Where the Heart Is

Arno Tali's son Arnold returns to his homeland Paunvere, which ignites a passionate love triangle between Paunvere's young Toots', Kiir's and Teele's. Despite the restrictions of the occupation period, people party, have fun and fight, youthful bravado does not allow itself to be tamed even in dangerous times.

'Where the Heart Is', aka 'Winter' (though has nothing to do with that period...), is (presumably) the finale to this tetralogy of Oskar Luts-based movies. It's good, just about. If I'm honest, it's closer to 'Spring' and 'Autumn' (them being 'meh') than (the certainly good) 'Summer'. With that said, I think it narrowly gets a pass from yours truly. There's enough in there to enjoy, there are also some stunning visuals - definitely the movie's main plus point, well alongside the hearty ending. The cast features newcomers and returnees. It's pleasant to see Riina Hein and Margus Lepa yet again, seeing them age through these movies is actually quite cool; from that 1970 original all the way to this 2020 flick. Unfortunately there is no return for Arno Liiver, though we do get Franz Malmsten appearing as his onscreen son; Arnold kinda just hovers as the film progresses with other characters, but a nice touch nevertheless. Karl Robert Saaremäe does likewise but features more heavily as the offspring of Joosep, understandable given the obvious absence of the late Aare Laanemets. Away from the aforementioned bunch, there are positive showings from series newbies Henessi Schmidt and Saara Nüganen. It's a solid cast. Finally ticked these movies off, they certainly make for an interesting journey through Estonian cinema!