Kaikella rakkaudella / Things We Do For Love

Matti Ijäs: Kaikella rakkaudella / Things We Do For Love (FI 2013) starring Krista Kosonen (Ansa) and Sampo Sarkola (Toivo Vaarala).

För kärleks skull.
    FI 2013 © 2012 Elokuvayhtiö Aamu. PC: Elokuvayhtiö Aamu / Sweet Films A/S / Film Camp A/S. EX: Auli Mantila. P: Jussi Rantamäki.
    D: Matti Ijäs. SC: Heikki Vuento, Auli Mantila, Matti Ijäs, J-P Passi. DP: Rauno Ronkainen, F.S.C. AD: Kaisa Mäkinen. Cost: Sari Suominen. Makeup: Marjut Samulin. M: Timo Hietala. S: Kyösti Väntänen. ED: Jorma Höri.
    C: Krista Kosonen (Ansa), Sampo Sarkola (Toivo Vaarala), Tommi Korpela (Ismo Sonka), Hannu-Pekka Björkman (Martti Raate), Minna Puolanto (Ester Raate), Lauri Romakkaniemi (Esa Raate), Aurora Kuusisto (Suvi).
    Loc: Finnish Lapland, Enontekiö, a Norwegian fishing port by the Arctic Sea.
    In Finnish with some Norwegian. 96 min. Released by Buena Vista International Finland with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Marko Hietikko.
    2K DCP viewed at Kinopalatsi 10, Helsinki, 6 April 2013.

Tagline:
Kukin meistä rakastaa tavallaan
Each of us loves in his own way

Official synopsis: "Kaikella rakkaudella is a story about the different colours of love. It tells about a woman who has restless feet and the men who love her. The movie descending into the landscapes of Lapland and the Arctic Sea tells how accident and whim move us more often than reason and consideration."

"The photographer Toivo Vaarala (Sampo Sarkola) photographs an empty bench in the stark landscapes of Lapland. He is no longer interested in approaching people. One night he bumps into the woman of his life, Ansa (Krista Kosonen), and soon love takes possession of the timid man."

"As soon as the first flush of love has evaporated Ansa's ex-husband (Tommi Korpela) enters the house of the happy ones. He has just been released from prison where he has served a term having killed an innocent man. The men get acquainted, and soon they babysit together at Ansa's house while they wait for the woman to return home."

"Kaikella rakkaudella not only tells about grown-ups but also about their children. Suvi (Aurora Kuusisto), the daughter of Ansa and Ismo, has gotten used to her mother's whims and pätkätyöt, odd jobs. Esa (Lauri Romakkaniemi) is the downtrodden son of Ismo's fundamentalist brother Martti Raate (Hannu-Pekka Björkman). The stories of the protagonists of our movie are crystallizations of happiness and longing - but also of how cruel unrequited love can be." (My translation).

Kaikella rakkaudella is the first theatrically released movie by Matti Ijäs in ten years, but meanwhile Ijäs has been active in television. The oeuvre of Matti Ijäs is divided in two equally substantial territories - theatrical movies and television movies.

The synopsis above, the production information, and the preview do not convey very well the power of this deeply felt movie.

Kaikella rakkaudella is a character-driven movie, and it is also very much a landscape-driven movie. The performances feel true and meaningful. Not only the leading and main supporting roles, but even the bit parts. The breathtaking images of Lapland's landscapes are never decorative; instead they serve to provide us with a solid sense of place. There is even an assured sense of the overwhelming, the sublime. (Having just returned from Lapland a few weeks ago I was responsive to this vision.)

The photographer Toivo drives around Lapland in search of stark landscapes. On the roof of his Mitsubishi Pajero SUV he transports his sole accessory, an empty bench. "I dropped the human being from my pictures years ago". Why the bench? "Sometimes the human being is more when he is not yet there".

Then he meets Ansa (Krista Kosonen) who is, in the tagline of Russ Meyer's Lorna, "too much for one man".

Their relationship is a mess of contradictions, misunderstandings, and disparities. The relationship does not make a lot of sense. The story is perhaps yet another case of love being such a powerful basic need that even improbable substitutes are longed for and accepted. And a case of an utter disparity paradoxically helping prolong an illusion because there is so little reciprocation that even rejection does not take place immediately.

The favourite character of contemporary Finnish cinema is the harridan, and Ansa as interpreted by Krista Kosonen is one. She is playing hard to like. Every time in these harridan movies I am puzzled and ask myself if there is something I misunderstand here. There are more harridans in Finnish movies than in Finnish reality.

The protagonists have normal Finnish names, but Toivo means "hope", and Ansa means "trap".

Yet "truth is concrete". Toivo fixes Ansa's leaking roof. He acts more responsibly towards Suvi, Ismo and Ansa's daughter, than the parents themselves.

Ansa is a wild girl. She is like the protagonist of My Summer with Monika, and Toivo is like the Lars Ekborg character.

Ismo is a callous and hard-boiled criminal who has served time in prison for murder and commits a robbery near the conclusion. Ismo's brother Martti is a fundamentalist religious fanatic who disciplines his son Esa with hate and revenge. A perfect school for crime.

It is Martti who uses the word "kaikella rakkaudella", "with all my love". The title of the movie turns out to be ironic.

We should talk less about love and love more.

The third strength of the movie is the dialogue.

The narrative is open-ended. There is no resolution to any of the storylines.

The music is pleasant.

The cinematography is magnificent in its sense of composition and light. Close-ups, medium shots and interiors are fine.

The 2K DCP does not do justice to the grandeur of the nature in long shots. The limitations of the low definition are evident in them.

Last week I saw a 35 mm print of Sokkotanssi / Blindfolded by Matti Ijäs with an equally masterful approach to cinematography, but the visual quality of its photochemical print was superior because of its subtle detail and vibrant feeling for nature.

FILMING LOCATIONS:

TALVIJAKSO Maaliskuussa 2012

Raattaman kylä, Enontekiö:
kauppa-auto

Vuontisjärvi, Enontekiö:
Mäki Ansan kodin lähellä, josta Ismo ja Esapoika tähyilevät Ansan talolle

Savukoski:
Ansan koti ext
Raatteen koti ext
Raatteen rauta ext ja int

Pelkosenniemi:
Motel hoikka ext
Kylänraitti (autoilut ja kävelyt)

Seutula, Vantaa:
Ansan koti int

Nuuksio:
Motel Hoikka int

Kumpula, Helsinki:
Motel Hoikan saunan pukuhuone

Solhem, Pakkala, Vantaa
Ansan sauna int

KESÄJAKSO kesäkuussa 2012

Torsken, Senjan saari, Norja:
Kalatehdas int ja ext
Juhlapaikka int ja ext
Motel ext
Norjan kylänraitti
Kaikki trailerkuvat

Skaland, Senjan saari, Norja:
Oyvindin talo
Uimapaikka
Poliisiasema ext
kioskin ryöstö int ja ext
Motellin respa int

Overbygd, Norja (Film Campin studiot):
Motelli int
Putka
Poliisiasema
Huoltoasema ext (Ismon, Vaaralan ja Suvin ensikohtaaminen Norjassa)

Kivilompolo, Enontekiö:
Raja-asema (Ismon pidätys)

Näkkäläjärvi, Enontekiö:
Pikkujoki, johon auto juuttuu.

Hetta, Enontekiö:
Ansan ja Vaaralan ensikohtaaminen (levähdysalue)
Mäki Ansan kodin lähellä (Ismon ja Esapojan mopoilu&ampumiset)

Raattama, Enontekiö:
Raatteen ruumis löytyy joesta

Olos-tunturi:
Alkutekstijakson kuvat, joissa Vaarala kantaa penkkiä ja valokuvaa sitä.

Savukoski:
Ansan koti ext
Raatteen koti ext ja int
Raatteen rauta
Kalastus (tuulastus ja virvelöinti)

Pelkosenniemi
Kylänraitti
Motel Hoikka