The first thing that certifies the quality of this film is the strong reception it received at its screening. Kolga has made a film for Canadians – and not so much for Estonians. Estonians don’t need to be told about the tragedies of war on the eastern front, and there are many others around the world who would rather not hear about the suffering of others. Great Britain , along with Canada was an ally of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Try and tell them that “your friend” actually did this and that. Either they wouldn’t believe you or you might be condemned for browbeating. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to tell a Canadian this, but I have a feeling that Kolga has somehow successfully navigated this and is getting the message through.
Grandfather and Grandson
Director Marcus Kolga ’s grandfather, Eduard Kolga, was in 1941, forced to mobilize with the Red Army, against his own will. Being forced to join and fight with your enemy, against your own conscious, is a human tragedy that Eduard Kolga was forced to experience. In the end he survived: in 1944 he and his family fled to Sweden and in 1952 they escaped to Canada .
The film follows Eduard Kolga through Russia as he recalls difficult memories from various locations of internment. The story makes a strong impact on its audience by interspersing personal experiences between political and historical facts, illuminating a nation’s suffering through a single unique life. The relationship between grandfather and grandson serves to certify the honesty of the personal story, and as an extension, fosters a truthful understanding of events for the audience.
If some author, in some history book, wrote about some Red Army unit that was starved and worked to death in some sort of hellish taiga camp, the image would remain abstract, without emotion nor any sense of empathy. To achieve this, the audience must relate to a single experience. If a hundred thousand men fall in battle, the fact becomes a dry statistic to which no one can relate to on a personal level. If there is a single individual experience, then the experience becomes unique and can touch the audience personally. As the audience gets to know the individual –almost as a friend- we can better empathize with the larger subject. Marcus Kolga does just this with his grandfather, and by the end of the film, we feel as if we know Eduard Kolga like an old friend. The film, running chronologically with historical facts, is rich with information and is supported by outstanding archival visual material and features strong interviews with Russian researches and an interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author, Anne Applebaum, who offers a unique and objective North American point of view.
The Truth is Told
The fact that Marcus Kolga made this film and that it has been broadcast in Canada is clearly a victory for Estonia . I’m eagerly waiting for his next films. He is gifted audio-visually and is a highly talented graphic designer and musician, all of them traits that lend themselves to making great films. I should add that he is journalist with a desire to seek out the truth. His next film is about the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, and it should not surprise anyone if this film raises global awareness to Baltic issues as they pertain to World War Two. We have our history, other nations have theirs. History should not be polarized, as each side has its own story.
Thanks to Marcus Kolga’s enthusiastic commitment to promoting the truth, awareness will likely rise in Canada about historical ethno-cultural issues in the Baltic region, and they may add some colour to a subject that has been, until recently, black and white.
In GULAG 113, Marcus Kolga does not take the easy road by citing the plethora of violations committed by the Soviets, which were suffered by his grandfather (and the entire nation). The film treats the subject with as strong sense of objective compassion.