The Fencer is an Estonian foreign language film based on a real story of a former professional fencer hiding from Soviet secret police during the Cold War era.
The Film follows the main character as he attempts to start a new life as a physical education teacher in his Estonian homeland.
The Fencer touches on many themes surrounding education in old Russian territories, the treatment of Estonians during the occupation period and actions carried out by secret police officers during the Soviet era.
Synopsis
The Fencer recounts real events based on the life of Endel Nelis, a former accomplished fencer, during the Russian occupation of Estonia.
The Fencer follows Nelis' journey as he flees persecution from Soviet secret police. In doing so, he returns to his native country and becomes a physical education teacher at a school in a very small Estonian town.
At first he tries to maintain a low profile, follow Soviet education standards and is relatively distant from his students. Eventually Nelis begins to see first hand the toll the Soviet regime has had on the town and most notably on the children he is teaching.
In an attempt to help his students, he takes it upon himself to start training his students in the art of fencing and self-defense.
The remainder of the film follows Nelis and his students as they proceed to train, despite it putting Nelis' life at risk, in the hopes of the students improving their own well-being.
Important Themes
The Fencer tells a story about the state of law, government, police and education in Estonian cities under Soviet control during the 1950's. All Eastern European territories within the Soviet regime were under harsh control during said time period.
All territories of the regime had to comply with strict Soviet standards in all facets of society. And many who stepped out of line were killed, exiled or had to flee from policing powers alike to Endel Nelis.
Due to strict Soviet rule, educational curriculum standards were low and students were more or less taught to be 'productive workers'.
This was not limited to sports and participation in school clubs. As many of the banned sports deviated away from traditional Soviet mode of thought. Especially fencing, a sport involving individual skill, unorthodox thinking and self-determination.
Effectively, the Soviet regime wanted to suppress their citizenry and maintain their desired status quo.
However after Stalin's death in 1953, Estonia began to elect officials native to Estonia from Russian decent who were knowledgeable about life within their homeland. But it was not until 1980 when the public began to visibly act out in numbers against their Russian totalitarian leaders.
One such instance saw over 2,000 school children and Estonian intellectuals come together in mass protest against the Russian Communist Party. Which all lead to Estonia gaining independence from Russia in 1991.
It is important to note to significance sport and nationalism was to Estonia during this troubling time period.
For many, sport was an outlet and led to many children developing positive mindsets about change, hope and perseverance.
The Fencer highlights this fact and Endel Nelis' fencing school still is up and running to this day.
Conclusion
Altogether The Fencer is a beautiful film that highlights the importance of perseverance, hope and determination during the Soviet occupation period.
The film speaks to the issues that were present at the time and how Nelis' actions helped teach important skills to children caught in a stifling, overbearing Soviet system.
The Fencer is a film that goes beyond the classroom and tells a very unique story unknown to many.
Explaining how life may have been during a frightful time in Estonian history and how sport played a hand in creating self-determination.
