Tarfala

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 11
P36 | 10.3. FRI/PE 20:00 | PLEVNA 5
L15 | 11.3. SAT/LA 18:00 | PLEVNA 2

TARFALA

Johannes Östergård | [TFF: Finland, Germany] [actually: Sweden, Germany] 2016 | Documentary | 27 min
M: Viljam Nybacka.
Language: Swedish.
Featuring: Lars Häger

TFF: Far north of the arctic circle, right next to Sweden’s highest mountain, one old man has chosen to spend his life as a caretaker of a lonely hiking hut. Retreating to the cold arctic winter storms from obligations and everyday routines, he’s set on finding peace of mind with the life he has lived. What does a journey to find happiness look like, when life is not shared with friends and loved ones?

Kaukana napapiirin pohjoispuolella, heti Ruotsin korkeimman vuoren vieressä, eräs vanha mies on päättänyt viettää loppuelämänsä huolehtien yksinäisestä retkeilymajasta. Vetäytyessään velvollisuuksia ja arjen rutiineja pakoon kylmän napapiirin talvimyrskyjen keskelle hänen tavoitteenaan on löytää mielenrauha eletyn elämänsä suhteen. Millaiselta näyttää matka onnen löytämiseksi, kun elämää ei jaa ystävien tai rakkaiden kanssa? TFF

AA: Tarfala is in the most northern part of Swedish Lapland. There lies Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden. Tarfala is also the site of the mightiest storms in Sweden, with winds so strong that they break wind meters.

A Tarfala fjällstuga, hikers' mountain hut, is the place where Lars Häger has settled down as a caretaker after retirement. He has grown-up children and not grown up grandchildren, but he lives alone in the middle of nowhere, taking care of everything and welcoming groups of ski hikers who arrive in groups hauled by snowmobiles.

There are ravishing views of the landscape in all kinds of weather and all hours of the day including in the moonlight. There are gorgeous shots of downhill skiing.

The phenomenon of nature mentioned in the title of Victor Sjöström's The Wind is a major force. The wind is an interesting motif for a film because it is invisible, and the film-maker's task is to make it visible. Here we have sound, unlike in Sjöström's silent classic, but we also see visible manifestations. The wind is physical and metaphysical.

Lars Häger does not feel lonesome. He states that the loneliest people are in big cities. He too once envisioned true life as being an owner of "villa and Volvo" but he has left all that behind.

The cinematography is magnificent both in epic long shots and lively close-ups recording the details of everyday life in the grim surroundings of the mountain winds of Lapland.