Rita Raave
Biography
Rita Raave (born April 6, 1951) is an Estonian stage, television and film actress, and painter. Rita Raave was born in Mõisaküla, Viljandi County in 1951 to journalist, cartoonist, Lutheran pastor, and politician Kalev Raave and Lydia Raave (née Majas). She has three siblings: Raivo J. Raave, Riho Raave, and Anneli Raave-Sepp. Raave pursued a career in acting and is a 1974 graduate of the Tallinn State Conservatory (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). Among her graduating classmate were Maria Klenskaja, Elle Kull, Jüri Aarma, Kaie Mihkelson and Jaan Rõõmussaar. Raave's first substantial feature film role was as a starring role as Ragne Rass in the Olav Neuland directed 1982 Tallinnfilm romantic drama Corrida. The film was based on the 1979 Teet Kallas penned novel of the same name. This was followed the next year by the role of Maret in the Kaljo Kiisk directed Nipernaadi; the film adaptation of the 1928 August Gailit novel Toomas Nipernaadi about a roguish vagabond who breezes through the Estonian countryside inspiring locals to turn their own dreams into reality. In 1990, she would appear in two films: a small role in the Peeter Simm directed historical drama Inimene, keda polnud, and in the Rauni Mollberg directed Finnish drama Ystävät, toverit. She would end the decade with a role in the 1999 Peeter Urbla directed dramatic film short Kõrbekuu, for Allfilm. Raave would appear in a number of films throughout the 2000s and 2010s, most notably among them; the 2007 road movie comedy 186 Kilometers; as a brothel administrator in the 2007 Kadri Kõusaar directed drama Magnus; as Ruth in the 2011 Mart Kivastik directed drama Üks mu sõber;[9] and as a judge in the 2013 Kadri Kõusaar directed drama Kohtumõistja. She has also appeared in a number of short films; notably, the Anna Hints directed drama Vaba maa, opposite actors Eili Sild and Raivo Trass. In 2013, she appeared in the role of Susanna's mother in the Veiko Õunpuu directed drama Free Range/Ballaad maailma heakskiitmisest. Aside from film, Rita Raave has also appeared on Estonian television. Most notably, in a 1991 television play production of Ernest Hemingway's The End of Something based on Hemingway's 1925 first collection of short stories In Our Time. Between 1993 and 1995, she appeared on the TV3 television drama series Salmonid. In addition to acting, Rita Raave has also held several exhibitions of her paintings. In December 2005, she held an exhibition at Tallinn's Gallery-G. She names Renaissance masters such as Giotto, Botticelli, Titian, and da Vinci as inspirations.
Known For & Full Filmography13 Titles
Movie - 1983, 2h 15m • as Ragne Rass
Osvald, a man in his sixties, his wife Ragne who is about half his age and full of life, and her ex-lover Tarmo, have reached a decisive point in their lives where important choices need to be made. The isolation of a lonely island sets the characters face to face with each other, depriving them of social safety measures.
Movie - 2008, 2h 15m • as Brothel Administrator
Magnus, a handsome teenager, wants to commit suicide and his father tries to change his mind.
Movie - 2011, 2h 15m • as Ruth
Mati, a 70-year-old bibliophile, cannot cope with his wife's death. As loneliness and indifference overrun his thoughts, he contemplates suicide until he meets a younger man who sparks his interest in life.
Movie - 1983, 2h 15m • as Maret
Toomas Nipernaadi is seen roaming the rural landscape, going from village to village looking for the woman of his dreams. He wears a bedraggled white suit but generously pays for any lodging he needs or in one case, even buys a farm. Nipernaadi has a way with words and enchants those he meets with his wild stories about himself. Women find him appealing and the men are entertained as he moves from one locale to the next.
Movie - 1993, 2h 15m • as Rita
The last film directed by Kaljo Kiisk has been dedicated to theatre and the people in theatre. You are entering the hectic world of musicians, zanies and jesters - and don't expect to hear a symphony but a single delicate sound of a flute.
Movie - 1990, 2h 15m • as Happy Girl
The boisterous good humor of Jurmala, the nickel-mine owner, is, if anything, only barely dented by the raging battles in Finland before, during and after World War Two. In fact, everywhere he goes, he meets prospective customers on all sides of the conflict with his all-inclusive greeting "Friends, Comrades." Indeed, the resource he is wrenching from the earth's bowels is necessary to all forms of industrial activity, and is especially necessary for military applications. Thus, he has no reason to fear that he will ever run out of customers. This doesn't prevent him from using every possible means to entice them. At home, his relationship with his wife is not so prosperous, and they resort to some extraordinary means to try and keep on an even keel.
Movie - 1990, 2h 15m • as Aunt Irma
In the final weeks of the existence of the Soviet empire, a number of unusual films were released. In this wry Estonian comedy, a woman with an unusual talent for mimicry which eventually earns her a career on the radio between WWII and the Russian resettlement of that country (with a corresponding deportation of millions of Estonians to Siberia). In an absurd fashion, her self-generate sound effects help her get out of all sorts of scrapes with the authorities. When those fail, her incredible nonchalance succeeds. By the end of the film, it becomes clear that she has bestowed her inimitable imitative gift on her newborn son, as well.
Movie - 2005, 2h 15m • as Madame
Three friends return from a vacation and discover that the TV studio they work for has gone bankrupt - so they decide to start their own costume renting business.
Movie - 2013, 2h 15m • as Judge
A brilliant but misguided man feels that he has the right to decide who is worth their place on earth.
Movie - 2013, 2h 15m • as Susanna's Mother
After being fired from his job at a newspaper for writing a destructive review of a celebrated movie, Fred, an aspiring writer, learns that his girlfriend is pregnant.
Movie - 2007, 2h 15m • as Stage Manager
Jan Uuspõld is a talented actor who is not up to scratch due to his problems with alcohol. He makes up his mind to stop taking clownish roles and accepts a serious part in a play at Vanemuise theatre instead. His journey from Tallinn to Tartu becomes an unusual and in a way exaggerated voyage depicting the life and mentality of contemporary Estonia through various human natures, attitudes and ways of thinking.
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m • as Ruth
With his last breath Uu's friend entrusts him with the secret of how to go to the past. Uu is an engineer and doesn't believe in miracles, but the trick works. In the past there is a pleasant, eternal summer, long hair, girls and Jenkki chewing gum. In his real life, it is autumn, his friends are bitter, the girls are married and his father is seriously ill. At the end of the day, however, Uu has to decide in which time to live his life - in the summer of the past or in the autumn of the present.
Movie - 1991, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
The film takes place in Estonia during the German occupation in the winter of 1943. In order not to serve in the fascist army, Ilmar tries to escape to Finland. His friend Peeter helps him, but this escape ends tragically...