One of the most inspirational and powerful documentaries I've ever seen.
The Singing Revolution (2007)
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:30
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7/10
Theatrical Release:2007-12
Synopsis: The year 1991 marked a time of change for the Republic of Estonia. This small European nation decided to end the Soviet Union's power over them in a completely radical way: by singing. Though it's... The year 1991 marked a time of change for the Republic of Estonia. This small European nation decided to end the Soviet Union's power over them in a completely radical way: by singing. Though it's tough to imagine the former superpower giving in to simple songs, this documentary chronicles the Estonian people's drive for freedom and their peaceful way of attaining it. [More]
Director: James Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty
Director: James Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty
Screenwriter: James Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty, Mike Majoros
Producer: James Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty, Bestor Cram, Artur Talvik, Piret Tibbo-Hudgins
Composer: John Kusiak
Studio: Abramorama
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Release:
Feb 3, 2009
Reviews for The Singing Revolution
a film that joyfully celebrates the power of the human spirit in all its glory.
Fortunately, the interview subjects (who include festival performers and current and former Estonian leaders) are very intelligent and well-spoken. Their stories are what really holds out interest here.
If The Singing Revolution were a fictional film it would be dismissed as a pie-in-the-sky fantasy. But it’s all true.
Folk songs can be plenty inspirational, but like this movie, they just aren't all that exciting.
'Nonstop Estonian folk music' might not be a great format for a radio station, but it sure works for The Singing Revolution.
Although filmmakers James and Maureen Castle Tusty haven't figured out how to make historic tidbits come alive, they do know how to make them sing.
Effectively chronicles in a thumbnail sketch the blustery recent political 20th-century history of Estonia.
Full of the kind of collective passion and struggle and yearning for freedom that makes viewers well up with pride at their shared humanity.
Booster-ish, with only former participants in the struggle and activists interviewed. There's a you-must-feel-good thrust (and an incessant score). Warbles a familiar tune to Estonians, presumably, and doesn't offer enough rich notes for an outsider.
This fine and surprising documentary asks an even more challenging question: Can music promote nonviolence, prevent bloodshed and successfully overthrow an oppressive regime? Again -- astonishingly -- the answer is 'yes.'
The thrill of this documentary is in the remarkable story of the Little Country That Could.
As far as the plot goes, widespread lack of familiarity with Estonia's recent history actually works in the film's favor: Suspense born of ignorance lends the unfolding drama the urgency of a political thriller.
The Singing Revolution is the sort of film that should be shown to North American school children or anyone else who takes his freedom for granted.
Patience may not the most exciting movie subject, but The Singing Revolution is, in its deceptively mild way, inspiring.
It's a powerful story of a nation that, almost literally, sang its way to freedom.
What makes the film unique is its intermittent focus on one of the country's cultural touchstones: a song festival called Laulupidu, and its role in bringing freedom to a repressed but restless people after a half-century.
The Singing Revolution becomes a tense political thriller that culminates in one of the most significant events of past century: The collapse of the Soviet Union.
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