sven-laanemets

I first saw this movie when I was a child, but I had not watched it from beginning to the end until I was a grown-up. But, does not matter how old I was, I still did not like the movie.

There is no plot, all the scenes are based on different dance numbers and songs that lead to nowhere except into comical and a bit cringe-worthy situations: for example, the children are practicing their dances for days and days, then get up in the middle of the night to party... and start dancing the same dances again! In addition, the children perform their show in the same village to the same people who have already seen it, but who behave like it is the first time. It is also highly doubtful that people who have been picking the potatoes from a kolkhoz field all day long have the strength to perform another dance on the same field while it is heavily raining.

There is an attempt to add drama, but it leads to nowhere and it adds nothing to the plot: nobody is heart-broken neither is anybody deeply happy and it is not even connected to the main characters.

The acting is poor, not only the children's but also the adult's. It all seems very stiff and forced. So, if you have nothing to do for an hour, go for a little walk, take a nap or play solitaire, but do not waste the time watching this movie.

The movie "Talve" is an average comedy, whose main characters are from the books of O. Luts and from the movies that are based on those books. The movie itself is not very well connected to the previous ones made by Arvo Kruusement. For example, the movie "Sügis" ends with the birth of Endla and Endel, the children of the Kiir family. But in "Talve" neither of them are being mentioned and father Kiir now has a son called Fritz, who, by the look of his age, should have been born way before Endla and Endel. In addition, nobody mentions with a word, what has happened to Jorh Kiir's wife and sister-in-law or to his brothers (it would not have been a big effort, if Kiir had simply said that Bruno-Benno-Bernhard finally managed to go to Paris, as he had always dreamed of). About the Toots' family - why was the head of a relatively wealthy family deported, but the other members were left untouched? There is a hint that it happened because of Kiir, but if that was the case, then Joosep Toots would not have been deported, but arrested. And what happened to the other children that Joosep and Teele had? There are awfully lot of relations in this movie: Teele is missing Joosep. Teele herself is seen as a wife material in the eyes of merchant Ollep and Kiir. Teele's son Oskar (a reference to Oskar Luts?) is being seduced by Ollep's daughter Selma, who herself is being seduced by Fritz. Oskar on the other hand has eyes for Selma and later for Maie too (which is strange that he did not notice Maie before Arnold's arrival, although they were "next door" neighbours...). Maie herself is being noticed by Arnold Tali, but it seems that he is only paying attention to her because it is a tradition in that part of the country to be a part of a love triangle, or because the director of the movie told him to do so. Arnold Tali remains a rather of a background character throughout the movie. It looks like his name is "Arnold" only because 1) it resembles to his father's name (Arno) and 2) because one can make Schwarzenegger-jokes ("It's Austrian Arnold!"). Which is quite inappropriate, because it is too modern, as is the expression that Oskar does: "Uh-oh!" Most of the movie twirls around Oskar, played by Karl Robert Saaremäe who is constantly overacting. One might think that Oskar is a village idiot with a bit more wealth than an average farmer. When I watched the movie I wondered whether it was really necessary to bring Imelik (played by Rein Aedma) into this picture just for couple of minutes to make outdated jokes about his name. If it was not possible to include Tõnisson, Arno or most of the characters from prequels (even as voices or memories), then why was it a good idea to give Imelik an insignificant role? And was it impossible to find someone who could tell to the producers that the southern Estonians use the word "tunamullu" instead of the phrase "ülemöödunud aastal" ("a year before last year")? Overall, the movie is watchable, one can smile, but not laugh out loud. It cannot be compared to the ones A. Kruusement made. "Talve" will probably not become a cult-movie like "Kevade", "Suvi" and "Sügis" have.

I remember A.M.G. Schmidt's "Wiplala"-stories from my childhood. They were quite fascinating to read and because of that I waited for this movie to be made. When I saw an advertisement, I even considered going to the cinema to see it, but thank God I decided not to do it.

My hopes were high, but I was disappointed: the movie and the books are not similar in any way, except 1) the names of the characters and 2) a small guy wiplala, whose name is Wiplala.

Why did they have to make Nella-Della act like a whining teenage bitch, while in the books she is a reasonable young LADY, who looked after her family, including her little brother? And she did that gladly. Yes, it is true, that Mr. Blom was very absent-minded, but Nella-Della did not behave like he was an old fool. Sadly, this kind of attitude is seen in this movie.

Why was it necessary for Johannes to hide Wiplala? What additional features did it give to the plot?

Arthur Hollidee, the poet – according to the book, he was a neighbor to the Blom family, not their close friend. He was so poor that he occasionally came to the Blom's house to eat with them. Over there he saw Wiplala, who then turned him into a stone monument. But this monument was still human-sized. In the movie, Hollidee is a local weirdo, who everybody hates (especially Nella-Della?!) and who is in love with… his own sister?! Because he did live with his sister. And – wouldn't it be more logical to close the street and remove the statue, not to destroy it?

The scene in the restaurant – the Blom family is sealed into an office and police is called, because… they ate a hot-dog and Mr. Blom accidentally flipped over a plate filled with spaghetti? This does not make sense! The version in the book – they are locked into the office, because they did not have any money to pay for their meal – is much more sensible.

A children's movie should give examples, how to behave and so on. But what kind of an example does this give, when the Blom children are constantly eating fast food and garbage like that (the hot-dog in the restaurant and potato chips in the Chinese store)? Yes, the bakery, where they end up in the book, is not healthier, but still more reasonable place.

About the scene in the Chinese shop (why Chinese?) – Their plan was to hold the toy car under the shelf and to hope that the Chinese boy (or his grandma) would not look under it to see what is keeping the car stuck? But what if the boy HAD looked under the shelf? And what would they have done, if the boy had decided to leave the remote control onto the shelf, high above?

I would rather not comment the fact that after such driving, not only Mr. Blom's arm would not be broken, they all would be dead or at least severely injured. Oh, by the way – although Mr. Blom's arm was broken, they somehow still managed to climb onto the plate that was located on top of the food cart…

If such pizza-delivery-guy would work for me, I would sack him immediately.

And where are those events that took place in an old house near a canal?

If someone should ask whether to rent this movie or not, I would say: "Not!" and rather recommend those books that A.M.G. Schmidt wrote about Wiplala. They are much more interesting.

"Siin me oleme!" is one of the first movies I remember. Maybe that is the reason, why every time it is on television, I just have to watch it over and over again.

The characters, the plot, the wits that almost everybody knows by heart... They are all good. And, of course, who could forget the beautiful Estonian nature, that is shown excellently in this movie! Watching this magnificent work of art, I always get flashbacks from my childhood when the summers looked exactly like the one in "Siin me oleme!"

Definitely one of the best works of Sulev Nõmmik.