The Cinematheque

Estonia

“Breathtaking imagery … Raat’s ensemble piece overwhelms the mind until its stark mysticism slowly begins unfurling.”

Carlos Aguilar, Variety

The winner of prizes for direction, acting, cinematography, and four other technical prizes at this year’s Estonian Film and Television Awards, Marko Raat’s fourth film takes its premise and title from an unusual transposition. The Views tradition of serial woodblock painting in Japan includes eight views of Omi, as well as the more widely known Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai. Raat’s film unfolds episodically on Lake Peipus, and each variation presents a tale of star-crossed lovers, all forced to forge a new relationship where the trajectory, from the start, appears to be defined by fate. The chapters unfold in a highly artificial, anachronistic, and ritualistic manner. Theatre actor Tiina Tauraite’s role as Õnne, a teacher who meets a fisherman whose secrets are withheld for a decade, is a particular standout.

In Estonian with English subtitles