Ei kukaan ole saari / No Man Is an Island (dvd)

Sonja Lindén: Ei kukaan ole saari / No Man Is an Island (FI 2006). Krister Lindén.

FI © 2006 Screenday Films. P+D: Sonja Lindén. DP: Peter Flinckenberg – shot on 16 mm – screening materials digital. M: Mahler, jazz. Loc: Saimaa. 40 min. Dvd (available also in English) viewed at home, Helsinki, 1 Dec 2008. – A masterpiece. – Four seasons during the last year of an old man's life. He lives alone with the cat Eino on an island at lake Saimaa, fully equipped, in daily telephone contact with his wife who is at hospital. He prepares to die, leaving humoristic instructions about everything, even preparing his coffin. In the last image he rows away into the lake and vanishes into the mist. – Beautifully shot, with full command of the natural light, fine scenes of nature, interesting close-ups, nothing fancy, just the mastery of simplicity. – Fine views of nature are challenging in this digital transitional age, but here they look good even on dvd and did on Digibeta projection at Orion, where I saw half of this two weeks ago.