Pesented By
presented by the Los Angeles Times

City Unplugged

City Unplugged

By Ilkka Jarvilaturi

Estonia 95 minutes 2007 Estonian
Genres
Keywords
Awards
  • R.W. Fassbinder Prize - 1993 Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (Mannheim, Germany)
  • Silver Alexander - 1993 Thessaloniki Film Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece)
Festivals
  • Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival(Mannheim, Germany)
  • Rotterdam International Film Festival(Rotterdam, Netherlands)
  • Sundance Film Festival(Park City, United States)
  • Thessaloniki Film Festival(Thessaloniki, Greece)
  • Toronto International Film Festival(Toronto, Canada)

Synopsis

A heist film tinged with black comedy, the story begins in 1991, with Estonia having just declared its independence from the Soviet Union. A band of gangsters hatch a plan to hijack the small Baltic nation's $1 billion worth of bullion, about to return to the capital after years of hiding in Paris. Toivo, a naive electrician, is commissioned to perform the key element in the plan - plummeting the city to darkness on the appointed midnight hour. Not a hardened criminal, Toivo is encouraged by his very pregnant wife to take the job. What follows is an edge-of-your-seat story involving childbirth, blackout, politics, and above all, love.

After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, City Unplugged went on to become a sleeper hit at Sundance, and to win the Silver Alexander at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Playing to raves in major international cities, the film was praised by the Village Voice as "A Superbly Taut Thriller" and the NY Post's V.A. Musetto as "One of the Year's Best."

More Films Like This One

Brought to you by: