Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Käsilaukku / The Handbag

FI 2013. PC: Elokuvayhtiö Aamu. P: Jussi Rantamäki, Auli Mantila. D: Mikko Myllylahti. SC: Auli Mantila. DP: Juice Huhtala. Digital post: Generator Post. Cost: Sanna Levo. M: Antti Tuomivaara. S: Jussi Rantala. ED: Tuula Mehtonen. C: Sinna Virtanen, Elias Keränen, Auli Mantila, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Heikki Vilja, Jenny Dahlström, Konsta Väänänen, Patrick Mitzner, Tea Selin. 27 min. 2K DCP from Elokuvayhtiö Aamu with English subtitles by Aretta Vähälä viewed at Cinema Lapinsuu, Sodankylä (Midnight Sun Film Festival), 12 June 2013

The Festival Catalogue: "The new filmic short story by Mikko Myllylahti (b. 1980), known as a poet and short film maker, is about a hotel cleaner who finds a handbag. The young woman, whose own romantic aspirations happen to be shattered, finds herself clinging to a letter found inside the bag. The next phases of this leading motive, which has repercussions in many directions and many people's lives, drive the cleaner to see an older woman, the owner of the handbag. The troubles of a more mature relationship and betrayals criss-cross captivatingly in the web of coincidences..."
    "Auli Mantila, who wrote the screenplay and, once again, gives a subtly intensive performance, brings to a fairly ordinary story a dramaturgic wit, freshening up the narration and wiring up the tensions between characters with electricity and sparks."
    "Why do people write each other letters anyway? Aren't words basically just knives hidden in a piece of paper?" (Lauri Timonen)

What I liked in this movie belonging to The Finnish Short Film Story Project (2012): - The feeling of tension is skillfully developed. - The performances are fine. - The sound world is intriguing.

The key scene is the intervention of the husband (Hannu-Pekka Björkman) to the action of the young hotel maintenance woman (Sinna Virtanen) who has had the notion of intervening in the lives of the married couple by exposing the husband to the love letter she found in the wife's (Auli Mantila) handbag. "Rakkaus ei ole mitään romantiikaa. Toinen ihminen on aiheuttamansa tuskan arvoinen." ("Love has nothing to do with romanticism. Another person is worthy of the pain she's inflicting.")

There is a trend of portraits of unbalanced young women in the Finnish cinema.

The visual quality: low definition look.

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