Figure 1.--Tghere were no secondary schools in villsges. Thus rural children had to bosrd or stay with relstives to obtsin a secondary education. Here Kiir is in his school dormitory and followed by the comically strict church warden. .

"Kevade" is a classic Estonian film,a version of the famous novel by Oscar Luts (1887-1953). The title is "Spring" ("Kevade" in Estonian). It was released in 1969 during the Soviet era. It was set in Estonia, but we are not sure thst it should be classified an Estonian film as opposed to a Soviet film. A Russian reader tells us that films shot during the Soviet era often had actors and crews from all over the Soviet Union. We are not sure there was an Estonian film industry during the Soviet era. It is a beautiful and very funny coming-of-age story about a boarding school in an Estonian village about 1905. The school is co-educational, but only the boys live in a dormitory. Some of the boys and all the girls are day students. The town represented is apparently Paunvere. The bleak Estonian landscapes, especially in Winter, are very beautifully rendered. The costuming appears to be authentic although we can't tell the colors since the film is shot in black and white.

Filmology

"Kevade" is a classic Estonian film,a version of the famous novel by Oscar Luts (1887-1953). The title is "Spring" ("Kevade" in Estonian). It was released in 1969 during the Soviet era. The film was directed by an Estonian, Arvo Krusement. It was shot in Estonia in the Estonian language.

Oskar Luts (1887-1953)

Oskar Luts is perhaps the best known Estonian writer. He was born in in central Estonia which at the time was part of Tsarist Russia (1887). His parents were a solid middle-class family. He began his education at the Änkküla village school (1894). Next he attended the Palamuse parish school in Jõgeva County (1895-99). Then he studied at Tartu Reaalkool (1899-1902). A Reaalkool is a secondary school. I am not sure what the language of instruction was. I am not sure why he did not then enter university after Reaalkool. Luts started working as an apothecary apprentice in Tartu and Narva (1903). He passed his apothecary apprentice exams and began working in Tallinn (1903). He did his compulsory military service in St Petersburg (1909-11). This included working as an apothecary. This he continued in Tartu while studying pharmacy in university. With the outbreak of World War I, Luts was mobilised. He served as a military pharmacist in Pskov, Warsaw, Daugavpils, Vilnius, and in Vitebsk (1915-18). The Revolution occurred while he was still in the Army. He married (1918). He was released from duty in military for medical reasons (1918). He return to Tartu with his wife. He began working as an apothecary. He worked in the Tartu University library and attempted to manage a store (1918-19). At the time the Russian Civil War was raging and Estonia and the other Baltic Republics were establish their independence. He soon found that a career as a pharmcist held less attraction than writing. He began writing at this time. An early book was a children's book--Nukitsamees (1920). He began to write professionally (1922). His books are centered on his generally happy experiences in pre-World War I Estonia. One of those books was Kevade. Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union (1940), then the NAZIs (1941), and retaken by the Soviets (1944). Luts was the first Estonian writer to be awarded the title of Estonian SSR national writer. This was possible largely because his books are charming nostalgic personal experiences and steered clear of politics and any outwardly Estonisn nationalist sentiment. He is very well known for an animated version of one of his books--Kapsapea (The Cabbage).

Estonian Film Industry

"Kesvade" was set in Estonia, but we are not sure thst it should be classified an Estonian film as opposed to a Soviet film. A Russian reader tells us that films shot during the Soviet era often had actors and crews from all over the Soviet Union. We are not sure there was an Estonian film industry during the Soviet era. Anoter reader tells us, "It is very Estonian--made of a classic Estonian book which is much beloved and has no political content or significance. All the actors are Estonian, and some of the children weren't professionals but simply recruited for the parts because of their native talent and ability to speak Estonian. There was a country-wide search for them by the director. The film could be made during the Soviet era because Luts books were devoid of political content or overtly natioinalist sentiment. Everyone in the film is Estonian--actors, director, everyone connected with the film. Estonia has its own tradition and style of film-making. The DVD that has recently restored the film adds subtitles in German and English but not Russian." Of course the CD was cut recently for distribution in Estonia and the West. Almost certainly when released there would have been Russian subtitles.

Cast

The lead characters, Arno and Raja, are played by Arno Liver and Rina Hein, two teenage actors, who perform with great subtlety and skill although they are extremely young. The comic parts of Toots and Kiir (Aare Lanemets and Margus Lepa respectively) are excellent performers as well. Presumably they are Estonian, but I am not sure about that.

Setting

It is a beautiful and very funny coming-of-age story about a boarding school in an Estonian village about 1905. The school is co-educational, but only the boys live in a dormitory. Some of the boys and all the girls are day students. The town represented is apparently Paunvere. The bleak Estonian landscapes, especially in Winter, are very beautifully rendered.

Plot

Many of the scenes are comic with the boys getting into various kinds of trouble at the school, and one of the boys, Joosep Toots, is a prankster who creates all sorts of havoc such as cutting off the buttons on the shoes of another boy, Georg Kiir, and breaking into a storage room where wine is kept and getting amusingly drunk. The boys are in their middle teens. In the midst of all the comedy there is a puppy love affair between a village boy, Arno Tali, and one of the girls, Raja Teele, which seems to be half-Platonic, until Arno's rival arrives--Jann Imelik, a boy with a shock of luxuriant blonde hair who plays the kannel and temporarily seems to take her away from Arno. One of the servants at the school, Kristjan Lible, a bell-ringer at the local church and a drunk at one point, gets sacked on the false testimony of another boy, Tonisson, who loves to fight, is rather heavily built, and seems somewhat slower mentally than the brigher Arno and Toots. Lible is kind to the boys and at various point is the sad and wise philosopher of the film, which has its poignant as well as its hilarious moments.

Estonian Schools and Language

Estonia is a small country located between much more powerful neighbors. Germany, Poland, Russia, and Sweden were at times great powers which dominated Estonia. This has affected Estonian education. Much of "Kevade" is set in schools. Thus an understanding of Estonian schools is helpful in appreciating several scenes. The first schools were founded by Germans in the Hanesatic ports throughout what is now the three Baltic Republics. Estonia's major university until the very recent founding of the University of Tallin was Tartu University founded in 1632. It was an essentially a German university until World war I. The Russians seized Estonia in the Great Northern War, but education continued to be conducted in German because the cities and ruling class were mostly Germans. This began to change only in the 19th century when the Balts (Lithuanisns, Latvians, and Estonians) began moving to the cities where jobs attracted them from the largely German-owned feudal estates. Anothher factior was a program of Russification pursued by the Tsarist Government. In some areas such as Poland, Polish langusge schools were prohibited. We are not entirely sure about Estonian village schools, they may have been taught in Estonian, with Russian being taught as a foreign language. At the Realshule level, classes may have been in German or Russian. This almost certainly was the case at the university level. Hopefully our Estonian readers will provide more details. The HBC page on Estonian schools is still quite limited. When the two lovers, Arno and Raja, are getting to know each other in school in the film, they have a discussion about languages, and Raja says that she finds learning Russian terribly difficult. Obviously, even in 1905 (the era in which the film is set), the students at the village school were learning Russian. There is a group of German town boys who fight with the school boys at one point, and clearly the Estonian kids don't like the Germans who were the g0verning class for centuries. (This centuries-long dislike of Germans was undone by the Soviets in 1 year of brutal occupation (1940-41) so thaqt when the Germans invaded they were generally received as liberators throughout the Baltics--except of course by the Jews.) The students at the school are also very interested in legendary America--especially settlers in Kentucky and their fight with "redskins" (Native Americans). The students don't study American culture, I believe, but they are interested in cowboys and Indians as part of their play and fantasy life. This is before movies, but apparently there were books and of course emigrants from America wrote home.

Costuming

The costuming of "Kevade" appears to be authentic although we can't tell the colors since the film is shot in black and white. The costuming is not particularly remarkable. Some of the boys wear tight long trousers with boots because of the snow and cold weather while other boys wear knee pants with long black stockings. No age difference between the two styles obtains. It seems to be a matter or parental choice, and there is no teasing of the boys because they are in knee pants. It is just a style of the period. One of the teachers plays the violin, which he eventually gives as a Christmas present to Arno, who is the most sensitive, reflective and artistic boy in the school.