''The Fencer'' (, is a 2015 biographical drama film 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 Estonia ...

, 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 * Coac ...

. 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 ...

and written by Anna Heinämaa. Filming began in

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

in late February 2014. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film 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. D ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. 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. History The name ''Haapsalu'' derives from the Estonian words ' ...

in the early 1950s, having left

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to escape the

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

. 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 –

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

Lembit Ulfsak Lembit Ulfsak (4 July 1947 – 22 March 2017) was an Estonian stage and film actor. Ulfsak starred in the 2014 film Tangerines (film), ''Tangerines'' which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language 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 se ...

– 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, ...

– assistant to the principal *

Kirill Käro Kirill Valeryevich Käro (; born 24 February 1975) is an Estonian-Russian actor. He is best known for playing the lead character in 32 episodes of ''The Sniffer'' (2013–2017), as George Safronov in 16 episodes of the Netflix sci-fi series ''B ...

– Aleksei * Leida Rammo – guard in a dormitory * Raimo Pass – officer * Erkki Tikan – officer * Maria Avdjuško – an official in Leningrad * Alina Karmazina – coach from

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, 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