense from the sections of prayer (or song I am unsure which)that intersect each section.
One of the films few redeeming features in the central performance from the elderly man one the island. The film is carried through on the basis of his performance. Without his presence, and the use of a cut away to a book to indicate the start of each section,the film would simply lose all momentum, drifting aimlessly from one scene to another.
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