Film / 1944

1944 is a 2015 Estonian war drama film directed by Elmo Nüganen and written by Leo Kunnas. It takes place during the Soviet re-occupation of Estonia and follows Estonian soldiers on both sides of the World War II. The film has been acclaimed for its well-done battle scenes and high accuracy in detail, owing to the support of Estonian military and historical experts during the production.

The film is remarkable for presenting an Eastern European perspective of the war, by attempting to give both sides of the war an equal light. Naturally, this can fuel some controversy in the Western world. The film itself, however, deals with a tragic time in Estonian history as a nation is split between two superpowers, leading to many men fighting on opposing sides. The ones on the German side hope for a chance to restore the country's independence, while those in the Red Army are mostly just concerned about getting home after years in Russia. Expect a lot of moral dilemmas when they meet.

In summer 1944, a platoon of the Estonian SS Division is fighting for life and death during the Battle of Tannenberg Line in Northeastern Estonia. During the Tallinn offensive, the German units suddenly fall back from Estonia, leading to the front collapsing. At the same time, another platoon consisting of Estonian men is fighting on the Soviet side as a part of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps. They are forced to bear the brunt of fighting in the Moonsund operation, leading to heavy casualties while completing the Soviet occupation of Estonia.

Tropes include:

• Abandoned War Child: The little girl who is saved by Karl and who ends up adopted by his sister after the war.
• Action Prologue: The film opens right in the middle of the Battle of Tannenberg Line, with Saareste's platoon under Soviet artillery fire.
• All Are Equal in Death: After the battle between Estonians, Jüri Jõgi orders to bury the fallen of both sides in the same grave. When asked about this by Prokhor, he answers: "It's the end of the road for everybody." They put a sign on the cross that says "31 fallen Red Army soldiers", ensuring that the grave gets dignified treatment by the NKVD troops that will follow.
• Angsty Surviving Twin: Konstantin Käär, after his younger twin brother Anton is killed by a sniper's bullet.
• Anyone Can Die: Especially striking example, since a primary protagonist gets killed completely unexpectedly. Twice.
• Band of Brothers: The primary protagonist's platoon on both sides. Especially highlighted when Jüri calls them the only family he has left.
  Aino: What about your family?
  Jüri: Ruudi, Alli, Oskar, Aabram, Prohhor. They are my family. But there is less and less of them left every day.
• Berserk Button: Kamenski, when Põder seems to downplay the magnitude of the looming Soviet "avalanche" and "Red plague".
• Bilingual Dialogue: Karl Tammik meets a Danish volunteer named Carl. While most of their discussion is in German, Karl introduces himself and his homeplace in Estonian.
• Bittersweet Ending: Aino finally discovers the truth about the death of his brother, while finding out that her love interest who killed him has also died. Behind the scenes, we know that while the war is finally ending, the country has definitively fallen under Soviet occupation, extinguishing almost all hopes of regaining freedom.
• Body Horror: Plenty, especially in the first part. The SS soldier who loses his legs from a shell blast was played by a veteran from the Estonian Defence Forces who had actually lost both his legs in Afghanistan.
• Capital Offensive: Happens mostly off-screen, since when Jüri's platoon arrives in Tallinn, the Red Army is already completing its seizure. As an interesting sidenote, while the brief period of Estonian government holding independent power in Tallinn is not seen on camera, its possibility is described at the same time by Estonian SS soldiers who lack any direct communication to the capital so as to be informed of the events there.
  Põder: While we are holding on here, the Germans will get on the ships, Tallinn will be free and some brave Estonian will climb hurryscurry to the top of the Tall Herman Tower just like in 1918 with our blue-black-white tricolor.
  Kamenski: At the last minute someone will trip him.
  Põder: Don't say that.
• Category Traitor: Kreml gives a hidden threat to Jüri Jõgi that he will be seen as this unless he proves himself as an eager Communist by spying on his comrades. According to Kreml, Jüri has a right class background and his father made the right decisions in his time. It is implied that Jüri's father was the one who reported on Karl and Aino Tammik's parents, leading to their deportation to Siberia.
• Child Soldiers: During the last battle in Western Estonia, five teenagers in Luftwaffe uniforms are taken prisoner by the Estonians in the Red Army. They explain they were forcibly conscripted by the Germans, but Kreml arrives and orders Jüri to have them all shot as traitors. Horrified Jüri utters that they are only children.
• Dirty Communists: Played straight with Kreml. Otherwise, Soviet deportations and other crimes form the main part of background story about how a lot of Estonians came to fight in the German SS. Very much Truth in Television, as anyone from the Baltic countries can tell.
• Eagle Squadron: Dutch and Danish SS volunteers in the Battle of Tannenberg Line.
• End of an Age: Hinted several times, in regard to independent Estonia. Although it has only been four years, the memories of pre-war Estonia already sound for everyone like a dream that is unlikely to come back. Symbolically shown in Tallinn scenes, with the red flag rising to Toompea Castle and the Estonian National Opera in ruins. In the last scene, we already see Soviet lifestyle slowly kicking in with shared appartments and Russian immigrants.
• Farm Boy: Several characters on both sides, which is not surprising at all considering that interwar Estonia was still largely a rural society. We even see Alfred Tuul arriving his childhood home on Saaremaa island, only to find that it had been deserted prior to the arrival of Soviets.
• Father to His Men: Both Oberscharführer Saareste on the German side and Captain Viires on the Soviet side. Especially Viires, who goes great lenghts to keep his men safe, even willing to confront his superior officers and having himself marked as untrustworthy to the Soviet system in the process.
• Field Promotion: Happens to Jüri Jõgi, when Captain Viires promotes him to leader of his platoon.
• Fighting for a Homeland: The single main motivation for the Estonians on the German side. Ever since the initial Soviet occupation in 1940, many Estonians have been striving to restore the independent country, or at least take revenge on the Communists for destroying it.
• Foregone Conclusion: Since this is a historical drama, we know that the story will lead to Soviet occupation of Estonia and all hopes of restoring Estonian independence are doomed from start ^note Until 1991, that is. However all characters are purely fictional and we are left to discover what their individual fates will be. It is hinted that the country's fate has been decided since 1939/40 when the Estonian government, instead of resisting, decided to surrender in face of the first Soviet occupation, thus setting in motion events that eventually led to Estonians fighting against each other on both sides of the war.
  Jüri: I was conscripted in 1939. In June '40 we were watching at the border how the Red Army marched in.
  Aino: Why didn't you fight back?
  Jüri: Perhaps we were too disciplined, waited for an order. Or we were just cowards.
• Friend or Foe?: During a night in the trench, Raadik almost kills Karl Tammik, mistaking him for a Russian. Luckily, his submachine gun had a safety on.
• Friendly Sniper: Prokhor Sedykh. He is pretty much The Heart of Jüri's platoon. Prokhor ultimately takes responsibility for the fate of the whole platoon by shooting Kreml. He is also the one to deliver Jüri's final letter to Aino.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Estonians on both sides of the war consist mainly of simple soldiers who loathe the war and dream of either restoring independent Estonia or just reaching home to their families. Estonians on the opposing side are seen as victims rather than enemies. Notable exception is political officer Kreml, a Communist hardliner according to whom all Estonians on the German side must be Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves.
• Guilt Complex: Karl Tammik puts blame for his parents' deportation by Soviets on his own shoulders. It is implied that this was the main reason that led him to volunteer for Waffen-SS. In the second half of the film, Jüri Jõgi suffers similar guilt for having killed Karl.
• Halfway Plot Switch: Most remarkable storytelling device in the film, which allows to show both sides of the war. Accompanied by Rotating Protagonist (first Karl, then Jüri).
• Happily Adopted: Pretty much the only silver lining in an otherwise Downer Ending is that the little girl who was earlier saved by Karl is seen living with Aino and appears to be genuinely happy.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Konstantin Käär later turns up conscripted into the Red Army. It is clearly a forced choice, though, and he is advised by Jüri to never speak about his former service in the SS.
• Heroic Russian Émigré: Vladimir Kamenski, an ethnic Russian volunteer in the Estonian SS, is somewhat surprisingly the strongest anti-Communist in Saareste's platoon. His father was an officer in the Russian White army and was murdered by the Bolsheviks.
• Home Guard: The local Omakaitse militia that Saareste's platoon meets during their retreat has a low morale and a group of its men are seen deserting for their homes, while its commander is still determined to fight the Soviets. They get the Russian-made trophy guns of Saareste's platoon.
• I Choose to Stay: When the Germans are leaving Estonia, Karl Tammik initially decides to stay behind. He is ultimately convinced to join the retreat by Saareste who offers to stay together with him and fight the Soviets until certain death.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Põder knows no other way of comforting Konstantin Käär in the immediate shock of having seen his twin brother die than to force the entire remaining bottle of vodka down Konstantin's throat.
• Last Stand: When the Germans decide to leave Estonia, Karl Tammik wants to stay behind to fight the Soviets until death, but Saareste changes his mind. Later, however, the soldiers leave their truck for transporting civilian refugees and wounded towards Tallinn, themselves becoming unable to link up with the retreating German forces. Soon afterwards, they decide to dig in near the village of Avinurme and have one last battle against the Soviet invaders.
• Marked to Die: On the eve of his final battle, Voldemar Piir describes having a strange, "shitty" feeling of being outside of his body.
• Misplaced Retribution: Abram Joffe, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army shoots three unarmed and wounded German prisoners of war in an apparent attempt to revenge for his dead family. Lampshaded by Jüri.
  Jüri: Do you think it'll bring Sarah back?
• Mistaken Identity: An old farmer couple have a friendly talk with a group of Estonian-speaking Soviet soldiers after a battle, assuming they are on the German side. Actually Truth in Television: this episode is straight out of memories of many veterans of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps.
• New Meat: Konstantin and Anton Käär, who arrive as replacements with just a few weeks of training.
  Piir: They promised 10 men, but sent two. These also look like one.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When the planes in the sky suddenly turn straight towards the mass of civilian refugees and soldiers.
  • The old farmer couple, when the Soviet soldiers they mistook for Estonian SS put on their uniforms.
• Plot Parallel: The first and second half of the film mirror each other not just superficially but in countless small details. Even camera moves seem to mirror each other in drawing up battle plans and shots of soldiers rushing into combat. This is clearly intentional, as one of the film's main messages is to show that (at least the Estonian) soldiers on both sides of the war had far more in common with each other.
• The Political Officer: Kreml.
• The Reveal Prompts Romance: Subverted. Jüri writes a letter to Aino in which he admits that he killed her brother and asks for her forgiveness. The letter reaches her only after Jüri's death.
• Screw the War, We're Partying: In the middle of the battles at the Tannenberg Line, the SS soldiers have some fun in their bunker by drinking and arguing about women and politics. Finally, they decide to go into trenches to tempt some Soviet snipers. It ends abruptly when Anton Käär gets shot.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Soviet tactics throughout the film. In the first part, their frontal assault at the Tannenberg Line is unsuccessful and brings them a large number of casualties. In the second part, Estonians in the Red Army become victims of this, as they are ordered to attack along a narrow village road, with minefields on both sides, all the while being under heavy bombardment from German warships. Mostly Truth in Television, as the Red Army was notorious for the little regard it had for lives of its own soldiers.
• Shown Their Work: The battle scenes have been universally praised for realism that comes down to every detail, such as weapons, uniforms, tactics, etc. It should come as no surprise, given the credits of the screenwriter. Also, most of the script is based on memories of the veterans from both sides.
• Spotting the Thread: When Jüri Jõgi's unit receives three new conscripts, Jõgi orders them "at ease". He immediately recognizes from the position of their feet that they have previously served in the German army.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: Several.
• That's an Order!: Kreml, in the final climactic scene. And he is very much willing to enforce it.
• Thicker Than Water: On a national level. Estonians in the SS are seen arguing about whether it would be right to kill an Estonian who happens to fight on the other side. Later, when it is realized by both sides that they are Estonians fighting Estonians, an immediate ceasefire ensues with the Red Army silently allowing the SS men to walk off the battleground.
• Token Minority: Estonian platoons on both sides have an ethnic Russian in them: Kamenski on the German side, a Russian émigré, and Prokhor on the Soviet side, a Siberian farmer who had an Estonian grandmother. Also, both happen to be snipers.
• Uncertain Doom: We never find out what happened to most of Saareste's platoon who survived the skirmish at Avinurme, except Konstantin Käär who later turns up conscripted into the Red Army. As they would soon become Trapped Behind Enemy Lines, chances of escaping west from Soviet-occupied Estonia would be slim. Others could keep fighting a guerrilla war as the Forest Brothers, or similar to Käär, return to their homes and conceal their service in the German army, thus attempting to escape Soviet imprisonment. The odds are great that at least some would end up captured by the Soviets and sent to Siberia, though.
• Understatement: Played for Laughs when before his first battle, one of the twins innocuously asks Saareste how many Russians would they encounter.
  Saareste: A couple, at least.
• Unintentional Final Message: Two of them, in fact. Providing for a main Story Arc. The first half of the film has Karl writing a letter to his sister Aino, for it only to be delivered after his death by Jüri. The second half has Jüri write another letter, which ends up being delivered by Prokhor after Jüri's death.
• War Is Hell: Prokhor comforts Jüri with this over his guilt of killing Karl.
  Prokhor: Jüri, don't worry. You didn't kill him, the war did. Perhaps God will forgive. Or perhaps not.
• War Refugees: With the general retreat of the German forces, the roads are also full of Estonian civilians seeking to escape the Red Army. Saareste's platoon allows their truck to be used for transporting civilians, dooming their own chances of escaping the advancing Soviets.
• Windbag Politician: The official of the German-aligned Estonian government who visits the soldiers at the front. He is comically oblivious to the realities of war and "awards" the soldiers with signed photographs of Hitler.
• Would Hurt a Child: The Soviets, on two occasions: when the airplane deliberately fires towards the girl with a doll, and when Kreml orders the execution of teenage prisoners of war.