Finnish cinematic impasto for Mother's Day
A new drama about a woman who is released from prison, who is looking for her daughter, is not up to the title of the best Finnish film on the theme of motherhood.
Over the past few years, world cinema has presented us with several films entitled “Mama”. What is interesting - they were all with elements of horror.
In 2013, a dramatic horror film by Argentine director Andreas Muskatti came out on screens about how the cruel ghost of a deceased mother follows their daughters. Thanks to this work, Musketti later commissioned to shoot a new version of the classic film "Ono" based on Stephen King. The year before last, Darren Aronofsky released the philosophical thriller “Mom!”, In which the leading roles were played by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, and at the end of this year, Tate Taylor’s psychological horror with Octavia Spencer is expected to be released.
In such conditions, in Finland two days before Mother's Day, the drama of director Sampa Batal “Mama” (Äiti) comes out. The film tells about a woman who was released from prison, who served a term for the murder of her husband. She returns to her native town and tries to find her mature daughter. The main role was played by the beautiful actress Jaana Saarinen, who is known for many works in film and on television, but primarily for the TV series Hidden Lives (Salatut elämät).
Despite the title, the film is not so much about motherhood, but about loneliness, stereotypes and - most importantly - about mutual aid, which serves as an antipode to the depression of the Finnish heartland. The film was shot in the village of Sammatti, in the municipality of Lohja, and although it is only an hour's drive from Helsinki to the Helsinki, moreover, the scene is late summer, the surroundings only underline the feeling of hopelessness.
The acting of Jaana Saarinen is usually impressive, but here the material did not reveal her talent. The film is full of pauses, static scenes and deliberately simplified dialogues, vaguely reminiscent of the style of Kaurismäki, but devoid of its inherent picturesque. As a result, Saarinen spends almost one and a half hours with a downcast gaze.
However, the main complaint concerns not an actor, but a screenwriter and directorial work. The story in the film is revealed rather poorly, it is sketchy, and the whole film is glued together as if from large strokes. In painting, such a technique is called impasto, but in the paintings it creates a three-dimensional image, and in the tape “Mama” the lack of details deprives it of bulge and volume.
If you want to see a really worthy Finnish film on Mother's Day, you should pay attention to the 2005 Klaus Härö film “The Best of Mothers” (Äideistä parhain) based on the novel of the same name by Heikki Hietamies. This is a poignant drama about the relationship of the Finnish boy Eero and his adoptive Swedish mother to Sweden who was evacuated during World War II to Sweden. At the same time, the conflict arises due to the fact that Eero needs to return to his homeland, to his own mother.
A new drama about a woman who is released from prison, who is looking for her daughter, is not up to the title of the best Finnish film on the theme of motherhood.
Over the past few years, world cinema has presented us with several films entitled “Mama”. What is interesting - they were all with elements of horror.
In 2013, a dramatic horror film by Argentine director Andreas Muskatti came out on screens about how the cruel ghost of a deceased mother follows their daughters. Thanks to this work, Musketti later commissioned to shoot a new version of the classic film "Ono" based on Stephen King. The year before last, Darren Aronofsky released the philosophical thriller “Mom!”, In which the leading roles were played by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, and at the end of this year, Tate Taylor’s psychological horror with Octavia Spencer is expected to be released.
In such conditions, in Finland two days before Mother's Day, the drama of director Sampa Batal “Mama” (Äiti) comes out. The film tells about a woman who was released from prison, who served a term for the murder of her husband. She returns to her native town and tries to find her mature daughter. The main role was played by the beautiful actress Jaana Saarinen, who is known for many works in film and on television, but primarily for the TV series Hidden Lives (Salatut elämät).
Despite the title, the film is not so much about motherhood, but about loneliness, stereotypes and - most importantly - about mutual aid, which serves as an antipode to the depression of the Finnish heartland. The film was shot in the village of Sammatti, in the municipality of Lohja, and although it is only an hour's drive from Helsinki to the Helsinki, moreover, the scene is late summer, the surroundings only underline the feeling of hopelessness.
The acting of Jaana Saarinen is usually impressive, but here the material did not reveal her talent. The film is full of pauses, static scenes and deliberately simplified dialogues, vaguely reminiscent of the style of Kaurismäki, but devoid of its inherent picturesque. As a result, Saarinen spends almost one and a half hours with a downcast gaze.
However, the main complaint concerns not an actor, but a screenwriter and directorial work. The story in the film is revealed rather poorly, it is sketchy, and the whole film is glued together as if from large strokes. In painting, such a technique is called impasto, but in the paintings it creates a three-dimensional image, and in the tape “Mama” the lack of details deprives it of bulge and volume.
If you want to see a really worthy Finnish film on Mother's Day, you should pay attention to the 2005 Klaus Härö film “The Best of Mothers” (Äideistä parhain) based on the novel of the same name by Heikki Hietamies. This is a poignant drama about the relationship of the Finnish boy Eero and his adoptive Swedish mother to Sweden who was evacuated during World War II to Sweden. At the same time, the conflict arises due to the fact that Eero needs to return to his homeland, to his own mother.
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