ejs-80 Reviews

Mother of Mine (2005)

Sincere drama

[8/10 · 13 November 2006]

"Mother of Mine" tells a story about nine-year-old Eero (Topi Majaniemi) who is one of the war children who were sent from Finland to Sweden in order to escape the war against USSR. It is a very hearty film, and especially at the beginning, when the ruthlessness of the war begins to show its ugly head, it contains downright heartbreaking material.

On the other hand, those parts where grown-up Eero (played by Esko Salminen) converses about the past with his mother feel a bit too much like commentaries, and they might have benefited from a little more liveliness. On the first viewing I thought also that Eero's relationship with the foster mother Signe (Maria Lundqvist) doesn't ever really open and warm up like the narration implies later. However, on the second viewing I noticed that the scene in the graveyard is honestly trying to deal with this point. So that part of the theme is not completely left undeveloped.

Michael Nyqvist as Hjalmar Jönsson does a pretty good job, but one of the best virtues of the film is the fact that director Klaus Härö has been able to cultivate an extremely believable Eero-boy from young Topi Majaniemi. Praises also belong to the numerous incredibly beautiful scenes, of which one of the finest is a shot where a bus comes from the left side of the panorama picture and continues its drive to a stop in the middle of desolation with Eero as its only passenger traveling towards his new home.

In short, "Mother of Mine" is a recommendable movie for everyone who considers him-/herself to be a friend of honest and straightforward drama. See it by yourself or show it to the mother of yours.

Character (1997)

A chess game between father and son

[9/10 · 28 October 2006]

"Karakter" is an awesome movie with an ingenious plot. During the film you end up repeatedly wondering why certain characters behave the way they do, and with the help of marvelous actors (especially Jan Decleir/Dreverhaven), the resolutions always surprise you and leave you pondering. The magnificent cinematography deserves a praise, too, and despite the prolonged chess-game quality of the battle between Jacob Katadreuffe and his father, everything that happens regarding this has a curious thriller aspect to it.

Victor Löw's appearance as De Gankelaar is very impressive (perhaps in some ways comparable to Brando's Don Corleone in the Godfather, although these characters are not alike). Also the ethereal beauty (in my opinion) of Tamar van den Dop as Lorna te George didn't hurt my enjoyment of this film at all.

Altogether, don't miss "Karakter" if you ever have a chance to watch it!

Lights in the Dusk (2006)

A fitting last stop for the Finland trilogy

[7/10 · 7 February 2006]

"Laitakaupungin valot" is the last episode for the Aki Kaurismäki's Finland trilogy whose previous items were "Drifting Clouds" and "The Man Without a Past".

The main character of the latest installment is a lonely and badly treated night guard Koistinen who in many ways is the male version of Iris from "The Match Factory Girl". Having seen both of these films it is impossible to avoid certain comparisons, and it can be said that in some ways you can invent more tragic stories for a female character than a male one because of her possibility to become a mother. However, you can also certainly absorb yourself into the story of the male main character of "Laitakaupungin valot" and feel empathy for him.

In this movie Kati Outinen does a flash-like cameo appearance as the clerk of a Cassa shop, and the performers of the bigger parts are quite well accustomed to the Kaurismäki's style of film-making. Maria Järvenhelmi does a quality job but is not able to drain that last drop from her role that differentiates it from the classic Eve of "All About Eve". On the other hand, this may partly advance the realism of the movie. Janne Hyytiäinen, who plays the main part, is also very believable in his role, although I do not consider him to be quite as magnificent "silent film actor" as Kati Outinen was in previous parts of the trilogy.

The music of "Laitakaupungin valot" deserves a special mention, since with it the aesthetic style of Kaurismäki really flowers. Skillfully have been also selected those moments where the silence is the loudest instrument. What comes to the other content, there is a plenty of Kaurismäki's trade-mark dry humor at the beginning of the movie, especially at the coffee shop scene, but when the film goes on its comedic currents almost totally vanish and the dramatic values take over. Another notable feature of this work is its exceptional amount of smoking (even for Kaurismäki), which is possibly caused by the director's own agenda of opposing the ban of smoking in restaurants.

In any case, "Laitakaupungin valot" is a quality work, and it is assured that the friends of Aki Kaurismäki won't be disappointed in seeing it.