1
What does one want?
To get somewhere.
In the beginning, he stands on a hill.
Sees where he wants to go.
And gets going.
Strides along the road.
Passes through the woods.
Struggles over the damp turf
and uncertain swamp.
Then suddenly stops and realizes
he has lost his direction.
What does one do,
who is lost
and doesn't know how to go on?
The cow!
The cow is stuck in the bog!
The cow is stuck!
TRUTH AND JUSTICE
Her legs are already stiff.
Even three men wouldn't be
enough to get her out.
24 YEARS EARLIER.
The previous master's cattle
got stuck too.
But those were skinnier,
we pulled them out.
Master...
Come!
Come on...
Come on now.
Good girl...
Will you dig a ditch for me, Madis?
We could start right here,
drain the water to the river.
You can't. The neighbour's land
is in-between.
We could dig the ditch with
the neighbour. Would cost less too.
It'll cost more. Whatever you do
with Pearu, it costs more.
What's wrong with him then?
The previous master complained...
In the end, he said
he'll leave because of Pearu.
I'm sure you'll find out soon enough.
Well?
- Well what?
What'd the new master say?
- I'll dig a ditch.
Oh, a ditch...
And what does the new mistress say?
- Nothing.
Nothing? Is she mute?
There's cotton grass in the marsh,
that's why she goes there.
Andres...
Why did you buy this place?
What should I have bought then?
You couldn't find a better farm?
The better ones were already sold.
Or too expensive.
Just wait. We'll get used to it.
It's only scary at first.
We'll clean the fields from stones,
mend the fences,
new living quarters and barns.
Madis will start digging ditches.
The marsh will drain.
You'll see soon enough
how Robber's Rise will take care of us.
The two of us are going
to have hard times here.
Poor folks have hard times everywhere.
"Then the Lord
appeared to Abram and said,"
"I am God Almighty."
"I will make my covenant
between me and you"
"and will greatly
increase your numbers."
"The whole land, where you
now reside as a foreigner,"
"I will give as an everlasting possession
to you and your descendants after you."
"And I will be their God."
I've cut trees...
done some woodwork...
A spoon.
And...
And received confirmation.
You can hire Juss alright.
Tiit. Of Hundipalu.
Andres Paas.
- Aadu. Of Aaseme.
You won't find a better hand
in these parts.
Has made a spoon,
and even received confirmation!
What can I get for the master
of Robber's Rise?
Well, hello, neighbour.
What is a "hello" worth from a nobody?
So you're the...
I'm the one.
What kind of man buys a place
I already drove two owners from?
God loves the number three.
The third will be staying.
Oh, the third will be staying?
Nobody gets the better of
Pearu Murakas.
And neither will you.
Andres Paas. And nor has anyone
ever got the better of me.
A big basket of beer!
Come, neighbour, I'll buy you
some drinks in the back room!
Not this time.
My wife's waiting outside.
And a bottle of
sweet women's wine!
The neighbour is offering
some wine for the mistress.
The mistress doesn't drink.
Oh come on now!
One sip!
Who wants some wine, ladies?
The men are going to drink beer.
Not today, good neighbour.
Who's the man talking so foolishly?
The man who bought the farm...
you have driven two owners away from.
Strange man.
Did you find a girl farmhand?
Promised to come tomorrow.
Are you trying to kill me?
Come here!!
You hear me?
Open up!
- I won't if you hit me!
I can hit my wife if I want to!
Come out!
I'm going to kick in the door!
I've even received confirmation!
What?
When we first arrived,
we served much better beer.
Not this gnat's piss.
How's the beer?
- Better than water.
So the ditch would be along the border?
- This would be best.
Soil equally on both sides.
And the ditch would
be divided between us.
Half mine, half yours?
- Half mine, half yours.
And I pay half
and you pay the other half?
Half and half.
And the water? How about that?
We divide it too?
So each drains the same?
You can't measure water.
It drains as much as needed.
But then you'll get more use
out of the ditch than I.
You have more water than I do.
The Valley master
will never agree to it.
Would be better for Andres
if he doesn't.
That tall one reads books,
papers, can talk nicely.
No one understands,
but everyone listens.
The one with bulging
eyes is
Is the master around?
He'll be here shortly.
He went to pull out the cow.
I have only one condition.
The ditch would be on my land.
And the soil on my side.
The other side of the ditch may run
straight along the property line.
Why should the ditch be
only on your side of the border?
You've got more water,
so I should have more ditch.
So let it be on my land.
The soil should be on my side
to protect my land from your water.
You don't need to protect yours.
It's for your own good:
if your side will have no bank
the water goes
straight into the ditch.
If you're ok with it,
we'll dig the ditch together.
I'll pay half and you'll pay half.
Pearu is not as bad as they say.
Quite sensible, when sober.
Along the border, but on his land?
- What's the difference?
Water will flow anyway.
As long as there'll be a ditch.
I think I'm expecting.
Pregnant?
We could use a son alright.
Or who will inherit the kingdom?
Suffer happily.
There's no love without pain.
A girl.
No heir for the farm.
There will be a next time.
Pearu said he had 14 sacks.
- From this land?
If Pearu says 14,
it's really 12.
And part of that is
from the manor granary.
You think he's drinking with the granary
keeper and parish officer for nothing?
It has always been like that.
Pearu's hay comes from the manor barn
and his grain from the manor granary.
So shall I put a dam in
before hitting the river?
So you can open the ditch
with your neighbour?
The river is flooding,
and he sends us to make hay!
You'll see, there's no rest
even when it's raining.
As if one can get
everything done in a day!
Poor Juss, the Robber's Rise puss!
- Laugh all you want!
Why do you think
the last farmgirl left?
So why did you stay?
- I was a fool, that's why.
I won't stay for a third!
But I say you will.
Well, if you were a man,
maybe you would.
I'm a man like any other.
Even received my confirmation.
Get back there...
Go. Go. That way!
Go there!
So the neighbour's lady will herd pigs
with a child in her arms?
I heard screaming.
Are they making trouble?
So where are the pigs?
- I don't know.
I saw them going into the rye.
But why are you destroying the fence?
I don't need it here.
I can use the wood somewhere else.
If you'd told us before,
we wouldn't have let the animals loose.
But how will the neighbour's lady
get the pigs out of my rye,
while holding a baby?
Piggy, piggy, piggy!
Sooey, sooey, sooey!
They're coming.
Look at those bastards!
What a fine voice
my neighbour's lady has.
A fine voice...
what's the big deal?
A herdboy would make sure that
our animals don't wander onto his land.
Sooner or later
we'll have to hire one.
I'll talk to him tomorrow.
What would you possibly achieve?
Is this something
worth fighting over?
He will mend the fence soon himself.
Master...
Let's go to bed.
Mari...
Juss?
What are you doing?
What am I doing?
Sleeping!
Why don't you?
So the master of the Hill
is in the tavern!
Came to see where's the Valley master.
- Well, here I am.
While you're working your ass off,
I have everything long done!
Would you like me to teach you?
So what would you teach?
You can't lift a stone from the field
unless I do it first!
But who's got a bigger pile of
stones on the edge of his field?
But who hauled out the first load?
- Mine were taken out,
when there wasn't even
the smell of you at Robber's Rise!
You must have hauled
the smell of the stones,
there weren't any stones to be seen.
When shall you mend your fence?
My herdboy is tired of sitting there.
Let the boy stand then.
It's my fence.
I can do with it as I please.
Did it make you jealous seeing
my animals alone in the field?
Alone?
I thought your wife
was herding the pigs.
Maybe your wife herds pigs.
My wife is a true mistress of the farm.
The pigs come running
as soon as she opens her mouth.
A true mistress' voice is sweeter
than another man's rye.
She does have a fine voice.
Makes one stop and listen.
So try not to overdo it.
With whom shall I start the water
flowing tomorrow? - Don't you worry!
Make sure that you are
at the ditch on time!
Those Robber's Rise men,
what a pair of tough nuts.
Sooey, sooey, sooey...
Piggy, piggy-
Where's the Valley master?
- He's not at home.
I guess he's at the ditch.
Not going to be late.
Not here either.
We talked about it yesterday...
Maybe he doesn't want
to open the ditch together?
He won't be coming.
Pearu...
So what did he achieve?
What?
Made us look like a pair of fools.
That's what he wanted.
His ditch.
On his land.
Oh, you're rushing me?!
Yeah, I'm trying to wear you down and
drive you out of Robber's Rise!
You won't get me to leave before you do.
- What do you care what I do?
But what do you care what I do?
- Stop dodging!
Why don't you leave before I do?
Didn't you swear that the master
was killing you with work? - He is!
And you are also killing me.
- Oh, little Juss!
So me and the master
are working you to death?
And Juss-Puss can't get away from us,
his neck is too short, legs too bowed.
Don't make fun of my neck and my legs.
I didn't make them.
Juss, little Juss,
The Robber's Rise puss!
You have a short little neck,
And your legs don't reach the deck!
Juss! Where are you going?
Juss!
Listen, Juss!
Where are you going?
Juss!
Why are you acting so crazy?
Juss...
Darling Juss!
- Why should you care?
But I do, Juss.
- But you keep your door closed.
Put that rope away!
- No!
The master's killing me with
work, you with your laughter.
I'm a joke to you.
For everyone!
I'm fed up with this life.
That's why I've been wearing
this cord since spring.
Make me your wife, Juss!
You won't take me!
I'm always your little boy.
I will now.
I won't call you names anymore.
Not anymore.
Believe me, Juss!
Make me your wife.
Make me your wife!
Mari, you really are...
What am I?
Juss, the cord...
I'll wear this cord until
the end of my days.
I will always love this cord.
You made a noose and I walked into it.
- Right!
I made it for myself,
but you walked into it.
May I now sing 'Juss, Juss,
the Robber's Rise puss'?
Will you let me in now?
Mommy?
A girl.
I brought some plants.
The brushwood's hauled already?
No one helped you?
It all happened so suddenly.
There was no time.
It has been like that for some time,
master.
It used to be worse.
When there was no ditch.
The ditch doesn't help.
It's full of water.
All dammed up.
I flooded my meadow,
it makes the hay thicker.
But that puts my pasture under water.
My cows would need a boat.
If they can, let them sail.
This is no joke. It's serious.
It's not my problem.
I just want to flood my meadows.
You're flooding my pastures.
No. I'm flooding my meadows.
I demand that you destroy your dam.
- You demand?
Are you a parish official? Who's
to stop me from damming my own ditch?
Your ditch?
I paid for half.
Madis will swear to it.
But the ditch is on my land.
You don't need Madis to tell you that.
So that's why you wanted it
just on your land.
I'm not stupid.
Paying for a ditch
on somebody else's land.
So I'm the stupid one?
You know that better yourself.
Don't let your water come into my ditch
and I'll have nothing to dam.
Then I will take it down myself.
And you can file
a complaint if you want.
Kaarel!
Manivald!
Who the devil did this?
Not the devil, dear neighbour,
but God himself.
What are you waiting for, shithead?
Bring the soil!
God doesn't approve injustice.
I'm not sure he learned his lesson...
He'll just build a new dam.
- And God will take this down too.
Get some rest, Juss.
It's a nice evening.
I'm going for a walk.
So. Was there less water
in the ditch tonight?
Sure. But he built a new dam.
And I'll take this down too.
So it was you.
If he finds out,
he'll give you a thrashing.
He'll never catch me in the marsh.
We'll see who is fastest.
What are you doing?
You little shit!
Get lost!
Eggshells still around your ass!
That's the last one.
Juss?
- Yes, to Juss.
We have thought
about it together and...
But he hasn't done
his military service!
How shall you manage alone?
He's an only son, he won't be drafted.
He is immature, but he'll grow.
He'll become a man!
Well, he does have a good heart.
You're not...
- No!
He comes to me
to cuddle sometimes.
He can be such a kid.
What are you women whispering about?
Juss is getting married.
Mari!
And Mari too.
Are they perhaps
planning to do it together?
I think it's together.
Well, well, well ...
Are you just playing,
or you really mean it?
Mari wouldn't just...
About the cottage...
Mari wants me to ask about the cottage.
What cottage?
Our cottage, with the spare room.
So they want to stay at Robber's Rise?
- Well, that would be nice.
If possible.
I guess I'll have to find a
new farmhand and maid then.
Here.
It was right here.
Come and get your shit off my land!
He dragged the dog over there.
- Stop lying, you little shitskin!
I'll bring it back to our land.
- Leave it.
He brought it over here.
Let him do what he wants with it.
Clean up my land!
This isn't your slaughterhouse!
You turned it
into a slaughterhouse,
but this is one carcass
you'll have to pay for.
Pay you? Take it away!
I don't need it. I'm giving it to you.
And just try sending it to me again.
- Keep away from my herder,
then my dog won't come
after you, you shit.
I'm a shit? Your dog is shit,
your herder is shit,
and you are shit!
We'll see about that!
- Oh yes, we will!
I'm looking from a distance,
the neighbour's herdboy is
on my land again!
Chasing grouselings with his dog.
Grouselings?
So I asked him,
"What have my grouselings done to you?"
He's laughing,
and sets his dog on me.
The master of the Valley is lying!
He crossed the ditch to threaten me.
That is when the dog attacked.
I'm suffering in pain.
My farmhands, the maid,
they can testify.
I'm not sure I'll ever
walk properly again.
And then he took a pistol...
And shot the dog dead.
How could I, a poor soul,
have defended myself?
While I fetched my master,
he dragged the dead dog to his land.
Why should I, a master
of a farm, drag a dead dog?
He's lying! He's always crossing
the ditch to bully me!
It's herd boy's talk.
- Pearu is lying!
When you arrived at the pasture,
on whose land was the dog?
When we arrived,
the dog was already on Pearu's land.
You didn't see the corpse
on your pasture with your own eyes?
No. Pearu had already
dragged it to his land.
But the dragging of the dog...
Did you see that?
- No, I didn't.
So you didn't see
the dragging of the dog?
I didn't.
As well as on whose land
Pearu shot the dog?
Or that Pearu was even on your land?
Pearu shot the dog on my land!
- But you did not see that.
The parish court orders as follows:
The dog of the Hill and the grouselings
of the Valley have about the same worth.
Therefore, neither master
will pay compensation.
The next case is ...
Why do you let
him get to you?
You can't change him.
So what should I do?
Give up?
Maybe you should. Perhaps then
his heart will find some peace.
His heart?
And what about my heart?
Or does only Pearu have a heart?
The wiser one lets it go.
The wiser one lets it go...
Sol let truth and justice
be trampled underfoot,
just because I'm the wise one?
Where is your truth and justice
getting you?
He shot your dog like it was nothing.
Maybe I should have
used spruce?
Or what does
little Juku think?
He thinks that if his father
was choosing timber any longer,
the barn would never
have been finished.
The ceilings aren't too low?
- No, they are not.
But when we get some sheep,
I will definitely use spruce.
Better think about how we shall
soon fit in here.
I'll make us a proper bed, too.
From spruce?
It'll seep resin.
From alder. Or birch.
When the last plank was nailed,
he was so proud.
Just like when Juku
took his first steps.
Yeah, the cottage lady
already told me.
We don't have to go out
with Juss anymore.
She spreads all the gossip
to everyone anyway.
This one will be a boy.
I don't know ...
It's difficult this time, though.
Liisi! Keep an eye on Anni.
And watch over Maret.
I think Andres has lost hope.
Hes joking that his sons are growing
in the bog, by the ditch.
Last time, when I heard you
had another girl, I cried.
I thought,
if it could be possible
I would've traded my boy
for one of your daughters.
Mari!
- I would've!
You've been so good to me.
No, you have helped me
more than anyone, Mari.
The new farmhands are also helpful...
- I'm not only talking about work.
You're like family,
the children love you.
And I love them.
- Mari...
I've been thinking that if...
If something happened to me,
will you keep an eye
on my children, too?
Good gracious!
What could happen?
It's been fine before,
and it'll be fine this time.
But I've been thinking, if ...
If I'm not around anymore,
I'd like you to be
a mother to my children.
I'd leave them to you
with a peaceful mind.
My God, mistress,
what are you talking about?
I have my Juss!
What do I do with him then?
I didn't mean that...
No, I didn't... lt's just talk...
Being afraid is not good, mistress.
Get some rest.
Save your strength.
I can do this.
Why so sad?
You should be used to it.
Come on, let me buy you a drink.
On me.
With your money.
Much obliged!
How much?
- 20 rubles.
20 rubles!
And I have to mend my gate,
that he broke.
Why waste your time
in court with this bastard?
Just beat the hell out of him.
He's more afraid of that than the court.
Just look at where he has got
with his lies and deceit.
Should I become like him?
I don't mean that!
You know,just give him
a good whooping.
For how long can he break your
fences and dam your water?
I'll have a new ditch in spring,
then he'll have nothing to dam.
And he'll dig another one!
Or find something else.
Eleven sacks!
- Yeah, eleven sacks.
I sow, fertilize, remove stones -
but still, it's as if I do nothing.
It's the best crop we've ever had.
These fields can't grow more.
So we must make new fields.
Also for the additional livestock.
We have to do it at some point.
When did you last have some rest?
We're even working on Sundays.
We have a mortgage to pay!
And we still owe money
for the timber and straw.
And also to Madis
for the ditches.
While we have no animals to sell,
we have to work more ourselves.
Well, we are not dying of hunger.
- It was not that long ago
we had nothing to eat
but potatoes and fish water.
It's different now,
because we have worked.
And it's not for nothing,
it's for us and for our children.
That's what I'm talking about.
The children, and
thinking about them.
I'm worried for them.
And I'm not?
You said you don't want
to leave the debt to the children.
For who am I doing all this?
For who do I remove stones from fields
and drain marshes?
For our children
to be able to stay here.
For them to have
something to continue.
If we give to Robber's Rise,
then someday it will give back.
Is this not true?
We can't kill ourselves with work.
What use do children have
for parents dead and buried?
Look at how they grow.
Your stones and fields
do not hug them,
your ditches do not
plait their hair,
marshes do not teach them
to hold a spoon.
The feeling of belonging,
does not come from the soil.
The children must want to stay
for us, not for Robber's Rise.
But because here they've
been cared for.
Mommy! Anni is crying.
This is our work.
Sol should spend my days
in the tavern like our neighbour?
At least Pearu has a son.
If we dig a ditch behind the pasture?
Not sure...
It would still dry something.
If we start now, it would be dug
no sooner than autumn.
I'm not that quick anymore.
Stiff legs, crooked fingers...
But I can try.
Father!
Mother is giving birth!
Is it a boy?
A young master!
A master.
How are you doing?
I will never
get out of this bed.
Don't talk madness.
It's not madness.
Should we see a doctor,
or bring him here?
It won't help anymore.
I can feel it.
That boy used up all my soul.
...and any other boys
you might've given me.
If only you'll let my Krt live.
Change this boy into a girl.
And any other boys
you might've given me.
If only you'll let my Krt live.
Change this boy into a girl.
And any other boys
you might've given me.
If only you'll let my Krt live.
Change this boy into a girl.
And any other boys
you might've given me.
If only you'll let my Krt live.
Change this boy into a girl.
And any other boys.
Change this boy, and any other boys
you might've given me, into girls,
if only you'll let my Krt live.
Change this boy into a girl!
And any other boys
you might've given me.
Master!
The mistress wants to see you!
You'll have to take a new wife.
But don't take one who is wicked...
to be their mother.
Mari...
I knocked down
the fence around the rye field.
I wanted to see what you'd do
when you saw your pigs in my rye.
But it wasn't you who came,
it was your wife.
And she spoke so softly,
'Dear neighbour, why have you
knocked down the fence?'
'Now our pigs will go
into your rye field.'
I felt so ashamed
in front of your wife,
standing beside the smashed fence,
because she'd come with a baby
in her arms to fetch the pigs!
'Piggy, piggy, piggy- - -'
'Sooey, sooey, sooey...'
What is a man's life anyway?
Just a blade of grass before the scythe.
In the night, I was thinking...
What will become of the two of us now?
Your wife always got us to make up,
because she was better
than either of us.
If we quarrel now, and quarrel we will,
there's no one to speak with good words
and get us to make up.
Then I got scared.
For us both, here at Robber's Rise.
Like two flies on a pile of shit.
We walk around and scheme.
And all our schemes are worth nothing.
And our big calculations.
And there'll be no one to hear us out.
Or see us.
For...
For...
You had a worthy wife, neighbour.
She was even better than my wife.
Mari...
Can you stay for a few days to help?
In court he said he'd beat
whoever will say that again.
Of course 'you' know exactly
what Andres said!
What did he get two days for then?
He would've got away with a fine.
Juss, did you already milk the cow?
You can see he did...
- I'm just asking.
He's all alone as if he was mute.
No one to talk to.
How did bandy legs end up
here in the company of men?
Is it cold alone there in the cottage?
Don't be mad, Juss.
I worry about you.
I even asked Andres,
why has he taken away the wife of Juss.
See what I got?
He announced in front of the court
that he would take a swing at anyone
who'd say such a thing!
Well, I got a black eye,
he got two days in the parish jail.
But I'm thinking...
once you start beating people,
something must be eating your soul.
What do you think?
While Juss was sulking by himself,
Mari went to Andres' bed.
Stroked her leg and winked his eye,
Juss will likely lose his wife.
My God, Juss!
What foolish talk!
- It's not me!
Everyone is talking!
They pick on me! - Who does?
The cottage lady, men at the tavern...
They say I'll lose Mari.
Mari will be a mistress
and take Juss's children with her.
Don't listen to them!
The tavern!
What were you doing there?
Where should I be then?
I'm even milking the cow,
to avoid listening to the cottage lady.
We'll put these here...
Juss...
Juss!
I can't leave the children
in the house on their own.
Andres will find a new wife and I'll
come back. We've talked about it.
Yes, we have only talked.
Since spring!
Now it's Christmas!
Mari...
The master will not look for a new wife
while you stay here.
Let's go home. Let's take
our children and go. - Juss, dear!
You'll never come if not today.
- I will! But I can't right now!
You won't,
if you don't come now.
I won't go to the cottage alone again.
I'll come.
Believe me!
Just a little longer, Juss.
When the master gets back tonight,
I'll talk to him.
What happened?
You fell?
Who knows what jagged branch it was...
On the road.
It looks like it was
cut with a knife.
Right.
Good thing it didn't get me in the eye.
Master...
These are for the children.
And this is for you.
For looking after them.
I came because of Juss.
Tell him that I'll come today.
I have my things packed.
I swear, I'll come today!
I swear!
"We are burying the dead"
"Believing what is said"
"He'll rise on Judgment Day
And live again with joy."
I was thinking that...
If you perhaps don't want to...
But I'd be better off if you stayed.
Andres...
Thank you for reading today.
I'd kill the bastard,
if they wouldn't jail me for it!
Well, God will one day deal with Pearu.
- Yeah...
Sometimes it seems
that God is not up to his duties.
In the same place?
- That's right.
Last week it was the fence,
now the ditch...
And the court finds me guilty,
because I tell the truth.
I'm coming down the Hill on my cart.
And then...
Then what happened?
I came down the Hill on my cart.
And suddenly I see the Valley cart
in the middle of my rye field.
I approached, and what do I see?
The reins are under the wheel.
Can't move forward or backward.
The master of the Valley,
drunk, asleep on the cart.
Then I called the farmhand,
maid and cottager to witness.
So that they would see too,
that the master of the Valley
has driven into my rye.
The court rules:
Pearu Murakas,
the master of the Valley,
shall pay 20 rubles to Andres Paas,
the master of the Hill
for his damaged rye.
The next case is...
How much do you want for telling?
Here's 1 O rubles.
Here!
25!
My wisdom does not come that cheap!
30!
Tell me!
Very well...
I will tell for 30.
Did everyone hear that?
Andres of the Hill
shall tell me right here,
in front of the tavern counter,
how did I get into his rye.
Give the money to the innkeeper.
Or I know you will cheat.
What did he say?
You were to say aloud,
so that everyone can hear!
No, that was not the deal.
By the counter, in front
of everyone, that was the deal.
And that's what I did.
Those Robber's Rise men,
what a pair of tough nuts.
Give me back my money!
I'll sue you if you give him the money!
- Be a man, Pearu!
There is tavern justice,
and there is court justice.
We can let the others judge,
who is right.
What others? Give me my money!
Should you adjudge
this 30 rubles to me,
it'll stay with the innkeeper.
And he'll give everyone
what they will for that.
Drink all you want.
Ne'.!
And Pearu can also
drink with his money!
So it is true.
You, Andres of Robber's Rise, are the
rich man who covets the poor man's lamb.
When Juss died, our hearts were pure.
But do you come to the altar now
with pure hearts?
You, master of the Robber's Rise
Hill Farm, are a sinful man.
You seldom go to church.
You quarrel with your neighbour
in the tavern.
You're often in court.
Reverend Pastor, every person
has a right to ask for justice.
Justice...
Justice makes your heart hard
and your mind angry.
You should ask for grace, dear soul.
You put your trust
in your great strength,
and your justice.
But God has decided to test you.
Just recently you buried your wife.
You didn't take care of her,
she, the weaker one.
Now you want a new mother
for your children.
But I can't announce
your marriage from the pulpit
before you've both
repented for your sins.
You, master, for your wife Krt,
and you, Mari, for the death
of your husband Juss.
And both of you for the sinful life
you've been leading at Robber's Rise.
Perhaps you can do it now.
We can repent later if we have to.
But please, Reverend Pastor,
inscribe our names today,
so that everything will be correct,
when the child is born.
Andres, listen to me!
Andres!
Look at me!
If Indrek doesn't want to feed flies
to spiders, he doesn't have to.
Andres!
The young master has some character.
Where are Liisi and Maret?
It's obvious that we are right!
But the tracks came
from your land to our land!
It had to be your cattle.
Our lions eat only
acorns and chestnuts.
But our hay disappeared from the loft
and there were lion prints.
When you are the judge, they always win!
- But in the case with the snails...
You have such big, bright eyes...
He's going to be a smart boy.
Will go to the university, too.
The same story.
Neck drooped again.
Well, what now?
Indrek's crying all the time.
So the new barns didn't help?
Girls!
Girls, what are you doing?
The border goes here.
But the border stones
were here and here.
But on his map?
- Pearu won't show it.
Claims that mine has it wrong.
We gave Joosep and Karla some sawdust.
Because they brought us barley bread.
And we have given them wheat bread, too.
Silly girls. I wouldn't have said no.
But father doesn't allow us to play
with the neighbour boys.
And you...
You're not our real mother.
That's why...
Who says that?
- Joosep of the Valley.
Their mother told them
that you're not our real mother.
It doesn't count
that you're wed in church.
You're still not our real mother.
You know what, Joosep is right.
But you don't have to do
things like this secretly.
Think of what would've happened
if father had seen you there.
Or I had told him.
- Don't tell him!
In that case, let's agree
that you don't hide things from me.
Promise?
And... you won't tell father?
Tiit says if Pearu won't show
his map, he doesn't stand a chance.
What did you girls talk about?
They were stiff as sticks
when they saw me.
Nothing.
Just talking.
What is the map showing?!
No, I won't stop!
I know how the court is held here!
I know you! And you, too!
You can feed your ruling to the pigs!
My horse is a smarter judge than you!
"The way of fools seems right to them,"
"but the wise listen to advice."
It's the stupidest thing
I've ever heard.
Even from you, dear neighbour!
The Good Book says that, not me.
If the neighbour could read,
he could look it up.
Jesus didn't write nonsense like this.
Jesus didn't.
Solomon did!
- You see!
Andres, something's wrong.
We have no luck with animals.
First the heifer, then sheep,
now the horse. - So what is it?
First it's Valley people,
we lock the barns up.
Then they are bewitched.
We cast spells, bury the animal
in front of the threshold.
What's wrong now?
I'll get the shovel.
Andres wanted to be wed,
as his Krt was cold and dead.
While Juss was sulking by himself,
Mari went to Andres' bed.
Stroked her leg and winked his eye,
Juss will likely lose his wife.
Nice and fair was Andres' maid,
from her front and from behind.
Sailed her way straight up the Hill,
to fulfill her master's will.
You too, bastard!
That scumbag Pearu
fenced in the winter road.
Juku and Kata and Anni
are going to a bogey hole.
How do you know that?
- Liisi said so.
Will they come back?
They will.
Why are they going there?
Because God's angel is calling them.
The one with wings?
- Yes, the one with wings.
Will Juku and Kata and Anni get wings?
- Yes, they will.
Will they fly?
Like angels?
Yes, they will.
And that's how they'll come back?
- Yes, they'll fly back.
I want to be an angel, too.
I want to fly, too.
To put my wings on.
And fly over the marsh.
When I'm big.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them...
Juss...
Because of Juss?
- The animals. And now...
And now Juku and Kata and Anni.
Andres, it can't be anything else.
- Tens of children died in the parish
and you are saying that...
- Everyone has their own sins...
What sins did
our children commit?
We are the guilty ones, not they.
- Then we should've died, not they.
Juss's death has now
been repaid three times over.
Even more including the animals.
The sinners are punished.
So leave the dead with the dead
and let the living stay with the living.
Or does Juss have more demands?
- Don't talk like that.
My Krt died, perhaps I was
partly to blame. - Andres...
Hear me out.
I said 'perhaps,'and I say it
only because everyone says so.
That I killed my wife
with too much work.
I never saw it that way.
I worked as hard as I could
and I allowed Krt
to work as hard as she could.
You worked for us then. Was it easy?
It wasn't.
- And is it easier for you now?
It's harder.
- Krt had it even harder than you.
We worked all day.
We never had a day free,
never drew an easy breath.
She wasn't strong
enough and she died.
So, should I spend the rest of my life
with my head hung low and my hands idle?
Should I let the farm go
and stop thinking of the children?
That's just what you're doing.
And because of this our life
will be ruined. Sooner or later.
If you wept for your children,
that would be right.
I feel the loss, deeply.
But when I see you
grieving only for Juss,
I don't know where
to go or what to do.
If there were no Juss
and you'd wanted me then,
I would've smiled and sung always.
Believe me, Andres, even unto death
I would've laughed and sung.
But now I'm waking up every night,
terrified...
How long will Juss
stand between us?
I don't know!
In death he's bold...
But when he was alive, he ran from me
even with a knife in his hand.
What are you talking about?
- Exactly!
This saint of yours,
at whose grave I gave a reading,
tried to attack me with
a knife from behind.
And I'm still to blame.
If it was possible,
I would strangle him
with my bare hands,
I swear, right there, on that road!
I've managed to overcome everyone,
even Pearu, but not dead Juss.
No one can beat the dead.
- I can!
You'll see!
I tell you now: Watch out!
I can't get to Juss in the grave,
but you still walk the earth.
I can get to you.
I'm not fooling around
in this world.
What song shall I sing in
the next world? I don't know.
Get the words from the storage.
And the cord.
The things you are hiding there.
You wanted to sing, right?
Andres...
- Go now!
Or we shall go together.
Juss, little Juss,
the Robber's Rise puss...
Why can't we go?
Please!
Everyone's going!
They say that the swing
is so big this time that...
Mother, please...
It's the last time.
We won't ask again, I swear.
Joosep and Karla of the Valley
are with us, there's nothing to fear.
If father finds out...
He won't if you don't tell.
Paid in full.
Keep it straight.
You can do it alright.
There you go.
You can do it.
Too young and weak
or too old and feeble.
Andres is not 15 yet, he'll kill himself
with work. - Let the young master learn.
The boy is killing himself!
A human has a mind.
He can do it bit by bit.
What mind does a boy have?
You're all killing yourselves!
I have killed no animal with work.
How shall I kill myself or my children?
So let the boy work, as I have no time
because of Pearu's lawsuits.
Then why do you want to go there?
I want to go?
I thought you're not coming.
- Father was reading.
Well...
Did you ask about the village party?
Yeah. But me and Maret
must be back by dawn.
Before father wakes up.
But did you ask about the storeroom?
He wouldn't even listen to mom.
He says that master's daughters
sleep in the house.
Farmhands and maids in the storeroom.
But me and Maret, we can't.
Do you want to talk to father yourself?
So this is the best we can manage.
Why does a stranger brag
in our tavern?
'Oh I can beat any man
in arm wrestling!'
And who says I can't give a tiny
kick in the balls while wrestling?
A man has come to this world
to ramble. Not to shit.
Now, see how the Lord provides...
"And you are to give him
the name Jesus,"
"because he will save
his people from their sins."
"All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said..."
Andres!
- Come here, you shit!
Stop it! Andres!
Not in the bedroom!
- Andres!
Well...
Sausage thief!
It's not a joke!
It's coat is all burnt!
Hardly anything left.
The poor dog can't go out in the cold.
And even if it could,
the dog is worthless!
It can't see or hear.
If anyone should pay damages here,
it's Pearu.
For while we were reading
in the chamber like good Christians,
his dog sneaked in, ate our sausages
and spilled hot broth on itself.
But as I hold my good relations with my
neighbour more valuable than sausages,
I shall not demand any damages.
For God has given
and God has taken away.
This time, by the hungry mouth
of the neighbour's dog.
The Good Book makes your heart
proud and vicious, neighbour.
I didn't read on Christmas Eve,
and did not beat your dog.
My dog went to church on Christmas Eve
and didn't steal your sausages.
You should have also sent
your dog to church.
It'd still have its coat,
vision and hearing.
You should have gone to church
instead of my dog.
Then my dog would also be well.
- I don't have to go to church.
I can read at home.
But your dog can't read.
It should go to church
to learn about the 7th Commandment.
'Thou shalt not steal.'
Do you know
the commandment that says:
'Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's house?'
What does this have to do with it?
I'm asking you in front of the tavern
counter of this House of God,
why do you covet your neighbour's house?
Whose house have I coveted?
Mine.
Me? Your turd's house?
You covet this turd's house.
Dear neighbour,
God has made you mad
along with your dog.
Then why does your daughter
sleep with my son?
If you are not coveting my house.
My daughter?
Sleeping with your son?
Your daughter. My son.
Which daughter? With which son?
Liisi with Joosep.
Who else?
Joosep is the future master
of the Valley.
That's why.
Pearu...
Pearu, if you prattle on about my
daughter without reason today,
I'll beat the hell out of you.
Even if they send me to jail or Siberia,
I'll thrash you worse than your dog.
You've got no reason to beat me.
I'm not eating your sausages.
But you'd better keep an eye
on your daughter.
So she wouldn't sleep with my son
and whore around with him.
Come out here! I'll show you how
my daughter sleeps with your son.
Your son, you piece of shit, is not
up to sleeping with my daughter!
Maybe not, if she didn't
throw herself at him...
Stop it!
I won't forgive you for that!
But what if I'm right?
Those Robber's Rise men,
what a pair of tough nuts.
You're not mad?
My daughter shall be the mistress of
Robber's Rise. What's so bad about that?
No...
How come?
- I won't be.
Joosep is the eldest son.
- Joosep will not be the master.
You think I'll let you marry
if he won't become the master?
He doesn't want to be.
Why are you fooling around with Joosep
if you don't want to be the mistress?
If neither of you want the place,
I don't need that brood of vipers.
That is why we don't want to stay.
The Valley Farm needs better blood.
That's what must be done.
Robber's Rise must belong to one family.
Then someone else can have it.
Joosep and I don't want it.
Neither of us.
I'll go where I have to go,
but I won't stay here.
Is that why I raised you?
Is that why I gave my
life and my health to Robber's Rise?
To have my firstborn child tell me this?
I'm only telling you what I feel.
And Joosep feels the same.
Life here is nothing but
fights and court battles.
Is it my fault?
Do I twist justice and hide the truth?
I don't know how to settle things
between you and Pearu. - Oh, right!
Is that so?
You think I'm at fault!
I don't blame anyone.
- Then what is this,
if you don't know who's to blame
for the quarreling and court battles,
me or Pearu?
Can you swear before God,
with your hand on your heart,
that you've never
started a quarrel?
I'll put my hand on the Bible,
stand before God,
and swear that I
never provoked Pearu.
But I refuse to let him
make me a fool of me.
I've defended my honour,
and of my family and home.
I have acted as the Bible says.
If you can't see that,
you must be on Pearu's side.
It's Joosep who put
these ideas in your head.
Joosep has never blamed you.
He says it's Robber's Rise
that makes people attack each other!
Robber's Rise?
Yeah, with its marshes and bogs.
- Hes just defending Pearu.
And you believe him, stupid.
I'm not on Pearu's side.
If you're not on Pearu's side,
you must break up with Joosep.
I will never give up Joosep!
I have nothing against Liisi.
But Andres' daughter
as the mistress of the Valley...
I would rather give the Valley
to the poor!
You're the master
of the Valley Farm.
I won't sit here and
wait for you to die.
I'd rather go off somewhere else.
I'm sure there's a place.
Why must it get that bad?
Can't you find another girl for a wife?
If he would say but one
kind word to me,
so I felt that he's
treating me as his child,
I'd do anything he wants.
- You're younger, you must yield.
Ask him, admit you're guilty.
- Guilty?
Guilty of what?
Of two people loving each other?
Only he can be right.
Me and everyone else are guilty.
It's always been like this.
What do you mean 'always been'?
Since they were children.
- What's been since they were children?
Liisi and Joosep have
always been friends.
The girls took sawdust
down to the border fence,
and the boys gave barley
bread in return.
I didn't know anything for sure
and I figured you knew as much as I did,
even if you never paid much attention.
- Don't lie to me!
You knew perfectly well
that I was deaf and blind to them,
but you helped keep it from me.
Now you're lying!
You've always lied to me.
I didn't know it before, but when
the children died, my eyes opened.
In your heart, you've never been
the mistress of Robber's Rise.
You've always been a cottager.
You don't think of me as your husband.
You've let the children of Krt and I
deliberately go bad.
You taught them to lie.
Even the children we had together
you never really loved
because you think only of
Juss's children, all in the graveyard.
Oh, why did Krt die so early...
- Andres, you're being unfair!
Of course, I'm not fair to anyone.
Not to you, or Liisi, or even Pearu.
Starting from tomorrow,
you will not see Joosep.
No, father, I will never give Joosep up.
We'll see about that.
Tell me, who's the master here,
you or me?
If you don't let me go to him now,
you'll soon send me to him yourself!
Don't you think of whoring around!
- Don't kill your own child!
Tomorrow, when I return for lunch,
you will be gone.
This is not my child anymore.
Your father treats you as he does
because he's no longer
the man he used to be.
He didn't fear any damned soul,
and would've let his child marry
the devil himself.
He would've said,
'Who can hurt me or my children?'
I've been pondering what may have made
Andres so angry and nasty.
Pearu may be bad,
but now your father is even worse.
I think it must be the Bible.
Nothing else.
That has made Andres so angry and nasty.
When a simple man reads
the eternal words of God too often,
his heart is hardened.
And God's words
that were good, will turn bad.
For they are too powerful
for the mouth or ears of a man.
Like pure spirit.
And once you're used to pure spirits,
you don't want vodka.
You don't care for it.
In the same way, people used to
God's powerful words
do not care for
the words of men anymore.
Why does he have to go to the
service? - All boys have to.
When will Andres come back?
I don't know. He and might be away
for quite a while.
But for how long?
- Stop asking questions.
I don't like it that
my brother is going away.
Indrek sends his greetings.
He wrote that he likes
the city and the school.
I've always said that
where else would wisdom fit
than behind those big bright eyes.
And Maret?
She lives in Jneda
with her husband.
Expecting her first child.
Liisi and Joosep found a place
in Rae parish.
I'll go get Madis.
They already had a baby.
A boy.
The heir...
So, the recruit's waiting for tomorrow?
Seven years will pass quickly.
Used to be 25.
You came back from the service
as an old man.
A strange thing happened at the river.
Ants found some spruce stumps
underwater.
Big, mighty ones.
Who knows how they got there.
It's only marsh and
crooked birches around here.
Why do you think this place
is called Robber's Rise?
They say there was
a vast spruce forest here.
And the place was called Spruce Island.
The landowner made
a good living off the timber.
Then the neighbours took it up, too.
They cut down the spruces.
They stole until there was
nothing left of the forest.
And the lord of the manor
had Spruce Island renamed
to Robber's Rise.
Forest...
- Yeah, forest.
The two spruces you cut down
were the only reminder
of the old splendor
and of Spruce Island.
If the river was cleaned...
Stumps taken out...
Water would flow properly.
There would be no floods,
the marsh would dry up.
Then one day it could be
forest here again.
Andres will come back from the service
and complete everything up here.
A man's pride is in his land
and in his son.
...l knew that it would not be easy.
But then I said to Krt that if we
can't build everything,
our children will.
...and we have been given the son
and heir who shall one day take over.
Tomorrow, my first son will start
his military service
and we'll have to do
without him for a while.
But here, seven years
will pass quickly, right?
So you sent your pirate son to serve.
Is my neighbour deaf or what?
Don't I have a right to be silent?
You and your rights and justice!
How far has your justice got you?
Have you got any farther
with your crooked ways?
Farther!
My first boy is saved from conscription.
And no one is studying
to become a horse thief.
A horse thief?
- What else could Indrek be up to?
Indrek went to town
so he could bring truth and
justice to Robber's Rise.
You'll do better at Robber's Rise
without them.
You'll have to hire a farmhand now.
I thought I'll do without.
But Ants is still too young to plough.
Boys have always thrived
in Robber's Rise.
Robber's Rise was different then,
and you too.
I'll try to manage without.
Until you come back.
Will I come back?
What are you talking about?
Who have I worked and toiled for?
You just don't want to leave your
work to strangers, that's all.
You don't really love Robber's Rise.
Where do you get that idea?
You said if you could go
back to your father's farm,
you'd put your jacket on and
walk away from Robber's Rise singing.
What if I were to go back
to my father's farm?
Robber's Rise is your father's farm.
- That's the way it is.
Did your father love the place
his children were born?
We all loved it,
father, mother, and the children.
You see.
But you don't love the place
where your children were born.
You don't love Robber's Rise,
and neither did mother.
You've told us she didn't like
the marshes and bogs.
But the marshes can be drained,
and the forest can come back.
That's what should happen.
But why should we bury ourselves in the
marshes, when it's easier elsewhere?
Unless it's for love, of course...
Work and sweat, then love will come.
Father...
You have done that.
And so did mother or she wouldn't
have died so young.
But love never came.
There's none at Robber's Rise
to this day.
What does one want?
To get somewhere.
There it is. Robber's Rise.
The buildings you can see are ours.
The other farm is behind the hill,
in the valley.
Sit tight now, and hold on.
Or you'll fall off.
In the beginning, he stands on a hill.
Sees where he wants to go.
And gets going.
Strides along the road.
Passes through the woods.
It won't be like this forever.
We'll build a higher
and smoother road...
He struggles over the damp turf
and uncertain swamp.
In a few years you'll be able to drive
carriages here behind a pair of horses.
He cuts through thick brushwood
and stinging thistles.
Then suddenly stops and realizes
he has lost his direction.
What does one do,
who is lost
and doesn't know how to go on?
He goes back to the beginning.
From where he set out.
For there is the answer
to what he was looking for
in the first place.