Evald Hermaküla

Acting

Evald Hermaküla

Born 1941-12-06

Evald Hermaküla (December 6, 1941 – May 16, 2000) was an Estonian actor and director. Hermaküla was born in the village of Maardu in Jõelähtme Parish. In 1965 he graduated from the University of Tartu in geology. In 1965 he also finished his studies at Vanemuine Theatre Studio in Tartu. From 1962 he was an actor and from 1969 a stage director in Vanemuine theatre. He also directed and appeared as an actor films and television. Hermaküla committed suicide by hanging on 16 May 2000 in Kadriorg Park in Tallinn, aged 58. He was buried in Tallinn's Forest Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was married to actress Kaie Mihkelson.

Acting credits

The Milkman of Mäeküla poster
5.7

A baron gives a poor peasant a well-paid job of a milkman but for reward he has to accept his beloved girl going to the mansion from time to time. Does the wealth outweigh the honor and conscience?

The Milkman of Mäeküla

1965

We Were Eighteen poster
7.0

It's 1940 - the first summer of the Soviet occupation on the Estonian island Saaremaa. Teenagers stepping in their lives have important decisions to make. Should they support the Soviet regime or join the resistance?

We Were Eighteen

1965

Werewolf poster
6.7

There are three children growing at Tammaru farm - one boy, Margus; and two orphan girls, Mari and Tiina. Margus' parents want him to marry Mari instead of Tiina as she is more their kind. Hotblooded Tiina is completely different from them and her mother was once executed for being a witch. Thinking that Tiina has bewitched Margus, Mari starts to publicly accuse her stepsister of being a werewolf.

Werewolf

1969

Lack of Wind poster
7.0

Taavi is worried about the lack of wind that won't let him do his daily job as a fisherman. But he is definitely not the guy who would just sit and wait for better days to arrive.

Lack of Wind

1971

Handmaiden poster
7.0

The family where Epp serves is preparing to receive important guests on whom the career of the head of the family depends. Everyone is busy preparing the gala dinner, and only the owner's son Eugen does not take any part in this. At night he suddenly becomes ill, and Epp is sent for help. On a rainy night, she spends a long time looking for a doctor, as a result of which she becomes seriously ill. And Eugen’s illness, as it turned out, was only the result of his suspiciousness...

Handmaiden

1990

Flamingo: The Bird of Luck poster
3.3

A teenage boy named Vahur, who is from a seemingly upstanding family, becomes an accomplice to the vicious assault on an elderly man. Through a look into the boy's childhood and family, this film raises the question of how to become and remain a decent human being in the schizophrenic Soviet society where everyone was equal, but some were more equal than others.

Flamingo: The Bird of Luck

1986

Smile at Last poster
6.1

16-year-old Mari, raised without a mother by a drunkard father, is put in an orphanage which she immediately, though unsuccessfully, tries to flee from. The sensitive Mari finds it hard to adapt to the coarse manners and brutal games amongst the children. Only gradually does she develop a sense for the similarly difficult fates of her fellow sufferers, who have long forgotten how to cry. She even falls in love for the first time, not with her self-appointed “protector” Tauri, but with the rough-mannered Robi.

Smile at Last

1985

Regina poster
4.8

Regina is a beautiful, educated and independent woman whose boyfriend tells her that he is going to marry a young girl expecting a baby. As Regina inherits a house in a little town, an opportunity arises to change her life.

Regina

1990

The Risk poster
6.0

1944. On the Polish front, the fascists are building a secret defensive barrier. The task of obtaining the plans for the structures is assigned to a young intelligence agent, Maria, who must make contact with the frontline intelligence resident, Major Kurtz, behind enemy lines…

The Risk

1971

Girl in Black poster
9.0

Young Saale, the girl in black with her small suitcase, comes to live with her aunt in a fishermen's village. Her only precious thing is a glass ball that is a memory of her mother whose death has left Saale alone in the world. She has been repelled and humiliated, so she is not expecting anything good to come from people. For her surprise, young fisherman Tanel is ready to walk with her by the sea even if they won't speak a word. He doesn't think Saale is strange and he won't ridicule her for her religious views. Slowly, Saale opens up for the bright sides of earthly life.

Girl in Black

1967

Two poster
NR

Based on the novella "Mustaja Love" by Estonian writer Arvo Valton. Residents of large modern cities are often unfamiliar with their neighbors, even though they have lived under the same roof for many years. The film's protagonists, a man and a woman who dream of having a family and children, live very close to each other. They could easily have met and fallen in love. All their dreams could have come true, but the meeting of two lonely hearts never happened.

Two

1987

Doctor Stockmann poster
4.0

Toomas Stockmann, the head doctor of a water clinic built in a small town by the sea, discovers that the facility is threatened by an infection caused by construction errors in the waterworks. The powerful mayor Peter Stockmann, the doctor's brother, has used his position and connections for commercial and political gain and has ignored the doctor's warnings. The upper class of the town initially supports the doctor's decision to reveal the truth, but the mayor changes due to pressure and personal interests. Dr. Stockmann is labeled an enemy of the people. He must choose whether to stick to his ideas, at the risk of his family, or surrender to demagoguery.

Doctor Stockmann

1989

In One Hundred Years in May poster
8.0

Viktor Kingissepp has been the underground head of the Communist Party of Estonia for three years. He corresponds with Moscow, writes speeches for the members of the Communist Workers' Party and makes leaflets for the events of trade union. His purpose is to overthrow the Republic of Estonia since he does not believe in Estonian independence nor in any national ideals. Yet the clock keeps ticking, tuberculosis spreads rapidly, the world revolution is being postponed. What to do in order to make one's efforts work?

In One Hundred Years in May

1987

Murder Complicity poster
4.3

Based on the novel of the same name by Judah Waten. Beth Tyson is killed in his mansion. Chief Inspector Fields, Inspector Bramell, and Detective Filbert have three different versions of this crime...

Murder Complicity

1986

Surmatants poster
7.0

A historical costume drama where the fragments of the adventurous lives of Bernt Notke, one of the most influential Late Gothic painters, and carpenter Michel Sittow are brought together by the story of the panel painting "Danse Macabre" by Notke and the way the painting reached Tallinn, Estonia from Lübeck.

Surmatants

1991

Puud olid... poster
9.0

Typhus has killed the father, mother and older son of Palanumäe farm. Hind, younger son, realizes that he won't be able to manage the shabby farm alone. Paabu, the wife of older son, is good at housework and Hind likes her; however, more help than that is needed for maintaining the farm. Jaak, the farmhand, does more harm than good. The rumour is around that when converting to orthodoxy one will lead better life in a warm country - this, of course, attracts Hind, but angers the estate owners. How come this young inexperienced man wants something else than serving the Livonian feudals?

Puud olid...

1986

Behind the camera