BREAKFAST ON THE GRASS (EINE MURUL)

If any film could be considered a symbol of this period, it had to be “Breakfast on the Grass” (1987/ 2007). Chris Robinson writes that many consider it one of the greatest animated films ever. The film proved irresistible throughout the USSR with its candid glimpse into Soviet life back then. Trossek believes that the music written by Olav Ehala was a key factor that underlined the film’s seriousness; it was consistently in the prog rock style, which was perceived as intellectual. “It is the description of a very specific society depicted realistically using dramatic structure reminiscent of a feature film. But the story is told through the medium of animation – with visual jokes, metamorphoses and various styles of drawing. I am trying to make a serious film funny, multi-layered and ironic,” says Pärn in shedding light on the film’s back-story. It took four years for the screenplay to be approved by Moscow. It was the most problematic challenge so far. One official was even said to have told Pärn that “no film like that will get made”. The result was a film that shows the absurdity of the Soviet system in an artistically more compelling form than ever before. Kall says that it is a story of an artist who got his foot caught between the doors of a bus in a totalitarian society. There are references to Picasso, who journeys as a homeless artist from story to story in this film. Pärn himself says that it was originally supposed to be a story about four people getting ready for a party, and everyone is looking for provisions for the big gathering. Then Manet made an appearance and then four stories in different styles. In the end the entire story became about selling out, about stooping. Every character debased himself in some way in this system. Anna sold herself for apples, Georg consented to everything to get a black overcoat and white slacks, Berta had to give up her child to get her face back and Eduard sucked up to a lady with upstairs connections to sneak him into her boss’s office to get a stamp on an access permit of a garden. After the gates of paradise are opened, Lieutenant Pärn, the winner of tens of awards, claimed that he would not make another film.