Äiti / A Mother (2019)

Samppa Batal: Äiti / A Mother, starring Jaana Saarinen.

FI 2019. PC: Cinemanifest / Character House Oy. P: Krista Hannula, Maarit Laaksoharju, Miikka Pakarinen.
    D: Samppa Batal. SC: Samppa Batal, Krista Hannula. DP: Miikka Pakarinen. AD: Matias Muoniovaara. Cost: Timjami Varamäki. Makeup: Elisa Sakki. M: Antti L. S. Ikonen. S: Lari Rissanen. ED: Tuomas Kohtamäki.
    C: Jaana Saarinen (Eeva), Matti Pajulahti (Kalle), Jonathan Hutchings (Hasse), Matti Onnismaa ("the best detective in Finland"), Helmi-Leena Nummela (Maria), Liina Valtonen (young Maria), Kaisla Kaltiokallio (toddler Maria), Eeva Kilpi (baby Maria), Pekka Lehtosaari (hotel janitor), Satu Silvo (desk clerk).
    91 min
    Premiere: 10 May 2019 - distribution: Black Lion Pictures Oy.
    Vimeo link viewed for Jussi Awards, on a 4K tv screen at home, 11 March 2020.

Official presentation: "Having been released to freedom after a long prison sentence Eeva (Jaana Saarinen) returns to her old home grounds carrying just a shoulder bag, a mobile phone and the clothes she wears. She would like to find her grown-up daughter, but the stagnated village sends a clear message that she is not welcome back. There is an unexpected turn in the desperate quest when a helping hand emerges from a yellow van". Official presentation (my translation).

AA: An independent film made on a largely pro bono basis, with a "do it yourself" approach.

It's based on a classic movie concept: the protagonist returns home after a long prison sentence and does not find herself welcome. Why does she even return? Because of her daughter whom she has not seen during all these years.

It's a story full of mysteries but little by little we can piece together a hypothesis of what has probably happened. Eeva has married up, to one of the best families. But her husband has turned out to be an alcoholist / capable of domestic violence / and even child abuse. Eeva has killed her husband and been sentenced to imprisonment. The elite family has rejected all arguments favourable to Eeva and engaged Big Law to twist a sentence that best suits them and leaves the facade intact.

Jaana Saarinen, a popular actress who has been active since her childhood in the early 1960s, at last gets a big, demanding and ambitious leading role. In the beginning there is a bit of a one note approach to the traumatized Eeva, but she grows with the more versatile dimensions of the role towards a shocking turning-point and a game-changing finale.

The film has been shot in a small community in Southern Finland, among Swedish speaking families. It might be Lohja.

Thanks to the austere production resources the film has not had to go through the dispiriting mangle of gatekeeper funding organizations. The premises are familiar, but the approach is fresh and unexpected in the second feature film directed by Samppa Batal.