The World of Movies: Laenatud naene
Written by Rachael Crawley
The World of Movies is a series that explores global cinema, drawing on films from many countries, industries and eras. This week, we have some laughs in Estonia – in 1913!
Laenatud naene.
May contain spoilers.
In my research for this article, I was delighted to discover Estonia’s thriving film preservation framework, which has ensured the rescue and restoration of their earliest works – doubly impressive with the upheaval the country has experienced since film’s invention. In general, it’s hard to find silent movies for this column. I have only covered a handful, including a fragment and a couple that weren’t from the main silent era. Always, I am defeated by one line at the bottom of the Wikipedia article: “This film is now considered lost.”
Since silent film generally involves a lot of milestones, this is pretty disappointing. Happily, I have not encountered this message, even once, with Estonian movies. In fact, many of them are now available online!
Laenatud naene, or The Borrowed Wife (Unknown director, 1913) is considered to be the first Estonian fiction film, made when the country was still held under the Russian Empire. It was filmed sometime in 1912. Not only lost, but completely unknown to film scholars, it took the title from Karujaht Pärnumaal (2014), the movie I was originally going to cover this week. It resurfaced in the 2010s and was restored – and ended up, of course, on YouTube. I have to say, it looks great! And it has the holy grail – subtitles, in English to boot! We owe a great debt to author/filmmaker Mart Sander, who restored this movie and made it available across the international film community. The only question is, how does the film hold up?
Laenatud naene.
Like all great comedies, this story begins with a scam. A young bachelor pretends he has a wife and child to claim a living allowance from his rich uncle. Unfortunately, this plan falls apart when the uncle actually comes to visit. The young man immediately starts an exhaustive search for a fake wife, Barney Stinson style. After a series of madcap adventures, he finds the perfect girl – only to remember he mentioned a child, too. Still, he manages to build a family in less than a day (with maybe some mild kidnapping involved). The situation escalates when his uncle falls for the pretend wife. Chaos ensues. Don’t worry, it all works out in the end.
The movie is fast-paced and quite funny, with a lot of hilarious rushing around. There are some great winter scenes in Tallinn, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities then and now. I particularly enjoyed some extended skating sequences near the beginning. All the actors give winning performances, especially the hapless young man. The print is quite good, considering its age – there are plenty of scratches and what appears to be water damage in some moments. However, it seems to be complete, and the intertitles are definitely new. With corrected speed, it lasts twenty-two minutes. It has a great jaunty score, which I assume is also new. Basically, this is a prime example of zany silent comedy, and I am thrilled it hasn’t been lost to the ages.
So while I pack my bags and move to Estonia to join the film preservation community – er, I mean finish this review in Canada – definitely take some time out of your day and check this movie out. Stories of film rediscovery (or in this case, discovery) are rooted in luck and determination, and the efforts of people like Mart Sander have given us many priceless movies back. Let’s hope that many more are revealed to us in the future.
Rachael Crawley holds a Master's Degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from X University (formerly known as Ryerson), and has worked with film in Canada and in Europe. She adores language and cinema, and how these subjects interact with each other.