Maria Klenskaja

Acting

Maria Klenskaja

Born 1951-01-29 · Tartu, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Tartu County, Estonia]

Maria Klenskaja (January 29, 1951 – January 6, 2022) was an Estonian actress. Klenskaja was born in Tartu, of Russian parentage. From 1968 until 1970, she worked in the Estonian State Youth Theatre in Tallinn as a make-up artist and in the prop department. In 1974 she graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory's Performing Arts Department. Since 1974 she had been a contracted actress at the Estonian Drama Theatre. She was also engaged as an actress at the Vanalinnastuudio for one year, beginning in 1989. Besides theatre roles she also had a successful film career and appeared on television and in radio theatre. Klenskaja was in a relationship with actor Aarne Üksküla for over thirty years, until his death in 2017. Klenskaja died on 6 January 2022, aged 70, following a prolonged illness.

Acting credits

The Fencer poster
7.0

Fleeing from the Russian secret police, a young Estonian fencer is forced to return to his homeland, where he becomes a physical education teacher at a local school. The past however catches up and puts him in front of a difficult choice.

The Fencer

2015

Hit Back poster
10.0

The film invites its viewers to reflect on where modern sports have come to. Does a young, honest and uncompromising athlete have a future in the sport or must he go along with the dishonest tricks and the mean game that comes from it all?

Hit Back

1975

Ask the Dead About the Price of Death poster
5.8

The attempted coup of Estonia on Dec. 1, 1924, conducted by Comintern, staged by the Soviet Communists, failed and resulted in many lost lives on both sides. The Communists were forced underground.

Ask the Dead About the Price of Death

1977

Grisha poster
7.0

An up-close look into the life of the often misunderstood movie director Grigori Kromanov through the lens of old friends and colleagues.

Grisha

1996

Breakfast on the Grass poster
5.9

Several episodes, each focusing on a different figure. Towards the end they all come together to replicate the famous painting by Édouard Manet that provides the title.

Breakfast on the Grass

1987

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

Three Jolly Fellows 2 poster
5.0

The second part of the film based on Eno Raua's children's book of the same name, which tells about the activities of three jolly fellows - Sammalhabe, Kingpool and Muhvi. The movie viewer can join their exciting adventures in saving the city from the rats.

Three Jolly Fellows 2

1987

The Gang poster
6.5

Paul Madvig is a businessman in an American town in the 1920s, doing everything to maintain his power. He plans to marry Janet, the daughter of senator Ralph Henry who must be re-elected in order to ensure Paul's position. Paul is sure of himself and treats his competitor Shad O'Rory, who is involved in the gambling business, with arrogance. Then the senator's son is murdered. It is rumoured that Paul is behind the murder. Private detective Ned Beaumont, an old friend of Paul's, starts to investigate the case. Based on the novel "The Glass Key" by Dashiell Hammett.

The Gang

1986

Three Jolly Fellows poster
5.9

“Three Jolly Fellows” tells of the adventures of three small men in a world that borders on the fantastic: the composed and close-to-nature Mossbeard, the irritable city dweller Halfshoe, and the sensitive poet Muff. An old woman’s inexplicable love of cats has lured many felines to the city. Risking their lives, the diligent and ready-to-help fellows lure the gang of cats out of the city, with the result being trouble in both the city and nature.

Three Jolly Fellows

1984

Three Jolly Fellows poster
7.0

Three Jolly Fellows tells of the adventures of three small men in a world that borders on the fantastic: the composed and close-to-nature Mossbeard, the irritable city dweller Halfshoe, and the sensitive poet Muff.

Three Jolly Fellows

1990

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

The Sunny Kids poster
7.0

A movie about the life in a small Estonian city in the 1950s. Young people face an instinct for survival that shatters ideals but can also destroy lives.

The Sunny Kids

1992

Stolen Meeting poster
4.5

A mother released from a prison camp in Russia finds her son, but realises that reconciliation is impossible.

Stolen Meeting

1989

The Little Comrade poster
6.9

In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good kid, Leelo vows to be on her best behaviour in the confusing grown-up world in the hope that it will bring her mother back.

The Little Comrade

2018

Awakening poster
5.6

It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars are waiting to transport thousands of Estonian families, asleep in their homes, to Siberia. The Stalinist regime is ready to treat people like animals.

Awakening

1990

No artwork available
6.5

A parody of a classical action film. The sequence of events is launched by a huge cabbage growing on a plot of land that belongs to a poor Estonian peasant woman. This super-cabbage attracts adventures from America, China and Soviet Russia

Cabbage Head

1993

Murder on the 31st Floor poster
8.5

Police officer Jensen orders the evacuation of a leading media group's office building after a bomb threat is made. There won't be any explosion, however, the media group sustains big losses because of the work stoppage and the management requires investigation of the case. Officer Jensen identifies six suspects, then finds out that he is being followed himself, especially when he gets involved in the obscure activities of the mysterious 31st department.

Murder on the 31st Floor

1981

Friends, Comrades poster
5.3

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.

Friends, Comrades

1990

Those Old Love-letters poster
7.0

A film about the life of Raimond Valgre, an Estonian songwriter and singer of the 1930s and 40s, the political changes of his country and his life after the war when his songs were considered not suitable for the Soviet way of life.

Those Old Love-letters

1992

Georg poster
5.7

Unforgettable melodies, unique timbre and a memorable, soul-stirring voice. A mystery for women and authority for men, his talent was revered by the highest ranks of the Soviet Union and millions of ordinary people. Georg Ots took the stage when a huge country was recovering from the horrors of war, and his voice returned them faith in a bright future. Few people know what his life was really like.

Georg

2007

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

No artwork available
3.2

No synopsis available yet.

The Great Magician

2007

The Joys of Midlife poster
5.6

Five people who have recently reached middle-age are driving through Estonia to visit a famous witch-therapist to get rid of their problems. The somber-funny road movie gives a good overview of the life, people and daily problems in Estonia at the end of the Soviet period.

The Joys of Midlife

1987

Autumn poster
6.0

The main character of the film is Paunvere tailor Jorh Adniel Kiir. Two young seamstresses, Juuli and Maali, arrive in Paunvere. At first, Kiir regards them as competitors, but then he establishes friendly relations with them. Kiir marries Juuli, but he is not indifferent to Maali either. The film also follows Kiir's efforts to get his own farm.

Autumn

1990