Review of The Singing Revolution (2006) by Bernard N — 06 Aug 2008

[font=Century Gothic]Well, I went to see [u]The Singing Revolution[/u] with my sweetie yesterday. The story it told is amazing, that the small Estonian nation was able to hold onto its national identity and throw off the Soviet yoke largely through their folk song tradition and their annual Song Festival. The importance of song to the Estonians seemed to me rather like the importance of song to the Welsh, who also hold such large festivals and which allowed them to maintain their national identity -- Welsh is still a living Celtic language. Admittedly, luck and time played a part in their success -- it turned out that their own government, still under Soviet control, had become more responsive, and the Soviet Union itself was falling apart. Had the singers tried such a push 10 years earlier, the Soviet tanks would turned Tallinn into another Prague. [/font].

[font=Century Gothic]That said, I would have to say that the documentary itself, while well done, was not exceptional. The documentarians did a good job of contacting most of the relevant parties, and they made this film close enough to the event that there were many who could contribute. Linda Hunt's narration was fine, but this is a film about how singing fueled a peaceful revolution -- it seemed like it should have had more zing. It was probably too much to expect something like "Broadway Melody" from [u]Singin' in the Rain[/u], but a little more flash would have made the film watching experience better -- the actual historical event was one worth capturing, and the filmmakers did an adequate job -- they could have done more. [/font].