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: As If I Wasn't There (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: As If I Wasn't There (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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Like the main character Eero, writer Heikki Hietamies was a war-child and was evacuated from Finland to Skåne, Sweden.

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Soundtracks

Maamme/Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa
Composed by Fredrik Pacius (1848)
Lyrics written by Johan Ludvig Runeberg (Swedish text, 1846) and Paavo Cajander (Finnish text, 1848)
Sung by choir

User Reviews

Very, very good film

I saw this at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival and of the 35 films I saw there this one was my #1. The audiences at the festival seemed to agree in that it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Actually it tied with the film Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont for the award in a rare first place tie. I was hoping this would gain a nomination for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards but it's submission didn't make the final five. Director Klaus Härö, Producer Ilkka Matila and Music Score Composer Tuomas Kantelinen were on hand to present the film and take Q & A after. I was happy that they brought with them the guy who scored the music soundtrack because the music was a perfect fit for this film. Topi Majaniemi as Eero is charming and Michael Nyqvist as Hjalmer Jönsson is excellent but Maria Lundqvist as Signe Jönsson is superb and really carries this film. This is a very, very good film and I would rate it a 9.0 and highly recommend it.

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:

EUR2,900,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,851,888

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