2019 | 149 minutes
Tanel Toom
This handsome, impeccably filmed family saga, spanning several decades, begins in 1872 in rural Estonia, and revolves around a young, idealistic farmer named Andres Paas. He and his wife Krõõt have big dreams. They purchased a farm and are determined to make a new life for themselves. As they quickly discover, it is an enormous task. Not only is the farm in a state of disrepair, it also has marshy soil that needs draining and many rocks have to be removed. Undeterred, Andres works tirelessly to improve things, hires assistants, and strives to become part of the local farming community. In the midst of these struggles, there appears another, more intractable obstacle: Pearu, a meddlesome, quarrelsome neighbour. Untrustworthy and malicious, Pearu has a bad reputation, having driven the previous two owners of Andres’s farm away. Andres is determined to make things work with Pearu, agreeing to his demands to dig a drainage ditch. The rivalry grows increasingly bitter as Pearu’s trickery and duplicity over the ditch lead Andres to take him to the local courts. Time passes and tensions mount, and Pearu’s transgressions repeatedly test Andres, who becomes obsessed with seeking ‘truth and justice,’ by any means necessary. It will rapidly take a toll on his family and those around him. Based on the classic eponymous Estonian novel, Truth and Justice is a winning blend of family saga, psychological thriller, and courtroom drama.