REVIEW BY LOUISE KELLER
Inspiration is the life-affirming theme of this charming story in which a fencer in Soviet occupied Estonia inspires the children he teaches to learn a new skill and face new challenges. Shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards and winner of the Finnish Oscars for Best Film and Cinematography, the story is based on a true story about Endel Nelis, an Estonian fencing master in hiding from Stalin&#;s secret police, who founded a school for swordplay.
Armed with a succinct screenplay by acclaimed novelist Anna Heinämaa, director Klaus Härö manages the subject matter delicately, as he concentrates on the relationships between teacher and student on a politically charged backdrop. While there are no major surprises in the exposition, the film plays with heart and, as a result, we too are inspired. It&#;s a sweet film with uplifting elements &#; and performances that captivate.
Set in the early s during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, we meet Endel (Märt Avandi) as he tries to start a new life in a remote town far away from Leningrad as a sports teacher &#; away from the prying eyes of Stalin&#;s secret police. His idea to teach fen
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Original title: Miekkailija
D: Klaus Härö / 98m
Cast: Märt Avandi, Ursula Ratasepp, Hendrik Toompere Sr, Liisa Koppel, Joonas Koff, Ann-Lisett Rebane, Elbe Reiter, Egert Kadastu, Lembit Ulfsak, Kirill Käro
The Fencer begins with a brief &#; but necessary &#; history lesson: during World War II, Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany; most of the men were conscripted into the German army. When Estonia was absorbed into the Soviet Union, it regarded all members of the German army as war criminals, regardless of any extenuating circumstances. In the years following the war, Estonians who were known to have been a part of the German forces were tracked down by the Soviets and imprisoned.
Against this backdrop, the movie tells the story of Endel Nelis (Avandi), an Estonian and former championship fencer who was himself drafted into the German army, and who is now trying to avoid capture by the Soviets. He arrives in the small Estonian town of Haapsalu to take up a position as a teacher. His arrival is greeted with disdain by the school principal (Toompere Sr), and Endel soon finds that one of his extra duties, running the sports club, is paid lip ser
Set in the early s in Soviet-occupied Estonia, “The Fencer” fictionalizes the story of Endel Nelis, a sports teacher whose fencing program gave rise to champions.
Adeptly directed by Finnish filmmaker Klaus Haro, who emphasizes the hope and pride his protagonist inspires in his young students, this is a smooth sail of a movie too enjoyable to be doomed by its formulaic presentation of deserving material.
Haro, working from a screenplay by Anna Heinamaa, has made a familiar sports movie and heroic-teacher drama with KGB thrills added to the deal.
It opens in the Estonian town of Haapsalu, where a seemingly eternal mist suggests a chill both climatic and political.
Endel (Mart Avandi), a former fencer, has fled Leningrad, where he is wanted by secret police for a wartime incident. He arrives in town, finds employment as a school athletics teacher and organizes a sports club.
Dozens of schoolkids show up for his fencing program. The activity, even though the swords have been crafted from marsh reeds, inspires a sense of worth in the students, who include a spirited girl named Marta (Liisa Koppel) and a serious boy, Jaan (Joonas Koff).
Endel becomes a father figur
The Fencer
The Fencer, Finland's Foreign-Language entry for the Academy Awards, draws on the real-life story of Estonian fencer and coach, Endel Nelis who fled Leningrad in to avoid investigation by the Secret Police, and founded a fencing club in Haapsalu, Estonia – a club that still exists today. Nelis had hoped to start a new life in Haapsalu, but in the old Soviet Union suspicion was everywhere, and his past always threatens to catch up with him.
What few people in the west will remember is that in the German military forcibly drafted Estonians as part of their massive invasion force for Russia, and only 30% of them survived the war. Those Estonians who did survive the German draft and found themselves within the postwar borders of the USSR - including an eighteen year old Endel Nelis - were looked upon by the suspicious Stalinist regime as Enemies of the People, and they were individually hunted and imprisoned by the Secret Police. Nelis’s problems become acute when his fencing students decide they want to participate in an all-Soviet fencing tournament in Leningrad – the very city he had decided to run away from.
The juxtaposition of the chil
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