The Fencer
(Estonia)

Hollywood traditionally cranks out rousing films about underdog kids with a dedicated misfit coach who take on the (fill in the sport) champions, so why shouldn’t Europe have a crack? With The Fencer, that’s just what you get, albeit a more nuanced, better-acted, and politically subversive period version.

Set in a remote town in Estonia during the Soviet occupation after the Second World War and based on the true story of a legendary Estonian fencer, this story of a man running from Stalin’s secret police juxtaposes the era’s paranoia (strange men, unfamiliar vehicles, and sudden door knocks generate fear) with the expected tournament payoff and a genuine lump-in-the-throat ending.

A superior show-don’t-tell effort from Finnish veterans Klaus Härö (director) and Tuomo Hutri (cinematographer)—underlit streets, leaking school roof, teacups billowing steam indoors—lends understated oomph to the postwar austerity.

Wednesday (December 9).