I remember seeing this when I went to Finland as an exchange student and we were all shown this in the introductory week.
My friend said it was 'very,very Finnish'.
I didn't realise it then but I later saw she was right.
A sense of the ridiculous pervades the entire setting, from the old man with his stories, the interloper interrupting the wedding making snide comments about the sentimentality of the old people, the eccentric with the stone. The Finns are the only people in the world with such a sense of the foolish of life, and the only people in the world, apart from the British, able to mock themselves. But there are real issues - the community is dying, the young people are leaving because the practicalities of life demand they make a living which the country cannot provide (exemplified by the character Pekka who has moved to Sweden) yet still there is a sense for them that this is real life for them and to the village they will always return around midsummer. It is in the country side that the Finns have their soul and this film shows that off perfectly.
But the hazy lighting the film is shot reminds us that summer must end, as it did the day I saw this.
My friend said it was 'very,very Finnish'.
I didn't realise it then but I later saw she was right.
A sense of the ridiculous pervades the entire setting, from the old man with his stories, the interloper interrupting the wedding making snide comments about the sentimentality of the old people, the eccentric with the stone. The Finns are the only people in the world with such a sense of the foolish of life, and the only people in the world, apart from the British, able to mock themselves. But there are real issues - the community is dying, the young people are leaving because the practicalities of life demand they make a living which the country cannot provide (exemplified by the character Pekka who has moved to Sweden) yet still there is a sense for them that this is real life for them and to the village they will always return around midsummer. It is in the country side that the Finns have their soul and this film shows that off perfectly.
But the hazy lighting the film is shot reminds us that summer must end, as it did the day I saw this.