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2011/3-4 (20)
Special issue 'A Century of Estonian Cinema'
Edited by Eva Näripea
Contents
Foreword. Eva Näripea
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9-10<
Articles
Virve Sarapik, Alo Paistik.
Film Reception in Estonia in the Early 20th Century: From Fairground to Entrance Hall Entertainment
11-33;
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Summary 28-33 <
The following paper examines early film reception in Estonia and its transformation over the first decades of the 20th century. The discussion focuses on the aspects that influenced the notions and opinions of films and who voiced them. A lengthy article published under the pseudonym S. Culex stands out against the general background as a bright and mature exception. As Young Estonia was the most innovative Estonian cultural movement of the early 20th century, the article also concentrates on the ideas of its leading figures regarding cinema.
Eva Näripea.
New Waves, New Spaces: Estonian Experimental Cinema of the 1970s
34-61;
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Summary 58-61 <
The article concentrates on the films of Jaan Tooming, a rebellious Estonian auteur whose cinematic oeuvre of the 1970s was typically geared towards undermining the powers that be. His experimental films, especially the infamously banned Endless Day (1971/1990), favour Lefebvrian differential space over the abstract space of mainstream cinema, radically renewing the visual and narrative form of Estonian cinema and offering shifting registers of spatio-social portrayals and critiques of the Soviet ideological apparatus.
Mari Laaniste. Reflections of Self and Surrounding Circumstances in Priit Pärn's Films The Triangle and Hotel E
62-96;
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Summary 93-96 <
This article discusses two films by the famous Estonian drawn animation auteur Priit Pärn: The Triangle (Kolmnurk, 1982) and Hotel E (Hotell E, 1992). The first dissects typical Soviet gender roles within intimate relationships, seen from an ironic, decidedly postmodern angle. The other is a reflection of the shock and identity crisis brought about by the fall of the Iron Curtain. By comparing the two, I am trying to point out the enormity of the paradigmatic shift reflected in them; the complete change of perspective that arrives with the acknowledgement of the new, postsocialist situation.
Andreas Trossek. The Death of Dark Animation in Europe: Priit Pärn's Hotel E
97-123;
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Summary 120-123 <
This article examines how the trend toward more socio-critical, 'dark' or artistically pretentious films, which developed in the Soviet Union more generally during the years of Mikhail Gorbachev's ascension to power, essentially culminated and also came to an end in Estonian animation with Priit Pärn's animated film Hotel E (1992). The article is based on a specific case study, an analysis of the film and the surrounding events, first by endeavouring to map out the broader historical and cultural context around Hotel E, and secondly by demonstrating the fact that the film can be viewed as the finale of many cultural processes that had been unleashed earlier: in the film, criticism of the powers-that-be of the late or 'mature' socialism, which was typical of the former Eastern Europe, is combined with the longing for the always virtually perceived West.
Mari Laaniste. Conflicting Visions: Estonia and Estonians as Presented in the Cinema of the 1990s and 2000s
124-143;
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Summary 140-143 <
This article is a brief analysis of Estonian film-makers' attempts to build and shape a presentable 'national image' on screen over the past two decades. These efforts are compared to some less flattering reflections of Estonia and Estonians in foreign productions during the same period.
Katre Pärn. The Author's Conceptualising Presence in Film: A Stylistic Analysis of Sulev Keedus's Georgica
144-165;
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Summary 162-165 <
In the paper, I analyse the authorial style of Sulev Keedus. Authorial style is not defined as simply the formal pattern emerging from stylistic choices but also as an author's conceptual strategy that manifests itself through these stylistic patterns. Thus the formal aspects of style will be analysed in dialogue with the conceptual function they fulfil in a film.
Ewa Mazierska. Postcommunist Estonian Cinema as Transnational Cinema
166-191
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Summary 188-191 <
The article considers Estonian films made after the collapse of communism as examples of transnational cinema. It draws on Steven Vertovec's idea of transnationalism as pertaining to 'diaspora consciousness', marked by dual or multiple identifications and loyalties, arguing that the characters populating the films in hand absorb various influences, indulge in hybridised styles and identify themselves by other types of loyalties than those resulting from sharing the same national heritage. The essay discusses films both in the past and in the present, such as Men at Arms (2005, directed by Kaaren Kaer), All My Lenins (1997, directed by Hardi Volmer) and Revolution of Pigs (2004, directed by Jaak Kilmi and René Reinumägi), The Highway Crossing (1999, directed by Arko Okk), Set Point (2004, directed by Ilmar Taska) and An Affair of Honour (1999, directed by Valentin Kuik).
Focus:
David Martin-Jones. Deleuze, Cinema and National Identity: Narrative Time in National
Contexts. Chp. 1.
In Estonian, translated by Eva Näripea
193-218
Reviews
219-225
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