The Little ComradeThe Little Comrade
(2018)
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The Little Comrade

A young girl's mother is sent to prison in Stalinist Estonia, and she tries to bring her back by being a good kid.

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Why watch this film?

When speaking of the Soviet Union in retrospect, it is common to fall into abstractions and ignore the stories of small nations that, for better or worse, were occupied by the Soviets for long periods of time, as was the case in Estonia. 'Seltsimees laps' (translated as 'The Little Comrade') is a period drama inserted into the "coming-of-age" subgenre to tell the consequences of tyranny at its most basic level: that of a family destroyed by an intransigent government. Based on two autobiographical novels by writer Leelo Tungal, director and screenwriter Moonika Siimets tells the story from the perspective of a six-year-old girl, with her reduced understanding of the complex circumstances around her and her eventual confusion about what it means to be a "good girl", resulting in emotional moments and even surprising humor.

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Plot summary

In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good kid, Leelo vows to be on her best behaviour in the confusing grown-up world in the hope that it will bring her mother back.

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