The Birdwatcher

The Birdwatcher aka The Observer (Estonian title: Vaatleja) is an Estonian film directed by Arvo Iho for the Tallinnfilm studio,[1] filmed in 1987 in the northern Urals,[2] and first shown in cinemas in 1988. It stars Svetlana Tormahova as a Russian forester and Erik Ruus as a student who meets her while studying ornithology on the island where she works.

The Birdwatcher
Directed byArvo Iho
Screenplay byMarina Šeptunova
StarringSvetlana Tormahova
Erik Ruus
Music byLepo Sumera
CinematographyTatjana Loginova
Edited byMarju Juhkum, Ingrid Laos
Production
company
Running time
89:08
CountryEstonia
LanguageEstonian
Russian

Iho had previously worked with Leida Leius on several documentaries, and The Birdwatcher is his solo directorial debut.[3]

The Birdwatcher won awards at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Torino Film Festival, and the Rouen Nordic Film Festival.[4][5]

Plot

24-year old Estonian ornithology student Peeter travels to a small island in the Russian North for fieldwork, where he meets Aleksandra, a middle-aged Russian forester and poacher.[3] They begin a love/hate relationship that leads to tragic consequences when Peeter is killed in a trap set by Aleksandra.[3][6]

Cast
  • Svetlana Tormahova – Aleksandra
  • Erik Ruus – Peeter

Reception

In the book Postcolonial Approaches to Eastern European Cinema: Portraying Neighbours on Screen, the authors commented on the polarities between the two characters, with Peeter representing mind, law and order, rationality, and idealism, while Aleksandra represents body, criminality, barbarity, and cynicism, which they equated to Edward Said's characterization of the occidental and oriental, with "Russia [functioning] to a considerable degree as a negative model against which Estonian 'Westernness' is constructed", and their affair "symbolic of the complicated relationship between Russia and the Baltic countries it subjugated to its power".[3]

Awards

References
  1. The Hollywood Reporter, Volume 319, Issues 34-50, p. 64
  2. Kino, Issues 78-90, p. 27
  3. Mazierska, Ewa; Kristensen, Lars; Naripea, Eva (2013) Postcolonial Approaches to Eastern European Cinema: Portraying Neighbours on Screen, I.B. Tauris, ISBN 978-1780763019, p. 310
  4. "The Bird Watcher", efis.ee. Retrieved 6 January 2019
  5. "The Birdwatcher", Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Retrieved 6 January 2019
  6. Horton, Andrew & Brashinsky, Michael (1992) The Zero Hour: Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691019208, 237
  7. "The Birdwatcher", sky.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019
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