What I most enjoyed about this documentary is how the archive footage is juxtaposed with new interviews with Estonian freedom fighters who point out the glaring lies of the Soviet propaganda machine, e.g. when the archive footage and its narrator boasts about how being part of the Soviet Union brought lots of new business and construction to Estonia, Tunne Kelam and Lagle Parek explain how all of this was done in order to create jobs and homes for more and more Soviet workers, brought to Estonia from different parts of the USSR (the ultimate aim of this was the complete russification of Estonia, so that most of the population would be "true communists").
Tiit Madisson offers a more grim view of the current state of the free Estonian country and since he feels that he hasn't received enough (monetary) compensation and praise for being a freedom fighter, he has decided to emigrate to Greece. His opinions add to the value of this documentary by presenting an opposing point of view and I really appreciate him pointing out the hypocrisy of some Estonians (mostly politicians) who have now, post-factum, proclaimed themselves as freedom fighters and true patriots of Estonia, despite actually being through and through "red". However, I have to say I found him and his wife to be incredibly annoying (especially when they were in the Greek realtor's office and she declared: "Estonia is SOOO CRIMINAL, the Russian mafia...". And what, Greece is a crime-free utopian haven? Give me a break).
There is also a somewhat hopeless note in the present-day part of this documentary, as we observe Tunne Kelam's bids to get the rest of Europe to acknowledge the horror that was the Soviet mass-deportation of Estonians and other Baltic nations to Siberia. Only a scarce crowd bothers to show up to the opening of the memorial plaque in the Strasbourg office of the European Union and as a Latvian reporter points out, the President of the EU Parliament - Josep Borrell - didn't even have another formal engagement in his agenda to excuse his absence.
The last five minutes of this doc was pure brilliance - current footage of the Estonian "economy boom" is edited to resemble the Soviet propagandist footage (black&white and complete with a creaky-voiced narrator) and we are faced with the fact that "the more things change the more they stay the same". Although I and most other Estonians believe that the current state of affairs is a HELL OF A LOT better than during the violent Soviet occupation, the final five minutes point out how many Estonians have become disillusioned, because the capitalist dream isn't all it was cracked up to be.
Overall, a highly enjoyable documentary. If you liked it, I also recommend another Estonian documentary which is much in the same vein - Disko ja tuumasõda (2009).
Tiit Madisson offers a more grim view of the current state of the free Estonian country and since he feels that he hasn't received enough (monetary) compensation and praise for being a freedom fighter, he has decided to emigrate to Greece. His opinions add to the value of this documentary by presenting an opposing point of view and I really appreciate him pointing out the hypocrisy of some Estonians (mostly politicians) who have now, post-factum, proclaimed themselves as freedom fighters and true patriots of Estonia, despite actually being through and through "red". However, I have to say I found him and his wife to be incredibly annoying (especially when they were in the Greek realtor's office and she declared: "Estonia is SOOO CRIMINAL, the Russian mafia...". And what, Greece is a crime-free utopian haven? Give me a break).
There is also a somewhat hopeless note in the present-day part of this documentary, as we observe Tunne Kelam's bids to get the rest of Europe to acknowledge the horror that was the Soviet mass-deportation of Estonians and other Baltic nations to Siberia. Only a scarce crowd bothers to show up to the opening of the memorial plaque in the Strasbourg office of the European Union and as a Latvian reporter points out, the President of the EU Parliament - Josep Borrell - didn't even have another formal engagement in his agenda to excuse his absence.
The last five minutes of this doc was pure brilliance - current footage of the Estonian "economy boom" is edited to resemble the Soviet propagandist footage (black&white and complete with a creaky-voiced narrator) and we are faced with the fact that "the more things change the more they stay the same". Although I and most other Estonians believe that the current state of affairs is a HELL OF A LOT better than during the violent Soviet occupation, the final five minutes point out how many Estonians have become disillusioned, because the capitalist dream isn't all it was cracked up to be.
Overall, a highly enjoyable documentary. If you liked it, I also recommend another Estonian documentary which is much in the same vein - Disko ja tuumasõda (2009).
