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IMDbPro

Purge

Original title: Puhdistus
  • 20122012
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
Purge (2012)
A breathtakingly suspenseful story of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them.
Aliide and Zara engage in a complex arithmetic of suspicion and revelation to distill each others motives; gradually, their
Play trailer1:28
1 Video
6 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
A tormented young woman is given a hiding place by an elderly lady and soon they are reminded of their mutual horrendous past.A tormented young woman is given a hiding place by an elderly lady and soon they are reminded of their mutual horrendous past.A tormented young woman is given a hiding place by an elderly lady and soon they are reminded of their mutual horrendous past.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Antti Jokinen
  • Writers
    • Marko Leino(screenplay)
    • Antti Jokinen(screenplay)
    • Sofi Oksanen(novel)
  • Stars
    • Laura Birn
    • Liisi Tandefelt
    • Amanda Pilke
Top credits
  • Director
    • Antti Jokinen
  • Writers
    • Marko Leino(screenplay)
    • Antti Jokinen(screenplay)
    • Sofi Oksanen(novel)
  • Stars
    • Laura Birn
    • Liisi Tandefelt
    • Amanda Pilke
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 9User reviews
    • 12Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 5 nominations

    Videos1

    Purge
    Trailer 1:28
    Purge

    Photos6

    Peter Franzén in Purge (2012)
    Purge
    Purge
    Purge (2012)
    Purge (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Laura Birn
    Laura Birn
    • Aliideas Aliide…
    Liisi Tandefelt
    • Aliideas Aliide…
    Amanda Pilke
    • Zaraas Zara…
    Peter Franzén
    Peter Franzén
    • Hansas Hans…
    Kristjan Sarv
    • Pasaas Pasa…
    Krista Kosonen
    Krista Kosonen
    • Ingelas Ingel…
    Tommi Korpela
    Tommi Korpela
    • Martinas Martin…
    Sonja Nüganen
    • Lindaas Linda…
    Kaisa Kaljusaar
    • Linda, 4 yearsas Linda, 4 years
    Laura Kiis
    • Linda, newbornas Linda, newborn
    Tomi Salmela
    Tomi Salmela
    • Militiaas Militia
    Panu Vauhkonen
    • Tall manas Tall man
    Jaanika Arum
    • Katiaas Katia…
    Jarmo Mäkinen
    Jarmo Mäkinen
    • Lavrentias Lavrenti
    Petteri Pennilä
    • Andreias Andrei
    Sergei Enkvist
    • Leather jacket manas Leather jacket man
    Taavi Eelmaa
    Taavi Eelmaa
    • Jaan Bergas Jaan Berg…
    Anne Reemann
    • Motheras Mother
    • Director
      • Antti Jokinen
    • Writers
      • Marko Leino(screenplay)
      • Antti Jokinen(screenplay)
      • Sofi Oksanen(novel)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The official entry of Finland to the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards 2013.
    • Quotes

      Pasa: [shows Aliide photos of a killed man] Look at the photos.

      Aliide: I don't have to. I've seen bodies before.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Sofi Oksanen. Syntynyt kirjailijaksi (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Ai Niga-Naga
      trad.

    User reviews9

    Review
    Top review
    4/10
    New Finnish-Estonian Extremity
    This is an adaptation of the novel by the female writer Sofi Oksanen - daughter of a Finn and an Estonian women (the latter emigrated to Finland yet in the Soviet era). One glance at this woman is enough to see what sort of person she is. People of art, especially in contemporary Scandinavia, are, quite frankly, those 'Jupiters', who are allowed a lot of things we 'oxen' are not allowed. But, seriously, getting acquainted with their works is order of magnitude more interesting and alluring than with, you know, socialist realism novels the authors of which were dressed in respectable jackets.

    The same is here: the film based on the book by the contemporary Finnish émancipée really grabs me from the very first frame. The newly independent Estonia which has not yet entered into NATO and the EU. A cursed old house, like in some Grindcore song, hides numerous terrible secrets under its floorboards which are nailed perfectly still. Who lives in it, is of course a creepy old Finno-Ugric woman, who smokes better than an experienced young guy and grabs the sharp ax, should things go a bit wrong. She possesses a pistol as well, as it is later found out. An inscription like 'Russian whore' is shown off on the glass of her window. We see that a lot has gone through this backward old woman and that she would die hard anyway.

    In her yard, a half dead escapee - a psycho prostitute girl, chased by her pimps - is trying to hide. Until the end it is not clear: whether God himself brought her exactly to THIS grandmother (in Estonia, after all those dreadful events they have survived, people do not believe in God: this is perhaps the only atheistic country in the world), or she knew beforehand who to seek. In general, in the abundance of flashbacks, the audience can easily read the extremely frank confession of the old Estonian woman, and there will be no doubt that the girl really was at the right time in the right place... And as for the bandits, they once again demonstrated all the riskiness of their ticklish 'craft'. Sometimes, they would get away in such scrapes, that even commandos would not. But here - just a miserable peasant old woman from a single-homestead settlement! Who knew that the granny was kind of Rambo! She would not be frightened by photos of mutilated corpses, by a knife or even by a pistol: in her lifetime, something worse could be seen...

    And everything was right about the film (it even, dare I say it, is endowed with the aesthetics of death: puddles of blood with a metallic gleam, flames, carved autumn leaves), but the shocking end. I was just about standing up and cheering the 'Rambo grandmother' who had successfully born everything, when suddenly... The shock was not what I saw there. Shock was in irrationality of the final frame! She has survived all the atrocities throughout her life, if not a lightning incinerates me for such a cynicism, with flying colours. Whatever fell to her lot (torture and abuse, personal life failure and economic disruption) - she would just wash herself thoroughly (hence the name of the work) and her sly life goes on. But the fact of what the author made her heroine to do instead of the happy end, for me, crossed out everything that the author had spoken about the character above.

    Hard to say what exactly influenced the author's choice of such a zigzag final (the novel and its film adaptation of the same name end the same, which of course, does not always happen). But one thing is certain. As long as society of many young nations (or rather of those which have existed for centuries, but almost always in their history dependent upon neighbours which have been more numerous, better politically organised and rich) perceives their past as 'genocide' ('playing the victim'), such stories will be just those caps that fit. Whether this is good or bad - who am I to judge. Dwell on the past and you may lose an eye; forget the past and you will lose both eyes out...
    helpful•5
    14
    • papasergey
    • Jul 8, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 7, 2012 (Estonia)
    • Countries of origin
      • Finland
      • Estonia
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • Finnish
    • Also known as
      • The Purge
    • Filming locations
      • Estonia
    • Production companies
      • Solar Films
      • Taska Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €2,400,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,451,380
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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