Salainen metsäni / My Secret Forest

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 2
K17 | 8.3. WED/KE 22:00 | PLEVNA 2 | alk. / from 8 €
Language/kieli: Eng/Fin | Duration/kesto: 115 min

SALAINEN METSÄNI
MY SECRET FOREST

Niina Brandt | Finland 2016 | Documentary | 56 min
English subtitles by Mikko Lyytikäinen.

TFF: For 20-year-old, mute and autistic Lauri, the only key to life is writing with the help of Pirjo, Lauri’s personal interpreter. It’s the only way for Lauri to express his thoughts. Despite all the challenges autism brings, Lauri’s greatest wish is to find love. He feels he will always be like an untamed bear, with a feeling, thoughtful man trapped inside. Even though Lauri fears he will have to yearn for love for the rest of his life, through his writing, the philosophical Lauri is able to reveal a beauty in life not everyone notices.

Puhekyvyttömän autistin Laurin, 20, ainoa avain koko elämään on Laurin henkilökohtaisen tulkin, Pirjon, avulla kirjoittaminen. Se on Laurin ainoa keino ilmaista todelliset ajatuksensa. Autismin tuomien haasteiden keskellä toiveista suurin on rakkaus, sillä Lauri tuntee olevansa kuin ikuisesti taltutettava karhu, joka on kuitenkin sisällään tunteva ja ajatteleva mies. Vaikka Lauri pelkää jäävänsä pelkän äärettömän rakkauden kaipuun varaan päiviensä loppuun saakka, pystyy filosofisia pohdintoja rakastava Lauri kirjoituksillaan avaamaan muille elämästä sellaisen kauneuden, jota eivät kaikki huomaa. TFF

AA: Starring the 20-year mute and autistic Lauri, this is a beautiful vision about the mystery of life. It is about another way of experiencing life. This is richly rewarding material for art and poetry.

The film is largely told in first person, as if written by Lauri. We see his hands moving on the keyboard but we never see characters written by him. Instead, we see and hear poetic sentences interpreted by his facilitator.

There is a debate whether such interpretations are authentic. In my opinion the interpretations are beautiful but there is nothing in this documentary to convince me that they are sentences by Lauri.

I was thinking about the Persona dilemma in Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece. When another person stays silent, the companion starts to imagine and construct thoughts for the other, interpreting any signs available.