''The Fencer'' ( fi, Miekkailija, et, Vehkleja) is a 2015

biographical drama film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

about the life of

Endel Nelis Endel Nelis (28 September 1925 Karuse Parish, Lääne County – 12 April 1993 Haapsalu) was an Estonian fencer and fencing coach. In 1950 he graduated from Tartu State University in physical education. From 1950 to 1966 he was a member of Estoni ...

, an accomplished Estonian fencer and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. It was directed by

Klaus Härö Klaus Härö (born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo, Finland) is a Finnish film director. In 2004, he won Finland's State Prize for Art. Härö grew up in a Swedish-speaking Finnish family. He studied directing and attended screen writing seminars at the ...

and written by Anna Heinämaa. Filming began in

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 ...

in late February 2014. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

88th Academy Awards The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Du ...

, making the December shortlist of nine films, but it was not nominated. ''The Fencer'' was also nominated for the Golden Globe award in the Best Foreign Language Film category as a Finnish-German-Estonian co-production. ''The Fencer'' was released in the U.S. by CFI Releasing in 2017.

Plot

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany, who drafted most of the men into the

German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

, and then occupied by the Soviet Union, who considered Estonians who had fought in the German army to be criminals. Following the war, the Soviets incorporated Estonia into the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. A young man, Endel Nelis, arrives in

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. Description Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its w ...

in the early 1950s, having left

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to escape the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

. He finds work as a teacher and founds a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

for his students, where he starts teaching them his great passion – fencing. Disapproving, the school's principal starts investigating Endel’s background. Meanwhile, Endel's Russian friend (and coach) Aleksei warns him not to return to Leningrad under any circumstances. Fencing becomes a form of self-expression for the children, and Endel becomes a role model and father figure. He learns to love the children, many of whom had been orphaned by the war. When the children want to participate in a national fencing tournament in Leningrad, Endel must make a choice; risk everything to take the children to Leningrad or put his safety first and disappoint them.

Cast

Märt Avandi Märt Avandi (born 26 February 1981) is an Estonian actor and comedian. Biography He is known in Estonia for his performances in TV show '' Tujurikkuja'' (2008–2015) with Ott Sepp, that made them household names in Estonia. Avandi has worked a ...

–

Ursula Ratasepp Ursula Ratasepp (born 17 June 1982) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress. Early life and education Ursula Ratasepp was born in Tallinn in 1982. She is the older sister of actress Katariina Ratasepp (born 1986). She studied drama at ...

– Kadri *

Hendrik Toompere Jr. Hendrik Toompere Jr. (born 5 June 1965) is an Estonian actor and director. Toompere was born in Tallinn to actor and director Hendrik Toompere Sr. and actress Maie Toompere (''née'' Kruusenberg). His sister is actress Harriet Toompere and his so ...

– school principal * Liisa Koppel – Marta * Joonas Koff – Jaan *

Lembit Ulfsak Lembit Ulfsak (4 July 1947 – 22 March 2017) was a prominent Estonian stage and film actor. Ulfsak starred in the 2014 film ''Tangerines'' which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. It was also among the f ...

– Jaan's grandfather *

Piret Kalda Piret Kalda (born 4 February 1966) is an Estonian stage, television and film actress. Early life and education Piret Kalda was born and raised in Tartu. She was one of three siblings. She attended schools in Tartu, graduating from Tartu No. 5 s ...

– Jaan's mother * Egert Kadastu – Toomas * Ann-Lisett Rebane – Lea * Elbe Reiter – Tiiu *

Jaak Prints Jaak Prints (born Jaak Teppart; 7 May 1981) is an Estonian actor, director, television presenter and former footballer. Prints was born in Tallinn to actors Sulev Teppart and Anu Lamp. His younger brother Tõnn Lamp is also an actor. In 2004, he ...

– assistant to the principal *

Kirill Käro Kirill Valeryevich Käro (russian: Кири́лл Вале́рьевич Кя́ро; born 24 February 1975) is a Russian-Estonian actor. He is best known for playing the lead character in 32 episodes of '' The Sniffer'' (2013–2017), as George ...

– Aleksei *

Leida Rammo Leida Rammo (18 April 1924 – 23 July 2020) was an Estonian stage, radio, television, and film actress and theatre director whose career spanned over seven decades. Early life and education Leida Rammo was the eldest of two children born in Tall ...

– guard in a dormitory *

Raimo Pass Raimo is a masculine given name. People named Raimo include: *Raimo Aas (born 1953), Estonian humorist *Raimo Grönberg (born 1953), Finnish actor *Raimo Hämäläinen (born 1948), Finnish professor of Applied Mathematics and Operations Resea ...

– officer * Erkki Tikan – officer * Maria Avdjuško – an official in Leningrad * Alina Karmazina – coach from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 52 reviews, and an average score of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The Fencer''s inspirational coming-of-age arc is given added heft through sensitive direction, affecting performances, and a moving, fact-based story." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Plot

Cast

Critical response

See also

References

External links