The Purge

A poignant glimpse into the silenced, recent history. The Purge is a breathtaking story about two women who are shadowed and united by their own shameful pasts.

Sofi Oksanen's acclaimed novel turned into a film

Sofi Oksanen's novel The Purge, which has won awards at home and abroad, has been produced as a film by Finnish Solar Films together with Taska Film in Estonia. In Finland, the film is distributed by Nordisk Film. The international screening rights are sold by Danish TrustNordisk. The Purge (premiering on 7 September 2012) is directed by Antti J. Jokinen, whose debut film The Resident (2011) starred two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. The Purge was shot entirely in Estonia in the autumn of 2011 and winter of 2012.

The Finnish-language film stars Liisi Tandefelt (old Aliide), Amanda Pilke (Zara), Laura Birn (young Aliide), Krista Kosonen (Ingel), Peter Franzén (Hans), Tommi Korpela (Martin), Kristjan Sarv (Pasa) and Tomi Salmela (militia). The Finnish producers are Jukka Helle and Markus Selin, the Estonians Kristian Taska and Maria Avdjushko. Sofi Oksanen is executive producer. The Purge is written by Marko Leino and Antti Jokinen, based on Oksanen's novel. The cinematographer is Rauno Ronkainen.

Synopsis

Elderly Aliide Truu lives alone in her house in rural Estonia in 1992. The country has gained independence the previous year and land reform has begun. One evening she finds a young woman in her garden. Zara is on the run from the Russian mafia, who has been using her as a sex slave. Both are survivors. Aliide is haunted by the wrenching memories of a tragic love affair in her youth and the choices that sealed the fate of those closest to her.

The situation of Zara, forced into her own desperate solutions, shows that although the time is different, the persecution has not ended, only changed its form.

At the heart of The Purge is the betrayal driven by desperate emotions. It also opens up Estonia's silenced recent history through the experiences of one family. It gives voice to the victims of war, communism and oppression.

International award-winning novel and author

The Purge has won numerous literary prizes. The most important internationally are the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the French Le Prix du Roman Fnac and Prix Femina Étranger and the European Literature Prize. The Sunday Times in the UK selected The Purge as one of the most important books of 2010.

In Finland, Oksanen won the 2008 Finlandia Prize for Literature and the 2009 Runeberg Prize for Literature. Estonia's largest newspaper Postimees named Sofi Oksanen The Person of the Year 2009. President Toomas Ilves of Estonia awarded her the Order of the Cross of the Mariana Islands, IV class, in 2010.

Director's statement
The story of major themes thickens like a crime film

I was so captivated by the novel The Purge that the biggest challenge was to decide what I had to leave out. The Purge sees through the fog that has covered the legacy of the old Soviet Union, decades of atrocities and crimes.

The plot runs through major themes like a tight crime story: turning points include quiet moments, violence, shameful revelations and intimate scenes. It tells a tangible story about the cost of survival and the price of maintaining self-respect. Despite its darker tones, The Purge is a gripping film. Zara, a Russian sex slave on the run, finds refuge in a small shack in the middle of the forest. Lonely Aliide takes Zara under her wing.

Neither is what they seem. We witness a card game of minds and wills, as both women gradually reveal details of their pasts, while wondering whether these glimpses of the truth can be harmful or redemptive.

The glimpses of Aliide's life in 1940s and 1950s Estonia are full of deceit, pettiness and hiding, with their heads down. Soviet-occupied Estonia is full of humiliation and violence – partly socially sanctioned, partly the result of human weakness.

It's a fantastic theme. There is always more to a story than meets the eye. That's true from the first scene to the last. Visually, you have to celebrate it; everyone and everything has another level. The layered storytelling emphasizes these hidden meanings, as does the shift in perspective between Aliide and Zara.
Each of the two main plots is portrayed differently. It is only at the end that visual coherence is found as the stories are finally intertwined.

Capture and escape is the backbone of the film. It is reflected throughout the story. Both Aliide and Zara are prisoners of their actions, motives and decisions, and have to live with the consequences until the end. Visually, the themes are achieved through a naturalistic yet stylized look. The atmosphere of suspense is brought to the surface through film noir-inspired lighting. The camera moves on the set like a human eye, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. The story comes alive, in all its horror and beauty.

ROLES INCLUDE:
Young Aliide – LAURA BIRN
Old Aliide – LIISI TANDEFELT
Zara – AMANDA PILKE
Hans Pekk – PETER FRANZÉN
Ingel – KRISTA KOSONEN
Martin – TOMMI KORPELA
Pasha – KRISTJAN SARV
Lavrenti – JARMO MÄKINEN
Katia – JAANIKA ARUM
Militia – TOMI SALMELA
Tall militia – PANU VAUHKONEN
Jaan Berg – TAAVI EELMAA
Forest brother – REINO NORDIN
Girl – PIA PILTZ
Linda – SONJA NÜGANEN
Mother – ANNE REEMAN
Father – ELMO NÜGANEN
Andrei – PETTERI PENNILÄ