Regilaul, Songs of the Ancient Sea (2012)

Directed by: Ulrike Koch | 106 minutes | documentary

How wonderful it must be to master, or at least understand, all the languages ​​of the world! Not knowing Estonian feels like a loss when seeing and especially listening to ‘Regilaul, Songs of the Ancient Sea’. The documentary by Swiss Ulrike Koch is about Regilaul, an old, but still very much alive, musical tradition in Estonia. The lyrics are indeed subtitled, but, as one of the interviewees in the film points out, they are so rich and powerful that it is simply a shame that you have to do with the translation.

‘Regilaul, Songs of the Ancient Sea’ does not differ much from Ulrike Koch’s earlier documentaries. With ‘Die Salzmänner von Tibet’ (1997) and ‘Ässhäk, Tales from the Desert’ (2004), the filmmaker also allowed the viewer a glimpse of cultural traditions that are foreign to us Westerners. In ‘Regilaul’ we get to see a variety of practitioners and composers of this form of music making. These ‘talking heads’ each highlight an aspect of that part of this fascinating Estonian culture. Short interviews discuss the history and its significance for the country, the personal experiences of the interviewees and the importance of nature and its inhabitants for Regilaul. Fortunately, it does not stop at these conversations, but we also get to hear and see a lot of music. The performances are very varied, from a group of women in a kind of garden shed, to a performance with an orchestra. There is even a recording of an open air festival, where a rock band (with bagpipes!) shows that Regilaul has been a great source of inspiration. The lyrics mentioned earlier deal with all kinds of subjects, sometimes morbid (which must be almost terrifying due to the monotony of the music if you understand the language), sometimes sweet. And sometimes they show you the way.

It is refreshing that a documentary now focuses on a tradition that is apparently not under pressure. Although you might expect otherwise, Regilaul is practiced by the most diverse people, even the youngest generation diligently participates. We see girls of primary school age performing, but also wrinkly old men, a whole bunch of stunning young women, a family with two children in front of a crackling fire and a few tough young men. It’s good to see that a country can maintain this rich tradition with ease, although it wouldn’t have hurt to hear dissenting voices.

Ulrike Koch has access to her permanent cameraman and compatriot Pio Corradi, who manages to capture the beautiful nature of Estonia beautifully in some eye-catching shots. The choice to add the ‘webcam’-like images of an eagle’s nest can be defended in itself, but these will not be to everyone’s taste, because the point that the film maker apparently wants to make with it has already been convincingly brought up by the other nature shots. is becoming.

It’s a shame that Koch seems to have had trouble saying goodbye to a lot of footage. Not all fragments are relevant and however interesting Regilaul is, 1 hour and 45 minutes is really on the long side for a documentary. The structure and rhythm that makes the chosen subject of this film so hypnotic is ironically lacking in the documentary. ‘Regilaul’ contains a lot of fascinating information and beautiful images, but the form in which Koch has cast it does not do the subject justice. This does not alter the fact that ‘Regilaul, Songs of the Ancient Sea’ is a must for lovers of cultural traditions, world music and in particular the Baltic States. The (acquaintance with this special form of) music alone makes it worthwhile.