Klenskaja was born in Tartu and was of Russian parentage. [2 ] From 1968 until 1970, she worked in the Estonian State Youth Theatre in Tallinn as a make-up artist and in the prop department.
Valentina Saar (Maria Klenskaja) has led a troubled life. She knows little about her parents and grew up in an orphanage. After becoming pregnant, she abandons the baby and later ends up in prison.
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…