Mother of Mine (2005)

During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. From the award-winning Klaus Härö (Elina - Som om jag inte fanns (2002)), "... See full summary »

Director:

Klaus Härö

Writers:

Veikko Aaltonen (based on a screenplay by), Heikki Hietamies (novel)

Stars:

Topi Majaniemi, Marjaana Maijala, Maria Lundqvist

16 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Topi Majaniemi	...	Eero Lahti
Marjaana Maijala	...	Kirsti Lahti - Eeron äiti
Maria Lundqvist	...	Signe Jönsson - äiti Ruotsissa
Michael Nyqvist	...	Hjalmar Jönsson - isä Ruotsissa
Esko Salminen	...	Eero Lahti - nykyaika
Aino-Maija Tikkanen	...	Kirsti Lahti - nykyaika
Kari-Pekka Toivonen	...	Lauri - Eeron isä
Brasse Brännström	...	Isoisä Ruotsissa
Penny Elvira Loftéen	...	Siv - naapurintyttö
Ia Langhammer	...	Anna
Leif Andrée	...	Gunnar
Marie Göranzon	...	Rouva Grevnäs
Åsa Persson	...	Opettajatar
Gustav Wiklund	...	Pappi
Patrick Henriksen	...	Tuomas - kotiavustaja

Storyline

During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. From the award-winning Klaus Härö (Elina - Som om jag inte fanns (2002)), "Mother of Mine" tackles that painful patch of history in a tale of 9-year-old Eero, a child who increasingly feels abandoned by his biological Finnish mother and yet not attached to his Swedish surrogate mom. When he is returned to Finland, his confusion intensifies.

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Plot Keywords:

mother daughter relationship | male protagonist | finnish | swedish | continuation war | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Finland] (Finnish, Swedish, English)

Country:

Finland Sweden

Language:

Finnish Swedish

Release Date:

30 September 2005 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Mother of Mine

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Box Office

Budget:

€2,900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Matila Röhr Productions (MRP), Omega Film & Television AB, Film i Skåne

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min 111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Submitted by Finland to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (U.S.A.) for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 78th Academy Awards.

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Soundtracks

Stille Nacht
Written by Joseph Mohr & Franz Xaver Gruber
Performed by Alexandr Dmitriev

User Reviews

Sincere drama

"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.