On February 15th, the legendary Estonian feature film Jüri Rumm will be screened at the Film Museum's film club, Tallinn International Film Society (TIFS). The satirical adventure film tells the story of a legendary Estonian thief from the second half of the 19th century.

Tristan Priimägi, the curator of TIFS film program, award-winning film critic, and author of the book "101 Estonian Films," has written about the film in the following way:

To list all fully preserved Estonian feature films from before the Soviet occupation, you wouldn’t even need the fingers on both hands. Therefore, every such film is invaluable as a historical document and a significant event. However, even the 1929 film Jüri Rumm is not entirely intact, as some lost episodes in the second part of this two-part film have to be conveyed through intertitle cards.

What remains, however, is worth watching. Estonia’s own Robin Hood, Jüri Rumm, begins as a servant boy in a manor. An unjust punishment compels young Jüri to raise his head and embark on a path of resistance against the system. Jüri Rumm continues as a daring bandit—a man every man would want to be and every woman would want to be with. Jüri Rumm channels the long-standing anger against German manor lords and serves as a precursor to the famous mud fight in Spring (Kevade), featuring at least one extraordinary fight scene.

Back in 1914, during the early years of Estonian cinema, Johannes Pääsuke, the most renowned director of that time, had plans to make a film about Jüri Rumm. However, the project was abandoned, and the film was eventually directed by Johannes Loop a decade and a half later, in 1929. The cinematographer was Konstantin Märska, who is undoubtedly among the handful of most important early Estonian filmmakers worth knowing for enthusiasts. Märska, along with the non-professional lead actor Helmuth Suursööt, received praise for the film. Opinions about the film itself, however, are divided—some consider it somewhat conventional or lacking in artistic individuality.

Now we have the opportunity to screen a digitally restored copy in 6K resolution. The complex restoration work, which took two years and was finished in 2023, is detailed in the National Archives’ blog posts (“The Digital Rebirth of Jüri Rumm” I-III):
https://blog.ra.ee/juri-rummu-digitaalne-taassund-i/
https://blog.ra.ee/juri-rummu-digitaalne-taassund-ii/
https://blog.ra.ee/juri-rummu-digitaalne-taassund-iii/

With TIFS cinema tickets, attendees can gain FREE access to the exhibition "My Free Country" at the Estonian History Museum's Maarjamäe Castle, providing a deeper exploration of the themes depicted in the films.

The film will be screened with English subtitles.

Tickets

8/6€, can be purchased HERE!