53th Telluride Film Festival (4-7 Sep 2026) lineup

Poster design: Bella Freud. Colorado Avenue.

Data from the Telluride Film Festival (TFF) website.

The Show:

ACT 3 (d. Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Ireland/U.K., 2026)

ALPHA GANG (d. David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, U.S., 2026)

AVEDON (d. Ron Howard, U.S., 2026)

BOLA NEGRA, LA / THE BLACK BALL (d. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo, Spain/France, 2026)

BUCKING FASTARD (d. Werner Herzog, Ireland/U.S., 2026)

BURGUNDY (d. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, France, 2026)

CARL SAGAN: WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF (d. Nanette Burstein, U.S., 2026)

CLUB KID (d. Jordan Firstman, U.S., 2026)

DEBUT, THE  (d. Jesse Eisenberg, U.S., 2026)

DISCIPLE, THE (d. Joanna Natasegara, U.K./U.S./Morocco, 2026)

ELSINORE (d. Simon Stone, U.K., 2026)

EVEREST: THE OTHER SIDE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S./China/Nepal, 2026)

FATHERLAND (d. Paweł Pawlikowski, Poland/France/Germany/Italy, 2026)

FJORD (d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania/France/Norway/Sweden/ Denmark, 2026)

GENTLE MONSTER (d. Marie Kreutzer, Austria/Germany/France, 2026)

IDIOT(S), THE  (d. Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert, Poland/Germany, 2026)

INCONNUE, L' / THE UNKNOWN  (d. Arthur Harari, France/Italy, 2026)

INK (d. Danny Boyle, U.K./U.S./France, 2026)

LIBERATION, THE  (d. Guy Nattiv, U.S., 2026)

LONG WINTER, A (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2026)

MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE (d. Eleanor Coppola, Italy/U.S., 2026)

MAN I LOVE, THE  (d. Ira Sachs, U.S., 2026)

MINOTAUR (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, France/Germany/Latvia, 2026)

MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART II – EXILE (d. Julia Loktev, U.S., 2026)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM (d. David Greaves, Liani Greaves, U.S., 2026)

ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK, THE  (d. Noah Segan, U.S., 2026)

PETE TOWNSHEND: BEHIND BLUE EYES (d. Frank Marshall, Nigel Sinclair, U.S./U.K., 2026)

REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION (d. Pegah Ahangarani, Czech Republic/Spain, 2026)

ROSE (d. Markus Schleinzer, Austria/Germany, 2026)

ROW, THE  (d. Bryan Fogel, U.S./Australia/Ireland, 2026)

STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM, THE  (d. Mark Cousins, Scotland/U.K., 2026)

SUMO: SPIRIT WEIGHS NOTHING (d. Erik Shirai, U.S./Japan/U.K./ Denmark, 2026)

TENDER LOVING CARE (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2026)

TENZING (d. Jennifer Peedom, U.S./Australia, 2026)

WILD HORSE NINE (d. Martin McDonagh, Chile/U.S., 2026)

A TRIBUTE TO ANDREW HAIGH .

A TRIBUTE TO SANDRA HÜLLER .

A TRIBUTE TO JOHN MALKOVICH .

ROGER CORMAN AT 100 .

Also playing in the main program are two newly restored features: 

BEAU GESTE (d. Herbert Brenon, U.S., 1926)

BEGOTTEN (d. E. Elias Merhige, U.S., 1989/2026)

short films: 

SONG FOR THE SNOW LION, A (d. Pawo Choyning Dorji, Bhutan/ U.S., 2026), 

DANCE THROUGH TIME, A (d. Sarah Gavron, U.K., 2026), 

MAYBE TOMORROW (d. Wafa Mustafa, Waad Al-Kateab, U.K., 2026), 

SAWYER AVENUE, SUNDAY AFTERNOON (d. Bill Morrison, U.S., 2026), 

LOVE, RENDERED (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2026), 

REVOLUTION AGAINST DEATH, THE (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark/Sweden, 2026), 

and Ben Proudfoot’s 

BUFFALO MIRACLE, THE (U.S., 2026) and 

WITT V. AIR FORCE (U.S., 2026).

The 53rd Telluride Film Festival will honor three extraordinary artists whose work has made a significant contribution to the art of cinema. The 2026 Silver Medallions will be presented to acclaimed British writer-director Andrew Haigh, with A LONG WINTER; internationally celebrated German actor Sandra Hüller, with ROSE; and iconic actor, producer and director John Malkovich, with WILD HORSE NINE. Each Tribute program will include a compilation of clips, an on-stage interview and a screening of the recipient’s new work.

Telluride Film Festival is also pleased to welcome acclaimed actor, writer and director Rebecca Hall as this year’s Guest Director. A cherished Festival tradition, the Guest Director program invites a distinguished artist to curate a special selection of films, offering audiences a fresh lens through which to explore cinema history. Her curated program is presented in partnership with Turner Classic Movies, the Festival’s proud sponsor of the Guest Director section this year. Hall will present the following selections:

AKENFIELD (d. Peter Hall, U.K., 1974)

MARGARET (d. Kenneth Lonergan, U.S., 2011)

PORTRAIT OF JASON (d. Shirley Clarke, U.S., 1967)

SERVANT, THE (d. Joseph Losey, U.K., 1963)

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (d. Charlie Kaufman, U.S., 2008)

WHAT’S UP, DOC? (d. Peter Bogdanovich, U.S., 1972)

“This is what we look forward to all year—the chance to bring people together in Telluride and discover films, filmmakers and ideas that we may not have encountered otherwise,” said Festival Director Julie Huntsinger. “There are films in this year’s program that I know audiences will be talking about long after they leave the theater, and there are others that may completely surprise them. That sense of discovery is at the heart of the Festival, and we’re grateful to those who make the pilgrimage. We’re thrilled to welcome our Tribute artists, Guest Director Rebecca Hall, and so many extraordinary filmmakers and guests, but what makes the weekend special is the very simple act of sitting down together, turning off the lights and seeing what happens on the screen. We can’t wait to share this year’s Festival with everyone who makes the trip to Telluride.”

Telluride Film Festival’s Filmmakers of Tomorrow program, sponsored by Google, celebrates emerging voices in cinema through Student Prints, now in its 33rd year, curated by Gregory Nava, and Calling Cards, curated by Barry Jenkins. This year, the Festival also presents Great Expectations, a special program of three exceptional short films curated and introduced by Jenkins.

FILMMAKERS OF TOMORROW

STUDENT PRINTS

CRISIS ACTOR (d. Lily Platt, U.S., 2026, 12m, NYU)

FARMACIAS (d. Martín Montellano, Mexico, 2025, 25m, Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica)

I WANT TO LIVE (d. Jason Elliott, U.S./U.K./Ecuador, 2026, 26m, The National Film and Television School)

COCONUT (d. Ravi Chand, Australia, 2025,12m, University of Melbourne)

STEM (d. Daeil Kim, U.S., 2026, 26m, USC)

CALLING CARDS

PARA LOS CONTRINCANTES (FOR THE OPPONENTS) (d. Federico Luis, Chile/Mexico/France, 2026, 14m)

HORA DE IRSE, LA (TIME TO GO) (d. Renzo Cozza, Argentina, 2026, 20m)

ACID CITY (d. Jack Wedge & Will Freudenheim, U.S., 2026, 13m)

CLASS PHOTO (d. Arnas Balčiūnas, Lithuania, 2026, 17m)

IT LIVES UNDER THE SNOW (d. Igor Smola, Azerbaijan/Singapore, 2025, 16m)

ROCK SPRINGS: 1885 (d. Vera Miao, Canada/U.S., 2026, 31m)

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

TRIANGLE (d. Anaël Dang, France, 2025, 30m)

IN SEARCH OF THE GREY BIRD WITH GREEN STRIPES (d. Saïd Hamich Benlarbi, France/Morocco, 2026, 45m)

YAWMAN MA WALAD (SOMEDAY, A CHILD) (d. Marie-Rose Osta, France/Romania/Lebanon, 2026, 27m)

Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs, sponsored by WBD Access, present students with the opportunity to experience film as an art form and expand their worldviews through screenings and discussions with filmmakers and Festival guests, including: Student Symposium – a weekend-long immersion in cinema for 50 graduate and undergraduate students, with additional support from Golden Globe Foundation; City Lights Project – connecting 18 high school students and six teachers with Festival films and special guests, underwritten by the Artemis Rising Foundation; and FilmLAB – in partnership with the American Film Institute, providing exceptional AFI Fellows with opportunities to learn from world-class filmmakers in a masterclass setting.

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers, will present the following programs, all free and open to the public:

ÂGE D'OR, L' / THE GOLDEN AGE (d. Bérenger Thouin, France/Italy, 2026), preceded by 

STARS WATCH FROM LONG AGO, THE (d. Stacey Steers, U.S., 2026)

HOUSE OF CRITICISM (d. Alison Chernick, U.S., 2026)

ILLUSION OF AN EVERLASTING SUMMER, THE / LA ILUSIÓN DE UN VERANO SIN FIN (d. Alessandra Sanguinetti, Argentina/U.S., 2026)

INTO THE BREACH (d. Freddie Fox, U.K., 2026)

MAVERICK: THE EPIC ADVENTURES OF DAVID LEAN (d. Barnaby Thompson, U.K., 2026)

TO ESCAPE (d. David C. Roberts, U.S., 2026)

NATURAL STATE, THE (d. Matthew Dougherty, U.S., 2026)

ONE MORE TIME (d. Cindy Kleine and André Gregory, U.S., 2026)

ZERO INTENTION OF LIVING QUIETLY (d. Edward Lovelace, U.K., 2026)

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Noon Seminars, sponsored by Apple Original Films, bring Festival guests together to discuss cinema, art and life. Conversations, sponsored by Indian Paintbrush, offer audiences an opportunity to engage in in-depth dialogue with Festival guests. Acting!, a special panel this year, sponsored by Turner Classic Movies, will also be presented during the Festival.

Special Screenings and Festivities include:

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (d. Stanley Kubrick, U.K./U.S., 1968)

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (d. Julie Taymor, U.S./U.K., 2007)

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (d. David Lean, U.K./U.S., 1957)

CHRISTINE (d. Antonio Campos, U.S., 2016)

MARIE ANTOINETTE (d. Sofia Coppola, U.S., 2006)

MOONLIGHT (d. Barry Jenkins, U.S., 2016), celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Telluride premiere

TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA (d. Jane Schoenbrun, U.S./Canada, 2026)

Filmmaking and Technology With Empathy: AI For Societal Benefit, sponsored by Google

The Humanity Dilemma, a multi-media presentation

Marfa Stance Studio: A Groundbreaking Collaboration, including a Roundtable discussion with Women Directors

Roger Corman at 100 panel followed by 

INTRUDER, THE (U.S., 1962)

Amarga Navidad / Bitter Christmas

 

Pedro Almodóvar: Amarga Navidad / Bitter Christmas (ES 2026). Leonardo Sbaraglia (Raúl) and Quim Gutiérrez (Santi).

Pedro Almodóvar: Amarga Navidad / Bitter Christmas (ES 2026). Vexierbild (picture puzzle): Leonardo Sbaraglia (Raúl) / Bárbara Lennie (Elsa). Poster art design by Juan Gatti.

Autofiktio / Autofiktion.

    Un film de Almodóvar. 

    ES 2026. El Deseo S.A. P: Agustín Almodóvar. EX: Esther García.

    D+SC: Pedro Almodóvar. DP: Pau Esteve Birba - colour - Panavision anamorphic 2.39:1 - source format: Arriraw 4.6K - master format: digital intermediate 4K - release format: DCP. PD: Antxon Gómez. AD: Isabel Peinado. Cost: Paco Delgado. Makeup: Ana López-Puigcerver. Hair: Manolo García. SFX: César Abades / Reyes Abades Efectos Especiales. VFX: Tucho Lorenzo. Poster art: Juan Gatti. Graphic design: Gabriel del Boca, Manuel Romero, Juan Sánchez, Pablo Santa María / Studio Gatti. Art and design objects listing: see below. M: Alberto Iglesias. Soundtrack listing: see below. CH: Blanca Li. S: Sergio Bürmann. ED: Teresa Font.

    C: Bárbara Lennie (Elsa), Leonardo Sbaraglia (Raúl), Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (Mónica), Victoria Luengo (Patricia), Patrick Criado (Bonifacio), Milena Smit (Natalia), Quim Gutiérrez (Santi).

    With the collaboration of: Rossy de Palma (Gabriela), Carmen Machi (Doctor), Gloria Muñoz (Elsa's mother) and Amaia Romero.

    Loc: Madrid (including Aranjuez and La Mari Queen where Beau dances as a stripper), Lanzarote (Canary Islands).

    112 min

    Spanish premiere: 19 March 2026

    Festival premiere: 19 May 2026 - Cannes

    Finnish premiere: 28 Aug 2026 -  Cinemanse - Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Sari Selander / Micaela Palmberg.

    Viewed at Finnkino Kinopalatsi 10, 29 Aug 2026

Official synopsis from the press notes: "Bitter Christmas tells two alternating stories, one starring Elsa, an advertising director, in 2004, during a long weekend in December. The second takes place in 2026 and stars Raúl, a screenwriter and director who is writing a script that we soon discover is the story of Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia. Mixed with fiction, Elsa is, in a way, Raúl's alter ego, who resorts to autofiction as a solution to a long period of creative drought. He looks inside himself, and he can't help but also look at the people who make up his most intimate universe: his partner and his assistant."

    "The film narrates the close relationship between reality and fiction, between inspiration and life, raising the debate about the limits of autofiction."

IMDb capsule: "In 2004, an ad director faces a turbulent Christmas weekend. In 2026, a filmmaker turns her story into a screenplay, blurring the lines between reality, fiction, and the people closest to him."

AA: The Finnish title differs from the original Amarga Navidad which means Bitter Christmas. The Finnish Autofiktio [Autofiction] is more indicative of the movie's essence, its elusive character as multiple metafiction. It is a mobile hall of mirrors, also relevant in the context of a recent exciting account of modern and contemporary narrative prose: Edwin Frank's Stranger Than Fiction.

Pedro Almodóvar's original title derives from a song made famous by Chavela Vargas (1919-2012), a Mexican singer-songwriter-actress famous for her "rough voice of tenderness" in the genre of the ranchera. The sequence where Elsa (Bárbara Lennie) and Patricia (Victoria Luenge) sit on a sofa listening to a stunning late recording of Vargas singing "La llorona" ["The Weeping Woman"] is an emotional high water mark, one of the most unforgettable scenes of its kind in the history of the cinema, evoking Fyodor Chalyapin's "Dvenadtsat razboinikov" ["The Twelve Brigands"] (lyr. Nikolai Nekrasov, comp. Nikolai Manykin-Nevstruev) in Vasili Shukshin's Strange People. In both movies, the singer seems to interpret what the characters could not begin to articulate.

Autofiction draws from deep sources. One of them is Nordic, in the cinema most famously an obsession of Ingmar Bergman's in a cycle of metafictions of his own, inspired by August Strindberg. Fellini and Bergman are evoked in Almodóvar's film. Fellini called himself "a sincere liar" who draws from his life to tell stories. Bergman's approach in autofiction can be compared with Goethe's Dichtung und Wahrheit aus meinem Leben (in German, Dichtung means both "poetry" and "fiction"). You mine your life and transform it into poetry. Strindberg and Bergman were brutally honest and self-critical about the artist-vampire sucking the blood of people closest to him and transforming it into drama. This is also the great theme of Almodóvar in Amarga Navidad.

Visually, Bitter Christmas is sumptuous, a feast of colourism in a glorious scope frame. The cinematography, the interior design and the costume design are of the highest order. Presumably from his own art collection, Almodóvar highlights a painting from Asher Liftin's window series which brings new insight into the movie's reflection on reality and illusion. It is a window of illusion.

Visually the most stunning scene is the opening image at Lanzarote: an extreme high angle shot showing Elsa and Patricia on the black lava beach. In de luxe settings we follow Trauerarbeit among women - suffering from depression, panic disorder, loss of a child, separation and writer's block. On the other hand there are new emphases: the joy brought by the presence of a child, and the uninhibited female joy and desire at the spectacle of the strip-tease of the gorgeous firefighter Bonifacio (Patrick Criado).

Bitter Christmas is a film in search of its core, and the core is found in the finale. Raúl Rossetti (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is the male half in the protagonist-Doppelgänger. Both he and Elsa fight a writer's block with autofiction. Raúl's indispensable assistant, his right-hand person, Mónica (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), is also his most honest reader. This time Mónica says that Raúl is going too far with his autofiction discoveries. It is the greatest crisis in their collaboration. The final lesson. The end or perhaps a new beginning.

The lesson is about friendship. A true friend tells you the truth you don't want to hear.

Bitter Christmas is engrossing from the beginning to the end. It is a feast in mise-en-scène and colour design. The composition is a joy to the eye. I love the warm and tender colour play on the women's faces. The movie is a secular passion play with a powerful life-affirming current underneath. It is full of the joy of the cinema.

The concept of "a minor work" is evoked in the protagonists' agonizing around their writers' blocks, and Fellini and Bergman are mentioned in this context. Late in their careers the Italian and the Swede did minor work. Bitter Christmas? If this is minor work, I look forward for more.

...

SOUNDTRACK LISTING (from IMDb):

    "Las simples cosas" – written by Julio César Isella and Armando Tejada Gómez, performed by Amaia Romero

    "La llorona" – written by Luis Martínez Serrano, performed by Chavela Vargas

    "Amarga navidad" – written by José Alfredo Jiménez, performed by Chavela Vargas

    "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" – written by Astor Piazzolla, performed by Grace Jones

    "Run Baby Run" – written by Amanda Lear and Anton Monn, performed by Amanda Lear

...

ART AND DESIGN (from Agnish Ray):

Curated by Pedro Almodóvar with Antxón Gómez and Isabel Peinado in an idiom of Pop Art modernism.

DESIGN

    Bubble Sofa designed by Sacha Lakic in Patricia's house. Part of the Cromática collection curated by Almodóvar for Roche Bobois in 2025.

    The Divided Headboard, a metaphor for the boundary between reality and fiction.

    Design lamps including pieces by Gae Aulenti

    Superleggera armchair by Gio Ponti.

    Cornaro sofa by Carlo Scarpa.

    A Lámina ceiling light by Antoni Arola for Santa & Cole.

    Angel Wing floor lamp by Alvar Aalto for Artek.

    Cassina sofa by Le Corbusier.

    Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.

    Explorer table and Multileg cabinet by Jaime Hayon for BD Barcelona.

ART

    Sigfrido Martín Begué: Santa Cecilia (1987)

    Miguel Ángel Campano

    Inka Essenhigh

    Asher Liftin: Studio Window IV (Hot Winter Sun)

HOMES

    The Madrid residence of the architect Francisco de Asís Cabrero (1962).

    The Lanzarote home La Cabaña designed by Yoann Le Mercier. Complete with the original Honoré armchair, a Blasco linen sofa and Roger Capron ceramic coffee tables. Additions: vases by César Manrique, Lanzarote's most defining architect.

    "It’s part of a wider chromatic shift across Almodóvar's career: while his earlier works celebrated red, apricot and albero tones, his recent creations lean towards more melancholic shades of blue, green and grey." (Agnish Ray)

Source: Agnish Ray: "How do you build a universe fit for a Pedro Almodóvar film?" (Wallpaper, August 2026)

Päivien lumo / Days of Wonder

Karin Pennanen: Päivien lumo / Days of Wonder (FI/DK/NO 2025). Featuring Markku Pennanen (1949-2021).

A portrait documentary of the life, works and legacy of the artist Markku Pennanen (1949-2021).

    Dagarnas skimmer.

    FI/DK/NO © 2025 Avanton Productions Oy, Good Company Pictures, Mechanix Film AS. Year of theatrical release: 2026. P: Sonja Lindén.

    D+SC: Karin Pennanen. Cin: Pietari Peltola, Ville Tanttu. M: Markku Pennanen. S: Ville Katajala. ED: Markus Leppälä.

    AN: WiredFly: producer Lars Amby, director Katrine Glenhammer, based on the rough cut by Markku Pennanen.

   Featuring: Markku Pennanen, Karin Pennanen, Jukka Pennanen, Agneta Hobin. Martti Suosalo (voice actor of Markku Pennanen in the final segment). Marja-Leena.

    Based on the Markku Pennanen archive.

    Yle arkisto sources / Eva Andberg: Kell’ onni on: Omenapuiden varjossa (1980), Norssi - 100-vuotias Helsingin normaalilyseo (1967), Hermoprässi (1963), Joukkotiedotus 2 (1973), Päivä Helsingin liikenteessä (1974), Lauantai Helsingissä (1966), Yhteinen koulutie (1957), Teatterissa tapahtuu (1965), Romantikon tunnustukset (1968), Jazzia vanhassa talossa (1961), Musiikkiykkönen (1973), Vinkkeli (1974), Levottomat palat 01 (1982), Kulttuuriraportti (1981), Kontakt (1994), Onko ulkoavaruudessa elämää? (1981), Myöhäisuutiset. Uutiset ja sää. (1965), A plus (2000).

    Soundtrack selections include: "Amarcord" (Nino Rota, 1973), "Apache" (Jerry Lordan, 1960), "Clair de lune" (Claude Debussy, 1890).

    Languages: Finnish and Swedish.

    88 min

    Award: Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn 2025: best international documentary.

    Award: DocPoint, Helsinki 2026: best film in the national competition.

    Award: Tampere Film Festival 2026: special award in the national competition of films over 30 min.

    Theatrical release: 28 Aug 2026 - Pirkanmaan Elokuvakeskus - Swedish subtitles by Monica Ödahl Åminne

    Viewed at Finnkino Kino-Palatsi 9, Helsinki, 29 Aug 2026

Elonet: "A documentary portrait by Karin Pennanen, a personal study of the director's uncle Markku who lived the life of a hermit. After his death, an incredible artistic oeuvre was discovered at his home."

Official: "The director discovers the hidden world of his reclusive artist uncle and sets out to make a film about it - much to her own surprise, this takes place in collaboration with her uncle. A curious interchange ensues, opening a privileged view into a passionate artistic creation and a decidedly singular way of life. Days of Wonder tells about creativity as a way of life, complex family relationships, love and the touch of death. Equally it is a film about a journey towards one's own self and accepting one's choices. Perhaps attainable only via an acceptance of the unfinished in the world and the self."

Karin Pennanen: "I have always been interested in what happens in the margins. My uncle Markku's urge to live a life on his own terms has inspired me. Art and life are inseparable in his case. Instead of ambition, Markku was driven by passion. The process interested him more than the result. This attitude of Markku's stops me on my tracks to reflect the motives of my own work on a deep level. I believe that we all have much to learn from people like Markku. And invisible Markkus exist in every family. My movie also deals with the quintessentially Finnish characteristic of failure to connect. Who is authorized to define what a meaningful life is?" (translations are mine)

AA: At last I catch Karin Pennanen's acclaimed Days of Wonder, which has been garnering awards on both sides of the Baltic Sea since last year. It is a personal study of the director's eccentric uncle, beloved by the children of the family circle as a magician and a storyteller, now discussed by the grown-up Pennanen as a fellow artist.

Days of Wonder belongs to a documentary phenomenon in which the artist-protagonist is a passionate curator of a personal archive which becomes the source of his/her own biopic. Mika Taanila's The Future Is Not What It Used to Be (FI 2002) about Erkki Kurenniemi (1941-2017) comes to mind.

It belongs also to a fascinating phenomenon in which the artist is not interested in exhibiting his/her work. Recently discovered sensations include Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) and Iria Leino (1932-2022).

We live in such an exaggerated period of the attention economy that reclusiveness appears as an appealing act of resistance.

We are so used to thinking that art belongs to an exhibition that we forget that there has been since times immemorial a contrary practice. Cave paintings were often created in the deepest reaches where they were almost impossible to access. They were not meant to be seen but to exist, since they had magical powers. The same thinking extends to voodoo dolls and such indigenous cultures in which image taboos and bans are obeyed. With the image it is possible to control the depicted.

Markku Pennanen certainly did not subscribe to image magic. His art was solely for self-expression, and besides images he was talented in music and storytelling. He was a great raconteur and an engaging conversationalist. Because of his eccentricism he stayed outside regular family life. He liked women and was charming with them but did not pursue relationships.

Apparently Markku was exceptionally intelligent, Mensa class, but the blessing became a curse. He was bullied and sidelined. He was a high school drop-out, Sibelius Academy drop-out and Art Academy drop-out. He became a successful investor, but in the infamous 2000 Sonera crash he lost everything and survived as a newspaper deliveryman.

Public life disappointed and betrayed Markku, but he pursued private art worlds and created outsider art. His life was his art, archived in sound diaries, home movies, paintings, drawings and collages, now co-curated by Karin Pennanen. Markku was interested in animation and collages, and his rough edits have been brought to finish for this movie by WiredFly (produced by Lars Amby and directed by Katrine Glenhammer).

The movie ends in its most haunting sequence. Home movie footage of a lit tennis court in the evening brings back a lost childhood memory when Markku was three. Like in a trance he rises to a bird's-eye view with access to another reality, another home.

Eero Nelimarkka (2026 Ateneum exhibition)

 

Eero Nelimarkka. The Ateneum exhibition catalogue

Eero Nelimarkka: Vanhus ja portaat [An Old Lady at the Staircase], n.d. Oil on canvas, 67,5 x 66 cm. Nelimarkka-Rahasto sr., Nelimarkka-museo. My scan from the exhibition catalogue.

Eero Nelimarkka: Maisema Seinäjoelta [A Landscape at Seinäjoki], 1962. Oil on canvas, 149,5 x 230,5 cm. Nelimarkka-Rahasto sr., Nelimarkka-museo. My scan from the exhibition catalogue.

In Finnish art, Eero Nelimarkka is a household name, even bordering on the over-familiar, because he was in huge demand and able to create on a conveyor belt paintings of his beloved Pohjanmaa / Österbotten / Ostrobothnia landscapes. It was even joked that he must have had a wallpaper roll of Ostrobothnian oils from which he could sell pieces on demand. 

Myself, with an Ostrobothnian background, am moved by those landscapes, and today's exhibition has a room (3.9) full of them. I particularly prefer the "scope" / "double carré" format, at best with a low skyline, the plains unfolding under a magnificent sky. An inevitable point of comparison are the Westerns such as John Ford's landscapes / soulscapes. Nelimarkka's landscapes are eerie, because there are no people, although they are always cultivated with fields and barns.

Helene Schjerfbeck was an inspiration for Nelimarkka, not least in the commitment to self-portraits, and according to the exhibition information, Nelimarkka painted probably more self-portraits than any other Finnish painter (room 3.12). There is usually an expression of grim determination and a sideways glance, sometimes plain agony. Nelimarkka was a self-made man who rose to the top from conditions of grinding poverty. Hardship marked him. In a country which during his lifetime endured four wars, the Great Depression and the tough post-WWII reconstruction, people could identify with him.

Religion was a profound aspect in Nelimarkka's life. He painted explicitly religious works such as altarpieces, but a dimension of transcendence is ubiquitous in his entire oeuvre. It can be felt in the immense skies of his landscapes and the suffering in his auto-portraits.

His interiors have been singled out as special by critics such as Marja-Terttu Kivirinta, and today they are the big discovery for me. Nelimarkka's interiors can be can be compared with Vermeer, Schjerfbeck (The Door), Hammershøi and Hopper. The views are ordinary, but there is a presence of something extraordinary. The stairways, the doors and the windows seem to lead to the beyond.

Like Caspar David Friedrich, Nelimarkka often portrays people in Rückenfigur, with their back turned to us. Nelimarkka's group portraits are severe and solemn, but I imagine a smile lurking behind the serious pose. A loving glow radiates from the portraits of his wife Saima. His portraits of babies are sensitive and tender. His nudes are warm and sensual, self-confident women happy about their beauty as God intended, not objects of male gaze.

Nelimarkka was a well-travelled man whose favourite city was Paris. The avid visitor of Le Louvre found his direction in the mighty continuity of world art. Awareness of contemporary and international trends did not tempt him to follow them. Instead Paris encouraged him to find a world of his own and portray it in a way of his own.

Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared 1–4 (FI 2026). Top: Saga Sarkola as Maura. Below: Johannes Holopainen (Aaro), Pekka Strang (Erkka), Oona Airola (Linda).

L'Écho du silence / La noia desapareguda [Catalan title].

    FI © Reelmedia 2024. Year of Polar+/Canal+ release 2025. Year of Finnish release 2026. MTV original series. P: Pauliina Teirikari. EX: Johanna Enäsuo, Marko Röhr, Janne Vakio (MTV Finland), Marjukka Laurila (MTV Finland)

    D+SC+original story: Simo Halinen - based on his novel (2022). Chat dialogue: Jemina Juuti. DP: Päivi Kettunen. Underwater cinematography: Teemu Liakka. Post: James Post. PD: Otto Lume. Cost: Anna Vilppunen. Makeup: Minna Pilvinen. VFX: Sami Haartemo. Graphic design: Tuukka Tujula, Sami Haartemo. M: Timo Hietala. S: Zacharias Kullman. ED: Joona Louhivuori. Casting: Vera Melleri.

    C: Saga Sarkola (Maura), Johannes Holopainen (Aaro), Pekka Strang (Erkka), Oona Airola (Linda), Senja Poikonen (Ronja).

    Tuomas Rinta-Panttila (Makkonen), Konsta Laakso (Otso), Leea Klemola (Aaro's mother), Linda Hämäläinen (Malla), Stefan Karlsson (theatre actor), Markus Ilkka Uolevi (theatre actor), Kimmo Rasila (theatre actor), Miska Kaukonen (therapist), Mika Kujala (psychologist), Mari Lehtonen (hospital ward manager), Kati Uhlgren (patient in rehabilitation), Janne Mattila (police officer), Jonne Karttula (police officer), Gabriela Rodriguez (police officer), Jukka Pietilä (cantor).

    The dog: Bono, a white shepherd dog.

    Loc: Turku, Helsinki, Ruissalo, Raisio, Vepsä, Pohjankulma, Munstenpellonkatu, Ruoholahti.

    Four episodes of 41 min. Total duration 164 min

    Released by Polar+-/Canal+ in April 2025 in France and Poland.

    Released at MTV Katsomo+ streaming service 20 Aug 2026.

    Vimeo link viewed at home, 23 Aug 2026.

MTV Katsomo official promotion: "MTV's taut new series The Girl Who Disappeared weaves together a story about a crime from the past from three different viewpoints. Based on an eponymous novel by Simo Halinen, the four-part series stars Saga Sarkola, Johannes Holopainen, Oona Airola and Pekka Strang. The series has been written and directed by Simo Halinen."

"The Girl Who Disappeared is a thriller series about a sinister crime whose shadow falls upon four people. In the summer night, Aaro meets the sympathetic and enigmatic Maura with whom he falls in love, leading to a passionate relationship of a kind that Aaro had never even dared to dream about. Suddenly Maura disappears, and Aaro finds out that nothing Maura told about herself is true - did the woman even exist? As an insurance lawyer Aaro is able to track Maura down. It turns out that a crime in the past has left a permanent mark on Maura."

""The Girl Who Disappeared unfolds in a style of which I have always been very fond. It is not a straightforward thriller but a fabric growing denser from episode to episode, demanding attention from the viewer. It is driven by subtle performances. A long time I had wanted to work with Saga, Johannes, Pekka and Oona. The fact that I succeeded to engage them all made the shooting process in Turku exceptionally rewarding, which I hope is also reflected in the end result", Halinen says." (my translation)

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared (FI 2026). Episode 1: Katoaminen saarella / [Disappearance on an Island]. Saga Sarkola as Maura.

Jakso 1: Katoaminen saarella / [Disappearance on an Island].

    "Aaro meets Maura on a summer night in Helsinki. A relationship is ignited, and Maura tempts Aaro to a boat trip. During the trip, Maura's behaviour turns strange, and in the morning Aaro discovers that Maura has disappeared."

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared (FI 2026). Episode 2: Isän tyttö / [Daddy's Girl]. Oona Airola as Linda. Pekka Strang as Erkka.

Jakso 2: Isän tyttö / [Daddy's Girl]

    "Erkka receives a message insisting him to leave Linda and Ronja (Senja Poikonen) alone. He learns from Linda that Ronja's real mother is Maura. Erkka has a premonition and demands an explanation. Is he Ronja's father?"

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared (FI 2026). Episode 3: Kuka on Erik Halme? / [Who Is Erik Halme?]. Pekka Strang as Erkka. 

Jakso 3: Kuka on Erik Halme? / [Who Is Erik Halme?]

    "Erkka threatens to tell Linda that he is Ronja's father. Maura remembers the events of the past differently and accuses Erkka of rape. Finally Maura realizes that the only one who can help her is Aaro."

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi / The Girl Who Disappeared (FI 2026). Episode 4: Mauran demonit / [Maura's Demons]. Johannes Holopainen as Aaro.

Jakso 4: Mauran demonit / [Maura's Demons]

    "Maura receives a phone call from Ronja who seems frightened. Erkka has moved in with them, and Ronja feels uncomfortable about Erkka. Maura realizes that Ronja is in danger. She must save her." (Synopsis translations by me).

AA: Simo Halinen's The Girl Who Disappeared is a haunting contemporary crime series about a dangerous love affair between Aaro (Johannes Holopainen), an insurance lawyer, and Maura (Saga Sarkola), a mystery woman. Their paths cross in summertime Helsinki, and a passionate relationship emerges. 

A shared background in dysfunctional families may be an unconscious denominator which brings them together. Much is unresolved and unexplored in their lives. Both are awkward in relationships. Theirs is not a casual affair.

When Maura disappears and Aaro starts making inquiries, the authorities merely state that Aaro has been dumped. But Aaro senses that this would be out of character. He is not naive, but he is deeply disturbed when he discovers that nothing Maura had told him was true. Nothing, that is, of the external facts, starting with a real name and occupation. But the passion is real and all-important.

Gradually Aaro begins to discover the shocking truth about Maura. Her life has been broken by sexual abuse and blackmail as a teenager, and she has become a teenage mother, her daughter Ronja officially adopted by her big sister Linda. Maura's personality has been severely disturbed, and she entertains suicidal thoughts. In the final settling of accounts with the predator, bloody manslaughter cannot be avoided.

The Girl Who Disappeared is a moody thriller about broken lives. The voice of life-affirmation is quiet but irrepressible. The silent resolve of Johannes Holopainen as Aaro is convincing. Saga Sarkola conveys the psychological complexity of Maura memorably.

The novel on which the tv series is based has two first person narrators: M (man) and N (nainen = woman). The tv series is not a double narrative, but it is non-linear and follows separate stories in jumbled timelines.

The Girl Who Disappeared, a psychological thriller, is character-driven, and the cast is great. Saga Sarkola (Maura), Johannes Holopainen (Aaro), Pekka Strang (Erkka) and Oona Airola (Linda) carry the main roles. The story is also landscape-driven. Essential locations are found in summertime nature. Water and the sea offer powerful imagery with timeless poetic dimensions.

The Girl Who Disappeared belongs to films with Vertigo affinities. These include some imagery and some main themes such as woman as an illusion and a history of sexual abuse. Unlike Hitchcock, Halonen does not pursue the transcendental and the metaphysical. His story is firmly set in reality. The issues are about commitments and responsibility, unflinching in matters of fatal consequences such as rape, teenage pregnancy and murder.

I have always followed Simo Halinen with interest, including the most recent movies Kerron sinulle kaiken / Open Up to Me (2013, its lead actress Leea Klemola striking also in The Girl Who Disappeared) and Kääntöpiste / East of Sweden (2018). I was converted by his first feature films Minerva (1997, which I included in my annual list of favourite films) and Cyclomania (2001, one of my favourite Helsinki movies), and even before them I had registered his name in student works such as Variksenpelätti ([Scarecrow], 1989).

The Girl Who Disappeared is a new experiment in non-linear narrative. As in William Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun, "The past is never dead. It's not even past". We keep returning to key situations from new angles and added pieces of information which change the meaning of what we thought we knew, but: "How little we know", as Lauren Bacall sang in To Have and Have Not. 

Halonen avoids melodrama and romantic splendour. He favours understatement and subtlety. Since this is a suspense thriller, I would have welcomed more intensity. Maura and Aaro are sleepwalkers in their own lives. Their chance meeting is a wake-up call. A great love story is supposed to be electrifying. I would not mind seeing more sparks fly.

Simo Halinen: Nainen joka katosi (2022). Novel published by CrimeTime / Docendo / WSOY. Hard cover. 208 pages. Suomen dekkariseuran Vuoden esikoisdekkari -palkinto / Annual award for the best debut in the detective novel, in February 2023. Book cover design: Jussi Karjalainen.

The Invite (2026)

Olivia Wilde: The Invite (US 2026). Olivia Wilde (Angela), Seth Rogen (Joe), Penélope Cruz (Piña), Edward Norton (Hawk).

L'Invitation / La invitación / O Convite / Meghívás / Kutse / Ielūgums / Kvietimas / Ha'Hazmana / Приглашение.

    US © 2026 Invite Productions, Inc. PC: Invite Productions, Inc., Annapurna Pictures, FilmNation Entertainment, Permut Presentations. P: David Permut, Ben Browning, Megan Ellison.

    D: Olivia Wilde. SC: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones – based on the movie Sentimental / The People Upstairs (ES 2020) written and directed by Cesc Gay based on his play Els veïns de dalt / Los vecinos de arriba (ES 2015). DP: Adam Newport-Berra – Panavision XL2 cameras – negative format: 35 mm – colour – 1.85:1 – source format: Super 35 – master format: digital intermediate 4K – release format: DCP. PD: Jade Healy. Cost: Arianne Phillips. Makeup: Jorjee Douglass. Hair. Christopher Fulton. M: Devonté Hynes. M supervisor: George Drakoulias. Soundtrack: see below. *** S: Niv Adiri - Dolby Digital. ED: Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Ant Boys [Anthony Boys]. 

    C: Seth Rogen (Joe), Olivia Wilde (Angela), Penélope Cruz (Piña), Edward Norton (Hawk).

    Consultant: Esther Perel. “She was much more than a consultant on this film, she was an oracle” (Olivia Wilde).

    Loc: San Francisco, California. 21 April – 21 May, 2025.

    Motto: "One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry." (Lord Illingworth in A Woman of No Importance [1893], Act III, by Oscar Wilde). *

    Dedication: "For Diane" [Diane Keaton, 1946–2025]. **

    108 min

    Languages: English, Spanish

    Genres: comedy, drama

    Festival premiere: 24 Jan 2026 Sundance Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival

    US premiere: 26 June 2026 (limited), 10 July 2026 (wide) – distributed by A24.

    Finnish premiere: 14 Aug 2026 – distributed by SF Film Finland Oy – Finnish / Swedish subtitles: Frej Grönholm / Jonas Fåhraeus.

    Viewed at Finnkino Tennispalatsi 13, Helsinki, 14 Aug 2026

PREVIOUS FILM ADAPTATIONS

Sentimental (ES 2020), D: Cesc Gay.

Vicini da casa (IT 2022), D: Paolo Costella.

Die Nachbarn von oben (DE 2023), D: Sabine Boss.

Et plus si affinités (FR 2024), D: Olivier Ducray & Wilfried Méance.

Neprilichnye gosti / Neprilitshnyje gosti / Неприличные гости (RU 2024), D: Goga Mamadzhanyan.

V dobrém i zlém (CZ 2025), D: Marta Ferencova.

Witjip saramdeul / 윗집 사람들 (KO 2025), D: Ha Jung-woo.

Official premise: "Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela's (Olivia Wilde) marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors (Edward Norton & Penélope Cruz) for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?"

AA: The Invite is an offbeat, hilarious, controversial and taboo-breaking contemporary comedy about sex and marriage.

It feels completely original, although it is based on a Spanish play written in 2015 and already adapted for seven films in seven different countries before.

The director Olivia Wilde, the screenwriters Will McCormack and Rashida Jones and the actors have customized and interiorized Cesc Gay's play to the American idiom and set it in tolerant San Francisco.

The movie is character-driven, and there are four characters that matter. Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen) live in an apartment inherited by Angela. They are married with a 12-year-old daughter who is away at a sleepover. 

The couple upstairs consists of Piña, a therapist (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk, a retired firefighter (Edward Norton). They are free spirits and polygamous. Angela and Joe are monogamous. Piña and Hawk are hip. Angela and Joe are square.

Angela has invited Piña and Hawk to apologize for the construction noise she and Joe have caused because of the prolonged renovation of their historic apartment. In fact it has turned into a meticulous restoration project of which Angela is very proud.

To Angela's horror, Joe confronts the couple with a complaint of his own: the loud noise of sex upstairs. Piña and Hawk have sex all the time. As for Angela and Joe, their last time was a year ago.

This is just the start of a discourse which leads to revelations about sex parties, varieties of sex practices and an impromptu attempt at partner-swapping.

The Invite offers an interesting contribution to the subject of "male gaze". Voyeurism / exhibitionism is among the taboos discussed. It turns out that Angela has a habit of walking nude past a window and does not mind that Hawk is watching. Whereas Piña has noticed in the elevator Joe's inability to prevent his eyes from wandering towards her admirable breasts.

The second taboo is polygamy and sex parties. The catalogue of consent grows into a humoristic feature.

The third taboo is the difficulty of a woman to climax in a heterosexual relationship. Joe is irritated by Piña's "spectacular orgasms", but Angela is genuinely intrigued by her uninhibited cries at night.

The biggest taboo is bed death in marriage. In this, the film-makers have been inspired by Esther Perel,  “much more than a consultant on this film, she was an oracle”.

The Invite is a great comedy and great therapy. Recommended for couples. Sex death is difficult / impossible to discuss. The Invite an invitation to break the barrier. Sex can be reinvented at every stage of life.

It is a comedy of embarrassment in every way: Joe's awkward adventures with his folded mountain bike, Angela's unpreparedness to host a dinner party. More profoundly, it is a comedy of a multiple culture clash.

All this is but a surface. Beyond the slapstick and the farce, The Invite is a tender and humane essay on relationships. Gradually we learn key background facts such as Hawk's trauma: his wife has died of cancer, and Piña helped him recover. We also get references to the status of artists and people working in the field of culture today: "nobody in America can afford anything".

The cast is great. I single out Edward Norton because of his unique way of navigating offensive situations and always ending up in a place of dignity. His sense of humour is of the most refined kind.

The movie has been shot on 35 mm film by Adam Newport-Berra on Panavision XL2 cameras. A subtle, vivid and vibrant colour world has been maintained in the digital transfer.

The Invite is the first film directed by Olivia Wilde I have seen. I look forward to revisiting it and seeing also her previous films Booksmart and Don't Worry Darling.

 

* "The film opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde. While sharing a last name, Olivia Wilde is not related to the Irish author. A dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, Olivia Wilde derived her professional surname from Oscar Wilde while in high school to honor the writers in her family, many of whom used pen names." (IMDb)

** "Before the end credits roll, a message reading "To Diane" is shown. This is for Diane Keaton, who played director Olivia Wilde's mother in Love the Coopers (2015). At the Los Angeles premiere of this film, Wilde elaborated on the choice, saying she "really wanted to show this movie to Diane. I don't think that there is an Invite without Diane Keaton because she's in so many of the films that inspired this film. She is the first actress I recognized to kind of represent a totally unique and complex woman; she didn't fit any archetype, she was singular in her vulnerability, her complexity, her creativity. She's unlike anyone else and she was very encouraging to me personally, and I just wanted this to be for her."" (IMDb: The Invite (2026)).

*** SOUNDTRACK (IMDb)

I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)

Written by Al Neiburg, Doc Daugherty, and Ellis Reynolds

Performed by Fabienne Delsol

Courtesy of Damaged Goods Records

By exclusive agreement with Heyday Media Group

High School Hero

Written by Ole Høyer (as Norman Dane)

Courtesy of APM Music

Coppélia: Act I - Valse

Written by Léo Delibes

Performed by Symfonický orchester Slovenského rozhlasu (as Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra), Andrew Mogrelia

Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Suite for Cello

Written by Gaspar Cassado (as Gaspar Cassadó)

Palladio: I. Allegretto

Written by Karl Jenkins

By Your Side (2000 from album Lovers Rock, on the cover of the single as "Sade By Your Side", music video D: Sophie Muller)

Written by Sade (as Helen Adu), Paul Denman, Andrew Hale, and Stuart Matthewman

Performed by Sade

Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

Our House – Demo (original song 1970, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu)

Written by Graham Nash (as Graham William Nash)

Performed by Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell

Courtesy of Iconic Artists Group

...

PLUS

Georges Bizet: "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle", the habanera from Carmen (1875), adapted from the habanera "El arreglito ou la Promesse de mariage" by Sebastián Iradier (1863), first believed by Bizet to be a folk song, mistake later corrected by him in the libretto.

The Economist 8 Nov 2025 cover story "The relationship recession". The internet age: less relationships than ever, less marriages than ever, less sex than ever, a collapse of sperm quality in the computer age (perhaps due to radiation), a global crash in birthrates.

The Odyssey (2026)

 

Christopher Nolan: The Odyssey (GB/US 2026). Matt Damon as Odysseus.

Οδύσσεια / Odissea / La Odisea / A Odisseia / L'Odyssée /  Die Odyssee / Odyssea /  Odiseja / Odisėja / Odüsseia / Odüsszeia / Odyseja / Одиссея.

    GB/US © 2026 Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures Presents. A Syncopy Production. EX: Thomas Hayslip. P: Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan. Co-P: Andy Thompson, Helen Medrano.

    Written for the screen and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the epic poem Odyssey / Ὀδύσσεια / Odysseia, 24 books in Homeric Greek from the 8th century BCE, attributed to Homer. In Finnish: Odysseia, Otto Manninen (1924), Pentti Saarikoski (1972) and Odysseuksen harharetket, Paavo Castrén (2016, his new translation of the complete epic included in his tome Homeros: Troijan sota ja Odysseuksen harharetket). The main source about the Trojan Horse is Aeneid / Aeneis, Golden Latin, by Virgil, 19 BCE.

    DP: Hoyte Van Hoytema. Shot and finished on film – negative format 65 mm – cinematographic process: IMAX – release formats 35 mm, 70 mm, DCP – aspect ratios 1.43:1 (IMAX 70 mm & Dual Laser) – 1.85:1 (theatrical, constant width) – 2.39:1 (theatrical, constant height) – 2.20:1 (70 mm). 

    PD: Ruth De Jong. Cost: Ellen Mirojnick. Makeup: Luisa Abel. Hair: Gloria Casny. VFX: Andrew Jackson. SFX: Scott R. Fisher. M: Ludwig Göransson. Song during final credits: "When I'm Home" (James Blake, Ludwig Göransson, Travis Scott, Christopher Nolan). ED: Jennifer Lame. Casting: John Papsidera.

    C: Matt Damon (Odysseus, king of Ithaca), Anne Hathaway (Penelope, queen of Ithaca), Tom Holland (Telemachus, Odysseus' son), Robert Pattinson (Antinous, an Ithacan suitor of Penelope), Lupita Nyong'O (dual role as Helen of Troy / and her sister Clytemnestra, queen of Mycenae), Charlize Theron (Calypso, an immortal nymph), Zendaya (twin role as the Troyan priestess of Athena and the goddess Athena herself), Samantha Morton (Circe), John Leguizamo (Eumaeus, blind swineherd, servant of Odysseus), Jon Bernthal (Menelaus, king of Sparta, husband of Helen of Troy), Himesh Patel (Eurylochus, second-in-command to Odysseus’ crew), Bill Irwin (Polyphemos, a Cyclops, a one-eyed giant), Elliot Page (Sinon, a Greek warrior), Benny Safdie (Agamemnon, king of Mycenae), Corey Hawkins (Polybus, an Ithacan suitor), Ryan Hurst (Mentor: guide, bodyguard and teacher of Telemachus), Mia Gothe and Logan Marshall-Green (twin siblings Melantho and Melanthius, treacherous servants of Penelope and Odysseus), Travis Scott (Phemius, a bard), James Remar (Tiresias), Kate Fuglei (Eurycleia).

    The part of the dog Argos is played by several dogs of all ages of the ancient Portuguese Podengo breed.

    Dedicated to David Keighley.

    Filming dates: Feb – Aug 2025.

    Loc: Morocco (Ait Ben Haddou, Essaouira, Marrakesh, Dakhla), Western Sahara, Greece (Messinia, Methoni Castle, Pylos, Corinth, Nestor's Cave [the Cyclops' lair]), Italy (Sicily: Favignana [Ithaca], Aeolian Islands), Malta, Iceland [the underworld] (Markarfljot River, Sydra Skogarnes, Hjorleifshofdi Beach), Scotland (Moray: Findlater Castle, Culbin Forest, Sunnyside Beach), England (Heythorp Zoological Gardens) and the United States. 

    Studios: Stage 12 and Falls Lake, Universal Studios, Universal City. – Stages 9 and 27, Sony Picture Studios, Culver City.

    172 min

    Gala premiere: 6 July 2026 London (Odeon Luxe Leicester Square).

    France, Belgium, Switzerland: Wednesday 15 July 2026.

    Global release (UK, US and others): Friday 17 July 2026 

    Finnish premiere: 17 July 2026 – released by Finnkino – Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Topi Oksanen / Frej Grönholm.

    FIRST VIEWING on DCP at 2.39:1 at Kuvalinna (Savon Kinot) (Dolby 7.1, digital 2K), Savonlinna, 17 July 2026.

    SECOND VIEWING at Finnkino Itis Helsinki IMAX, at 1.43:1, 9 Aug 2026

    A 315 m² curved floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall screening, 4K laser projection technology (installed 30 Nov 2018), digital 12.0-channel sound system.

Official: "Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to screens worldwide as the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX® Film Cameras."

AA: Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is a full-blown Hollywood blockbuster and a fresh interpretation of Homer's timeless saga. Recommended for everybody, including lovers of the classics of Antiquity, not despite its departures from the original but because of them.

    It is an adaptation for the 21st century, the cinema's superhero age. The ancient superpowers of Pallas Athena, Zeus and Poseidon are at large. Only Athena appears as a visible presence. Odysseus himself is not a superhero, not even a hero. He is an antihero, human and fallible, more than a sum of his contradictions, strengths and weaknesses. At a distance of millennia we still relate to him.   

XENIA

The concept is great. Odyssey the movie is theme-driven, and the theme is xenia – hospitality to the stranger and the asylum seeker. In the movie it is called Zeus' Law.

    "Don't be rude to the stranger, for he may be God in disguise."

    This supreme virtue was discussed by Hesiod, Homer's contemporary, in Works and Days. Its legendary dramatization, the tale of Philemon and Baucis, survives in a classic form in Ovid's Metamorphoses, written 700 years later.

    Issues of hospitality and breaches against hospitality appear at every stage. Even before The Iliad begins, Paris, a prince of Troy, enjoys the hospitality of Sparta but elopes with Helen the Queen, the most beautiful woman in the world. The treachery ignites the Trojan War.

LOVE

Nolan excels in violence. Love has been diluted. We hear the Sirens singing but hardly see them through the thick fog. The seductive beings have inspired countless artists, not Nolan. 

    Missing is the young Princess Nausicaa of the happy and peaceful island of Phaeacia and her entourage of bathing beauties who save the shipwrecked naked Odysseus. A missed legitimate opportunity to display male physical glory, paying tribute to the sculpture of classical Antiquity, in which male physique was preferred. More importantly, a missed chance for a moving vignette of the earliest surviving tale of unrequited love. According to Aristotle, Nausicaa later married Telemachus, Odysseus' son. Phaeacia is also essential for the theme of xenia, the one kingdom of peace and harmony, though defending itself against an abuse of xenia.

    The tale of Circe the daughter of the sun god Helios is totally chaste. In Homer, Odysseus spends a year in her bed, resulting to at least one child, if not more (possible for gods if not for mortals).

    The greatest passionate affair – with Calypso – is even more chaste. Nolan merges the Calypso tale (in Book 5) with the lotus-eaters (a flashback in Book 9). In the movie, Calypso drugs Odysseus with lotus so that he loses his memory. In Homer, Calypso attracts Odysseus with kindness, hospitality, ambrosia, nectar, song – and above all her desire. For seven years, they spend nights in loving embrace. At daytime, the homesick Odysseus sits on the beach crying. In Nolan, we do not know if they even sleep together.

    Calypso offers immortal love. Odysseus prefers a mortal one with Penelope. 

    In Homer, Zeus sends Hermes to Calypso to set Odysseus free. Male gods are allowed affairs with mortals, but female gods who want the same, are punished. Calypso "rages against the male double standard for female sexual behavior in a memorable speech that has lost none of its freshness – or pertinence" (Daniel Mendelsohn).

    In Homer, Calypso helps Odysseus build a solid raft carved from highest quality timber for his return home. In Nolan, he is only able to craft a dismal vessel from driftwood. 

    At Ithaca, after finishing off a hostile gang of "suitors", Odysseus can finally embrace his beloved Penelope. In Daniel Mendelsohn's translation:

    "When the two had taken their pleasure in love’s entrancing delights,

    They took their delight in stories, each telling a tale to the other."

    There is one bed scene in the movie: Odysseus with Penelope before his departure, but no marital passion in the finale.

    This is strange. I found the sexuality in Oppenheimer moving and essential to the story. Sex and wit go together.

   The characters of the love scenes have an air of having stranded from L'avventura by Michelangelo Antonioni. Antonioni and Nolan share a shooting location: the Aeolian Islands in Sicily. L'avventura was shot on Basiluzzo, Lipari, Lisca Bianca and Panarea. Nolan's Ithaca was shot on Favignana.

RECOGNITION

Recognition (anagnorisis), a crucial narrative device in Aristotle's Poetics, is employed with panache by Nolan, faithfully to Homer. Odysseus returns to Ithaca in the disguise of a miserable beggar calling himself Sinon. The first to recognize him is his 20 year old dog Argos who dies right after seeing him. In Homer, only then does his loyal servant, the blind swineherd Eumaeus, realize his identity. In a deeply moving scene in Nolan's film, the scene is witnessed only by Telemachus, who hasn't seen his father since infancy.

    Next is Eurycleia, Odysseus' nurse. Requested by Penelope to wash the dirty stranger, Eurycleia recognizes on his thigh a tell-tale scar from a boar hunt. Odysseus hushes her. Still incognito, he enters the archery contest of the suitors using the bow that only he can string. Everybody fails, even Odysseus  himself at first try. After his victory, in Homer, Penelope tests the stranger one more time by asking servants to move the marital bed. Odysseus states that it is immovable because he has crafted it himself from an olive tree still rooted in the ground. Nolan omits the bed as the object of identification and replaces it with Penelope's golden Athena pin which Odysseus has carried with him for twenty years.

   There is still one final recognition. Another addition of Nolan's is the character of Sinon, who, however, appears in Aeneid. In Nolan's movie, Antinous buys Sinon's lot to dodge the draft to the Trojan War. At the end of the war, Sinon is ordered by Odysseus to stand guard by the wooden horse and convince the Trojans that it is a gift to Pallas Athene. On his visit to the underworld, Odysseus meets the ghost of Sinon who reveals Antinous' deceit and the fact that he never paid his debt. Odysseus also confronts his own duplicity. He never told Sinon the truth about the Trojan Horse, wary of him giving the secret away. Sinon's ghost gives the lot to Odysseus. In the final showdown, Odysseus forces Antinous to recognize it before dropping it into his mouth and killing him.

   Penelope's pin and Sinon's lot are the twin objects of recognition invented by Nolan to the story.

    

TO BE CONTINUED

I have covered only three topics. The more I think about The Odyssey, the more I find to say. Browsing the media I realize that I am not alone. People seem eager to debate every detail and every deviation. The reception is growing into an odyssey of its own. To be continued.

...

THE ODYSSEY 

The odyssey has long ago become a synonym for a trek into the unknown. The Finnish term is harharetki, in German, Irrfahrt. In English perhaps "peregrination".

    It has been said that the Iliad and the Odyssey are two major formats of narrative fiction in general.

    Cinema itself has been an odyssey since the Lumière brothers launched their tour du monde as film-makers and exhibitors. They recorded the seven wonders and more.

   Major genres relevant to the odyssey include the road movie and the Western. 

    "The Civil War is part of nineteenth century history, the Western has turned it into the Trojan War of the most modern of epics. The march to the West is our Odyssey" (André Bazin in Le western ou le cinéma américain par excellence, 1953). The Searchers belongs to the lineage of The Odyssey, Rio Bravo to that of The Iliad (the siege story).

...

HOMECOMING

A mighty parallel theme, also reverberating through the history of fiction, is homecoming (nostos), which can become a dysnostos (a cursed homecoming). Random examples from the cinema: Heimkehr (DE 1928), Oblomok imperii (SU 1929), Berlin-Alexanderplatz (DE 1931), The Road Back (US 1937), The Grapes of Wrath (US 1940), The Long Voyage Home (US 1940), The Best Years of Our Lives (US 1946), Igy jöttem (HU 1965), Kalina krasnaya (SU 1974), Coming Home (US 1978).

...

MONSTERS

Nolan's The Odyssey is also a great horror movie and a creature feature. Inspired by Homer he offers original visions of the man-devouring cyclops Polyphemos, man-eating Laestrogynian giants, the sorceress Circe who molds men into pigs like clay figures, Charybdis the lethal maelström worthy of Edgar Allan Poe and Scylla the multi-headed sea monster. In the most profound horror sequence, Odysseus visits the underworld. He does not meet Hades, the God of the underworld, but he meets ghosts of his fallen comrades, including his commander Agamemnon and the accusing spirit of his loyal soldier Sinon. In the land of the dead he sees himself like in a dark mirror, facing what he has done. The vision of the army of the dead evokes Abel Gance's J'accuse !, 1919 and 1938 versions, which belong to the origins of the zombie in the cinema. In the underworld, Odysseus meets the ghost of Tiresias, the legendary blind clairvoyant of Apollo, who in Greek mythology was a sex-changer and knew the pleasure of love both from the male and the female sides and found the latter superior (none of this is in Nolan's film). Tiresias warns Odysseus about the island of Helios where his men must not eat Sun God's cattle. Defying Odysseus' order, his men eat the cattle and perish in monstrous storms raised by Poseidon in revenge.

...

STORYTELLING

The Odyssey continues to amaze in its craft of storytelling. In medias res. The non-linear narrative. Narrative inside narrative. The flashback structure. The first-person narrative. The untrustworthy narrator. Narrative masks. Narrative by dialogue. Character expressed in action and dialogue. Changes in point-of-view. The hero's journey. Anagnorisis and peripeteia. "Structure is nothing if people do not respect its meaning", as Penelope states in the movie. Nolan has changed much, but all in a Homeric spirit. The changes he has made are not trivializations.

...

FEMALE AGENCY

Christopher Nolan wrote his screenplay in an age aware of a groundbreaking English translation by Emily Wilson (2017) and reinterpretations by Margaret Atwood (The Penelopiad, 2005) and Madeline Miller (Circe, 2018). When Circe turns Odysseus' men into swine she tells him that "I just turned them into what they are". --- Btw. Emily Wilson is also the first translator to call the servants of the saga slaves.

...

THE HELEN MYSTERY

A mystery remains: the slashed face of the former Helen of Troy, now Helen of Sparta again. This does not come from Homer or another source of Antiquity. Did Menelaus punish her for her elopement? Male agency? Her face "launched a thousand ships" according to Christopher Marlowe in Doctor Faustus. Now Menelaus remarks that it only launches 500 ships. The image reminds me of the fate of Debby (Gloria Grahame) in The Big Heat. Even relevant to Oppenheimer, the fate of those Hiroshima victims whose face was burned on one side while the other side remained intact.

...

SHELL SHOCK

The Odyssey is the original "lost generation" tale and a foundational story about brutalization by war and violence. The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "We violated everything that's ever sacred between people".

...

CHOKEPOINT

There are two chokepoints on the route from the Black Sea to the Aegean and Mediterranean via the Sea of Marmara: the two Turkish Straits – the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles Strait (the Strait of Gallipoli, the Çanakkale Strait). The ancient Troy by the Dardanelles was of a great strategic importance.

...

CASTING

The casting is great down to the smallest parts. There are no indifferent performances. Matt Damon is rock solid as a war commander, fighter, swashbuckler, sailor, castaway and a man battling with his conscience. He is not a great lover and could be replaced by Ken in love scenes. Samantha Morton as Circe is my favourite performance. Robert Pattinson as Antinous is so impressive that I am reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's maxim "the stronger the villain, the stronger the movie". I also like John Leguizamo as Eumaeus and Himesh Patel as Eurylochos, the second-in-command. Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway would be great if given a chance of real chemistry with Odysseus.

...

PAINTING WITH LIGHT

The cinematographer John Alton, "the prince of darkness", a film noir maestro, wrote a groundbreaking book called Painting with Light (1949). Even in the darkest night you can convey light. About The Odyssey I am not certain. I was expecting a colourful sea adventure under a dazzling, intoxicating Mediterranean sun, a feeling of sweltering heat, lush flowers and vegetation in gardens and trees, combats and massacres with lots of red blood, gore and splatter, and skin glowing with sweat and heat in passionate loving embraces and the "suitors'" rampages with Ithaca's maidservants. I failed to experience that. Often there is darkness, twilight and a murky atmosphere.

   I miss the Sun, I miss warmth. The vision is cool and dark, more Nordic than Mediterranean.

...

FIRST VIEWING 17 JULY 2026

This movie must be experienced at the cinema, and I need to see it again. Perhaps there was something strange in the DCP parameters of the screening I visited. I even thought for a moment that I had my sunshades on.

SECOND VIEWING 9 AUG 2026

I see the film for the second time, now at Finnkino Itis IMAX. As usual, I sit in the front row, to take notes in the light reflected from the screen. Again, it is almost impossible, because the image on the screen is too dim. The experience is better than three weeks ago, but I would be interested to hear a technical expert's remarks. Why so much darkness and twilight? What did Stanley Kubrick and John Alcott do right in Barry Lyndon, shooting in candlelight, without murky results? Is this the visual concept of Christopher Nolan and Hoyte Van Hoytema, is this how the movie is supposed to look like?

...

THE FINNISH TITLE

The Finnish title of Homer's epic is identical with the Greek one: ODYSSEIA. It is incomprehensible that the movie is shown in Finland with an American title.

...

HOMER TRANSLATORS COMMENT NOLAN'S MOVIE

Daniel Mendelsohn: "Artful Weaving" ("The most authentic thing about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is its densely braided narrative, but its tormented hero sounds like the heroes of Christopher Nolan movies."). The New York Review of Books, 17 July (online) 20 Aug (print) 2026.

Emily Wilson: "An Uncomplicated Man". London Review of Books, 27 July (online), 13 Aug (print) 2026.

A FINNISH POET'S REMARKS

Saila Susiluoto: "Odysseusta johdattavat naiset, mutta Nolanin elokuva sivuuttaa heidät" [Odysseus is guided by women, but Nolan sidelines them]. Helsingin Sanomat, 6 Aug (online), 8 Aug (print) 2026.

...

HOMER IN THE CINEMA

Of the Homeric epics of the cinema I have seen my two favourites are now Manfred Noa's Helena – Der Untergang Trojas I–II / Helen of Troy (DE 1924, 217 min) and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. I look forward to seeing Franco Rossi's tv series Odissea 1–11 / The Odyssey / Finnish title Odysseia (IT/FR/DE 1968, 7 h 26 min).

    Hannu Salmi's remarks on Odissea 1–11 (IT/FR/DE 1968), 31 July 2026.

...

FINAL VERDICT

Despite my reservations I find The Odyssey the greatest international film of the year so far and the best of Nolan (a high compliment), rewarding in the context of his entire parcours, including Batman and Oppenheimer. Attempting to compare and analyze The Odyssey's storytelling genius, I miss David Bordwell and hope that Kristin Thompson might contribute to the critical reception!

Nolan's The Odyssey is boldly original and worthy of Homer's grandeur of spirit.

Odysseia. The Finnish translations of 1924 by Otto Manninen and 1972 by Pentti Saarikoski.

Odysseia. The Finnish translation of 2016 by Paavo Castrén is included in his book Homeros: Troijan sota ja Odysseuksen harharetket [Homer: The Trojan War and the Peregrinations of Odysseus]. The complete Odysseia in prose is a great guideline even for a reader of the epic in hexameter. Cover art: tied to the mast, the naked Odysseus hears the Sirens singing. Detail from an Attic red-figured stamnos, ca. 480-470 BCE. From Vulci. British Museum. Data from Wikipedia.

W. A. Mozart / Lorenzo Da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro (Savonlinna Opera Festival 2026)

W. A. Mozart / Lorenzo Da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro. Elsa Angervo (Cherubino), Johanna Nylund (Rosina), Serene Erhie (Barbarina). Photo: Savonlinna Opera Festival, 2026.

W. A. Mozart / Lorenzo Da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro. Above: Elsa Angervo (Cherubino), left to right: Iris Candelaria (Susanna), Johanna Nylund (Rosina), Waltteri Torikka (Count Almaviva). Photo: Savonlinna Opera Festival, 2026.

Die Hochzeit des Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro / Les Noces de Figaro / Figaron häät / Figaros bröllop.

Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata. Commedia per musica in quattro atti. Genere: opera buffa. Ein italianisches Singspiel in vier Aufzügen. 

    Composer: W. A. Mozart, K. 492

Libretto: Lorenzo Da Ponte

Premiere: Burgtheater, Vienna, 1 May 1786

Based on the play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (1784) by Beaumarchais.

    Olavinlinna stage director 2026: Francis Hüsers (after Johannes Erath 2015)

Conductor: Andrea Sanguineti 

Set designer: Katrin Connan

Costume designer: Birgit Wentsch

Chorus master: Jan Schweiger

Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir

Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra

    Cast

[Henning von Schulman / Figaro, Almaviva's valet 3., 6., 9., 22. & 25.7.]

Kristian Lindroos / Figaro, Almaviva's valet 13., 16. & 20.7.

[Lucrezia Drei / Susanna, Rosina's maid 6., 9., 22. & 25.7.]

Iris Candelaria / Susanna, Rosina's maid 3., 13., 16. & 20.7.

Waltteri Torikka / Conte di Almaviva 3., 13., 16. & 20.7.

[Jérôme Boutillier / Conte di Almaviva 6., 9., 22. & 25.7.]

Johanna Nylund / Contessa Rosina di Almaviva 3., 13., 16. & 20.7.

[Sonja Herranen / Contessa Rosina di Almaviva 6., 9., 22. & 25.7.]

Elsa Angervo / Cherubino, Almaviva's page

Tuija Knihtilä / Marcellina, Dr. Bartolo's housekeeper

Matti Turunen / Bartolo, doctor and lawyer from Seville

Einar Dagur Jónsson / Don Basilio, music teacher & Don Curzio, judge

Serene Erhie / Barbarina, Antonio's daughter, Susanna's cousin

Martin Iivarinen / Antonio, Almaviva's gardener, Susanna's uncle

    Language: Italian. Finnish and English surtitles (translator n.c.).

    3 h 30 min, 1 intermission

    Premiere of the production 3 July 2026

    Savonlinna Opera Festival

    Olavinlinna Castle (year of construction 1475) capacity 2.264 seats.

    Olavinkatu 27, 57130 Savonlinna, Finland

    Visited on Monday, 13 July 2026

AA: 

"Pas indécent, mais insolent".

Gustav III, (King of Sweden 1771–1792), on Le nozze di Figaro

“Chi non ha vissuto gli anni prima della rivoluzione non può capire che cosa sia la dolcezza del vivere.” Epigraph attributed to Talleyrand (1754–1838) in the film Prima della rivoluzione (IT 1964) by Bernardo Bertolucci.

The fourth performance of The Marriage of Figaro by W. A. Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte at this year's Savonlinna Opera Festival is engrossing from the first bars to the last. Often I am in tears. A layman in music, I am unable to analyze the experience, but Mozart means much to me.

The Marriage of Figaro is a masterpiece of Viennese Classicism, a highlight of the Rococo and the first work in the Mozart / Da Ponte opera trilogy (The Marriage of Figaro – Don Giovanni – Così fan tutte), based on the second play in Beaumarchais's Figaro trilogy (Le Barbier de Séville – Le Mariage de Figaro – La Mère coupable).

Le Mariage de Figaro was also an inflammatory play, tinder for the French Revolution (1789). Tomorrow is the Bastille Day, le Quatorze Juillet, la Fête nationale française. Fresh in memory is the Fourth of July and the 250th Anniversary of United States independence. The heroes of the Thirteen Colonies launched the Age of Revolution in 1776. The writing was on the wall for monarchs and aristocrats everywhere. They had been weighed and found wanting.

The subject of The Marriage of Figaro – the lordly right (droit du seigneur) to sexually exploit all women – is a metonymy for aristocratic privilege. For Beaumarchais, the subject was personal: he was Figaro. 

Mozart and Da Ponte were driven by the same theme also in Don Giovanni, in which the villain gets a punishment in Hell. Count Almaviva, his comrade in debauchery, only becomes an object of ridicule, but loss of prestige can be devastating for a nobleman.

The miracle of Mozart and Da Ponte was their ability to transcend sordid material so brilliantly. They guide the opera through tragedy and comedy, the sacred and the profane, the sublime and the ridiculous, the solemn and the playful, the venerable and the insolent. All radiating in a halo of multi-layered irony.

The plot is artificial in construction and genuine in emotional intelligence. It is a purgatory of emotions: fun and sorrow, hope and despair, bliss and agony. We descend into valleys of tears and climb mountains of happiness.

The groundswell is joy. Even in darkest moments a joy of comprehension and compassion can be felt. It is always about the joy of life and love supreme.

The aesthetic category for Mozart and Rococo is grace. ("Grace" in the sense of "grace under pressure". "effortless grace", "the grace of youth", "with good grace", "social graces", the three mythical Greek graces of charm and beauty). Mozart and Da Ponte confront disgrace with grace.

In anticipation of tonight's performance I prepared by listening to recordings such as that of the Glyndebourne Festival 1962 (recommended by Hannu Nuotio) and the tv record of the Mozart 250th anniversary production in 2006 at Milano's La Scala (stage directed by Giorgio Strehler).

At Olavinlinna Castle, the overture instantly invites us to a warm embrace. A compelling and confident Mozartian harmony is at the orchestra's command. The sonority is refined, stirring and tuned to the acoustics of the castle. Such a full-bodied, resonant sound, now subtle, now forceful, no recording can convey. We the 2000 audience members are a living soundboard to the music, spellbound in its grandeur and approach to the divine. I am certainly not alone in thinking that this is God's music played by a band of angels. A reminder of a lost paradise and a promise of happiness. 

The cast is great. Kristian Lindroos as Figaro and Waltteri Torikka as Almaviva excel in masculine swagger. Iris Candelaria as Susanna and Johanna Nylund as Rosina incarnate all-conquering love. They are the twin burning hearts of the production. Elsa Angervo triumphs in the trouser role of Cherubino, the ubiquitous troublemaker, the untamed, polymorphous Eros, a key queer character of the opera.

The most profound numbers are the arias of Rosina (Johanna Nylund) "Porgi amor qualche ristoro" and "Dove sono i bei momenti" and Susanna (Iris Candelaria) "Deh' birni non tardar, oh gioia bella / Al desio di chi t'adore" – and their duet "Sull aria".

    A tragicomic moment is brilliantly interpreted by an all-voices sextet in "Sua madre, sua padre?". Figaro learns the secret of his parentage in the nick of time when he is about to be force-wed with his own mother. The parents are amazed at the reunion with "the fruit of our ancient love". The comic timing is perfect.

    "Voi che sapete", the aria of Cherubino, the ball of confusion, is performed by Elsa Angervo with a fine sense of torment and complexity. "I seek something beyond myself, but I don't know what it is."

    Serene Ehrie conveys movingly the agony of Barbarina about the loss of the tell-tale pin in "L'ho perduta me meschina".

The mise-en-scène is a fiasco. The stagecraft is so meaningless that I ignore it. Those who see in Mozart the surface only mistake his works for mere divertissement. The official promotion material of the festival is so clueless that I suspect that it has been made by a machine. What a pity. The Marriage of Figaro, complex and multi-layered, is full of great themes both timeless and topical. The topical issues include Me Too and queer identity, ignored in the PR introductions.

The Marriage of Figaro is a satire on the aristocracy. When aristocrats have abandoned values of generosity, honour and dignity, even "noblesse oblige", it is time for the people to pursue them. 

The Marriage of Figaro was originally banned by the highest powers of France and Austria because of its revolutionary spirit. Performances were allowed only when the most inflammatory elements were removed and a happy end was grafted.

No earthly power can diminish the magnificent celebration of a triumph of the spirit.

...

The e-surtitles in Finnish and English were sharp and witty. They would deserve to be credited.

...

At the back left side of the auditorium, curtains made an annoying noise. 

...

An excellent review: Riitta-Leena Lempinen-Vesa, Itä-Savo, 7 July 2026.

...

CINEMATIC

La Règle du jeu (FR 1939, Jean Renoir) begins with a quotation from Le Mariage de Figaro by Beaumarchais:

Cœurs sensibles, cœurs fidèles,

Qui blâmez l'amour léger,

Cessez vos plaintes cruelles :

Est-ce un crime de changer ?

Si l'Amour porte des ailes,

N'est-ce pas pour voltiger ?

N'est-ce pas pour voltiger ?

N'est-ce pas pour voltiger ?

The opening music is by Mozart. Not from The Marriage of Figaro but:

Dreizehn Deutsche Tänze, K. 605, No. 1.

...

Savonlinna official promotion: "Mozart is one of the fastest composers and wrote The Marriage of Figaro in just six weeks—and even added new arias during rehearsals to suit the singers."

"Susanna and Figaro want to get married. They are very much in love, have good jobs at the count’s court and are just moving in their first apartment together. Live is good. If it wasn’t for the conniving count himself, who is in love with Susanna and wants to instill his right to the wedding night again. Together with the countess and the help of teenage page Cherubino, Susanna and Figaro plot against the count."

"After 11 years, this fun and lively production from the prestigious Semperoper in Dresden, is returning to Olavinlinna with a fresh cast. Johannes Erath’s production highlights the finest qualities of one of the greatest comic operas, with clever costumes and vibrant, dynamic direction. Together with Mozart’s absolute mastery of musical comedy, but also for intimate moments full of beauty, vulnerability and finesse, this evening is something special, that has captivated our audience also in the year 2015."

"“Too many things happen at Figaro’s wedding in one day. After a few champagne bubbles, you get a hangover,” director Johannes Erath says. “Mozart was a playful guy, who did what he liked and I wanted to the same energy that Mozart had.” "

"Susanna and Figaro have it all: New jobs, a shiny apartment and a wedding coming up. But Count Almaviva is also more than interested in Susanna and wishes to claim his right to the wedding night. This is not only for Susanna and Figaro the proverbial sour apple, but also for Countess Almaviva, who is jealous. Together with the young Cherubino, who himself is in love with the Countess, they invent a plot against the Count. Through a lot of confusion and mix-ups with everyone plotting against everyone, the end is a celebration of love. Susanna and Figaro get married, and the Countess and the count experience their love again. " Savonlinna official promotion

Yrjö Hirn: Beaumarchais : äventyrare, stridsman och författare. Helsingfors ; Holger Schildts Förlag 1931.