The Heart of the Bear (2001)
A young Estonian goes to the Siberian Taiga to live as a hunter in a remote forest hut. He hopes to find his true self far from civilisation. The natives he meets introduce him to the myths of the north. The first is a young village teacher who wants to be a good wife to him. The second is a wild and untameable native who becomes his mythical bear-woman. When he accidentally kills a great black bear, his own shadow-creature, he burdens himself with guilt. However, he is given a chance of finding his inner balance. A romantic drama with mythical elements and breathtaking landscapes.
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The Worst Film Ever
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Did you people see the same film I saw?
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
The cinematography is beautiful in this mess of a film. I heard the director speak somewhere and he mentioned that the film was originally intended to be a ten-part miniseries for Estonian TV. That is apparent when you watch the film jump from one moment to the next completely unrelated moment and feel utterly confused. It's a mythological tale and it seems that the director and editor use the genre to justify it's lack of continuity. Unfortunately, it is irritating. It sometimes feels like a vanity piece for lead actor, Rein Kotov who does a good job in the role of a man haunted by "the heart of the bear". It's a very stange film that's seems torn between being an art film and being mainstream. If you see it, see it for the cinematography and to see something in the Estonian language, which is interesting enough.
It has some beautiful landscape shots and really good cinematography but it ends up being dull and sluggish. The best part of the movie contains the bear scenes, which were truly impressive considering that they used a real animal in these scenes. It is a big movie for east European standards. But stays short of an epic, which it had a potential to be. Overall slightly disappointing experience.
This was a very meaningful movie to me. The raw beauty of the landscape (astonishingly similar to some of my own country's), combined with the almost surreal, harsh, yet melancholic storyline has counted this amongst my personal favourites.The symbolism is everywhere, the journey of self-discovery here is presented in a way that it never has been on-screen before.I feel very lucky to have seen this movie when it came as part of a Baltic film series at our best theatre. As soon as I read the preview for it, I felt compelled to see it, as if by instinct, and am now yearning to see it again soon. But will it ever come back? Or be put onto a format which I can play here at home? I have tried contacting the Distributor and the Estonian Film Commission but have not received a response.I can only echo the comments of others here, especially ise-2's review. This may well become one of the great hidden treasures of cinematic history.The acting is so superb and sincere, it is as if they are not actors. The landscapes are truly wild and you can almost feel the dampness yet inexplicable warmth of the northern forest.Some may find it slow and plodding, as I've heard. Pervasive underlying themes and sweeping journeys across the landscape aren't often readily accepted by a majority of movie-goers.This is far ahead of any other movie about self-discovery. If there ever was a film that could leave a lasting impression on me this is it. And I don't even know Estonian!
It's one of the best movies I have ever seen. I really recommend you to watch it. Karu süda is not just some Hollywood junk. It has a deep meaning hidden somewhere in the movie. 10points out of 10 :)