A true story told as a predictable melodrama, The Fencer is conventional but engaging.
Endel Nelis (a solid Märt Avandi) arrives to teach at a school in the small Estonian town of Haapsalu during the post-war Stalin era. His leaving Leningrad stirs suspicion among party officials at the school: the fact he is a fencing champion adds to their interest.
Starting a successful fencing class as part of the (‘voluntary’) Saturday Sports Club goes against the proletariat teaching of the principal – and brings attention on Nelis from education officials outside the town. And then the kids get wind of an all-Soviet elite fencing competition due to take place in Leningrad….
The Fencer is a David & Goliath story set in the drab, atmospheric 1950s (perfectly captured in set design and cinematography). It’s an unchallenging enjoyment marred slightly by an overemphatic score.
Rating: 56%
Director: Klaus Härö (Letters to Father Jacob, Elina: As If I Wasn’t There)
Writer: Anna Heinämaa
Main cast: Märt Avandi (Malev, Elavad pildid), Hendrik Toompere Jnr (Maastik mitme kuuga, Vasaku jala reede), Lembit Ulfsak (Tangerines, Doktor Stockmann)
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