1944

This is the first Estonian movie I have seen. It was directed by Elmo Nuganen and released in 2017. A bit of context is needed. Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, constitute what is traditionally called the Baltic Republics, just across the Baltic Sea from Finland and Sweden. All three Baltic Republics were once part of the Soviet Union, following the Second World War. Today, Estonia is an independent country. It joined the European Union in 2003 and as of 2011, the Euro is its currency. Russia remains its dominant neighbor. Most remarkably, it has a population of only 1.33 million.Timothy Snyder would call the area the “bloodlands” in his seminal history of the peoples caught between Hitler and Stalin, from 1933 to 1945. Snyder estimated that 14 million civilians died in this area during those years. He has an impressive technique of concentrating on the “1,” and not using a round number. Estonia was part of this area, though not directly covered by Snyder, hence the value of this movie.1944, as the title says, is the changing of the guard, or more precisely, the occupiers. The movie starts with two factoids that dominated the entire movie: in 1940 the Soviet Union annexed Estonia, mobilizing 55,000 Estonians into the Red Army; in 1941 Germany occupied Estonia, mobilizing 72,000 Estonians into their army. Thus, the year 1944, in particular, would see Estonian fighting Estonian.And the Estonians on the German side were in the Waffen SS! I’d always considered those units to be composed of the more fanatically bent Germans. Not so, per this movie. It was only Germans who could be in the Wehrmacht. All other nationalities were thrown into the Waffen SS (which did also contain Germans). And many an Estonian willingly joined the Germans, seeing them as liberators from Stalin. One soldier mentioned how his father had fought in the Russian White Army during the Civil War and he was executed by the Red Army upon the invasion in 1940. Others had relatives deported to Siberia. There were also Danes in the Waffen SS unit.I felt the combat scenes, of which there are ample, were realistic. Tanks and infantry. Mainly it was country boys and city boys caught up in a fight they would have preferred to avoid, along with a sprinkling of fanatics who live for the killing. On the Soviet side, there is the big bad ruthless commissar, the enforcer of correct political thinking. There is the propaganda over the loudspeaker about changing sides. And there is the moving scene of “the man I killed,” who happened to be a fellow Estonian, and having to go see the sister.Stalin had decreed that the Estonian capital, Tallinn, would be taken by September 19th of the title year, and it was. Naturally the civilians turned out to welcome (again) their liberators. The German army pulled out of its last defensive line in Estonia on November 19th, with Estonians again trying to switch sides or flee across the Baltic to Sweden.The E11. This movie is very good in its own right and filled in some lacunae in my historical knowledge. But I also had an ulterior motive for watching it since it was filmed entirely in Estonia. It is the E11, the recently completed European long-distance hiking trail that traverses the lowlands of northern Europe, 4700 km, from the Hague in the Netherlands to Tallinn. No, I am not crazy enough to believe I have enough days or stamina left to walk the whole thing, but, COVID-willing, I hope soon to sample a bit of the far eastern end, in Latvia and Estonia. The views in the movie of the “bocage,” that French word that denotes a cared for mixture of woodlands and open fields was inspiring, and thus I will add a personal “plus” to my 5-star rating.

Arrived on time in perfect condition.Great price would buy from this seller again

estonia really suffered during the last century. It had the monstrous soviets come in during ww 2 and murder many of it's people, shipping off many to death work camps in siberia, then the nazis invaded and they were better off , even though the nazis were a evil regime they regarded them as arayans (which is bs twattle but this saved them from death by nazi) , unless you were a jew, They killed them all or a gay or something. So in reality the estonians joining the german army makes more sense than fighting for the communists. But we see both sides here, as estonians fight for both armies. Clearly the german army troops were doomed though , the soviets had endless soldiers and supplies and equipment. However being in the soviet army was no guarantee that they would not ship off to die after the war. For instance if they found out you had served in the german army before or were religious. many complain about the effects. these are practical effects with no cgi and on that level it's like watching a 1970's war movie. when is fine, estonia is not a huge and wealthy nation after all. it's a western one though! But they still deliver here on the horror of war. After all whatever side you are on the average soldier just wants survive.

I like military movirs

Very sad that a film of this quality, had to be spoiled by ridiculously bad overdubbing. So bad, that I could not watch the whole of it. Be that as it may, the action sequences were very realistic, where the filmmakers went to great lengths to get it right. Even the editing was pretty good, and one of the more difficult jobs to perform in the film making process (very few get it right). Just wish the sound were right, where even subtitles would have been better.

Worth watching. A very good film. Good action.

Great job Guys 👍🤘✌️

Me gusto mucho la película, tiene subtitulos solo en ingles y no en español. Buenos efectos, ambientación y trama fluida. La recomiendo junto con las finlandesa Talvisota o Winter War y comparar los destinos de esos países. Estonia, Letonia y Lituania por miedo al gigante sovietico comenzaron a acceder a sus peticiones imperialistas y pronto fueron engullidos por Stalin, para pasar luego a otro amo terrible: Hitler. El pueblo estonio se vio pronto atrapado entre dos crueles tiranos que persiguieron a los que colaboraron con uno y otro. De ahi el drama de estonia que se refleja a lo largo de la película. En cambio los valientes finlandeses se negaron a ceder un ápice y prefirieron enfrentarse a una guerra desigual con el gigante. Aprovechando todos sus recursos, la purga staliniana de la oficialidad del ejercito ruso que fue sustituida por ineptos comandantes, una destacada organización interna que permitió una pertinaz resistencia capaz de frenar avance de varias divisiones blindadas lo que maravilló al mundo, la ayuda del más terrible invierno del siglo y el posterior desarrollo de las circunstancias geopoliticas, obligaron increíblemente a los sovieticos a negociar la paz y si bien al final tuvieron que ceder Karelia, los bravos finlandeses conservaron íntegra su independencia, libertad y nacionalidad.

One my favorites and excellent shipping

Poor Cast and movie