Naerata ometi

16-year-old Marie no longer has a parental home after her mother dies and her father is entirely concerned with his own life. In the children’s home from which she flees at the beginning of the film only to be sent back there, she experiences violence and emotional neglect, but also finds someone to give her confidence in the form of gang leader Ronny.  Leida Laius and young cinematographer and co-director Arvo Iho stage an unforgettable film with impressive scenes and intensive performances. “What is all too easily forgotten in film historical observations is that essential impulses for an unvarnished depiction of the problems of Soviet society (...) came from films about  children and adolescents.” (Hans-Joachim Schlegel) (nf/gv)