Vedenneito / Maiden of the Lake

FI 2019. PC: Citizen Jane Productions Oy. P: Elina Pohjola, Leila Lyytikäinen.
    A nature documentary.
    D+SC: Petteri Saario. Cinematography and underwater cinematography: Petteri Saario. Aerial cinematography and gimbal: Antti Saario. M: Markku Kanerva. S: Joonatan Hietanen. ED: Matti Näränen.
    Featuring: Emika Saario, Antti Saario.
    Loc: Lake Saimaa.
    72 min
    Premiere: 5 April 2019 – distributed by Citizen Jane Productions Oy.
    Vimeo link viewed for Jussi Awards, on a 4K tv screen at home, 10 March 2020.

Official presentation: "Maiden of the Lake tells about the fun moments 13-year-old Emika and her cousin Antti have at a lake during all four seasons, surrounded by fascinating nature. Together the cousins roam in an untouched forest, swim, fish and pick bilberries. In the winter they sleep on the frozen lake, under the northern lights. In the spring they encounter the world’s rarest seal, the Saimaa ringed seal. Maiden of the Lake is a breathtakingly beautiful nature story for the whole family."
    Director's word: "Maiden of the Lake offers the viewers characters they can identify themselves with and a chance to feel nature. When Emika and Antti do all kinds of exciting things in nature, I want the viewers to feel that they can also go to nature and experience something memorable. I want to inspire and encourage children and parents to go out and have an adventure in nature!" Official presentation

AA: Straight Finnish nature documentaries like The Tale of the Forest and The Tale of the Lake are blockbusters in our country, despite a constant access on television to world-class nature documentaries such as the ones by David Attenborough.

We are living in an age of an imminent catastrophe of the nature and a golden age of nature films. This is a key paradox of the remarkable phenomenon. But we can hope that the great popular success of these beloved films translates into action to save the world. Until then we are photographing what we are destroying.

Vedenneito / Maiden of the Lake capitalizes on the popularity of the nature films, and it has been photographed in a way that certainly looks best on the cinema screen.

Aerial photography is ubiquitous in contemporary cinema, and as a fan of the Olympian master shots of Lang and Mizoguchi I cannot get enough of it. Vedenneito / Maiden of the Lake uses all field sizes in an expressive way, from extreme long shots (see the second image above) to extreme close-ups.

There is no plot, or perhaps just an excuse for a plot: the two young protagonists would like for once in their lives to spot the ultra-rare Saimaa ringed seal in its natural habitat. They barely manage that, but the quest is worth the effort.

The film is simple and lovely.