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.
This inventive, tongue-in-cheek comedy-drama not only reveals the charms of the Estonian countryside, but something of director (Kaljo Kiisk)'s sense of amusement as well. The hero of the title, Toomas Nipernaadi (Tõnu Kark) is first 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.
