Directed by Kaljo Kiisk • 1969 • USSR/Estonia
Hailed as Estonia’s first truly modern feature film, Kaljo Kiisk’s mind-bending satire of authoritarianism and self-delusion pushed the boundaries of Soviet propriety and was banned from theatres for nearly twenty years. In an unnamed, occupied country at the end of the Second World War, the Gestapo are planning on exterminating the residents of a remote asylum. But there’s a catch: reports suggest British agents are hiding among the patients. Officer Windisch (legendary Estonian actor Jüri Järvet) must go undercover to root out the imposters – soon putting his own sense of sanity and faith in the fascist cause on the line.
MADNESS • HULLUMEELSUS
Directed by Kaljo Kiisk
Written by Viktors Lorencs
Cinematography by Anatoly Zabolotsky and Andrei Dobrovolsky
Music by Lembit Veevo
Starring: Jüri Järvet, Vaclovas Blēdis, Valery Nosik
In Estonian with English subtitles
Up Next in Soviet Satire: comedies of communism from silent cinema to the eighties
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Blue Mountains
Directed by Eldar Shengelaia • 1983 • USSR/Georgia
This deft satire of Soviet bureaucracy from one of Georgian cinema’s great poets follows Soso, an aspiring novelist looking to publish his latest manuscript. It soon becomes apparent that the publishing house is staffed by a host of oblivious em...
