''The Birdwatcher'' aka ''The Observer'' (Estonian title: ''Vaatleja'') is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n film directed by

Arvo Iho Arvo Iho (born 21 June 1949) is an Estonian film director, cinematographer, actor and photographer, who has worked in the areas of documentary and drama.Rollberg, Peter (2016) ''Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema'', Rowman & Litt ...

for the

Tallinnfilm Tallinnfilm is the oldest surviving film studio in Estonia. It was founded as Estonian Culture Film in 1931, and was nationalized in 1940 after Estonia was forced into the Soviet Union. During the first year of Soviet Occupation During Worl ...

studio, filmed in 1987 in the northern

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

, 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 Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

on the island where she works. Iho had previously worked with Leida Leius on several documentaries, and ''The Birdwatcher'' is his solo directorial debut.Mazierska, Ewa; Kristensen, Lars; Naripea, Eva (2013) ''Postcolonial Approaches to Eastern European Cinema: Portraying Neighbours on Screen'', I.B. Tauris, , p. 310 ''The Birdwatcher'' won awards at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

, the

Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

, and the

Rouen Nordic Film Festival The Rouen Nordic Film Festival (french: Festival du Cinéma Nordique) was a film festival hold in Rouen, France for screening and competition films made in Nordic and Baltic countries, the Netherlands and Belgium. In December 2010, the organisers ...

.The Bird Watcher
, efis.ee. Retrieved 6 January 2019

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. They begin a love/hate relationship that leads to tragic consequences when Peeter is killed in a trap set by Aleksandra.

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 Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...

's characterization of the occidental and oriental, with "Russia unctioningto 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".

Awards

(Czech Republic), 1988, FIPRESCI prize for best debut filmThe Birdwatcher
, sky.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019 *

(Italy), 1989, Jury Special Award *

(France), 1990, Grand Prix

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birdwatcher 1987 films Soviet drama films Estonian-language films Soviet-era Estonian films Tallinnfilm films Films directed by Arvo Iho Estonian drama films