À pied d'œuvre / At Work

Valérie Donzelli: À pied d'œuvre / At Work (FR 2026). Bastien Bouillon as the writer-handyman-father Paul Marquet.

FR 2026 © 2025 Pitchipoï Productions, France 2 Cinéma. Production : Alain Goldman.

    Fiche technique

Réalisation : Valérie Donzelli

Scénario : Valérie Donzelli et Gilles Marchand, d'après le roman éponyme (2023) de Franck Courtès

Photographie : Irina Lubtchansky – format : couleur – 1,66:1

Décors : Manu de Chauvigny

Costumes : Nathalie Raoul

Musique : Jean-Michel Bernard

Son : Emmanuel Croset, Simon Poupard et André Rigaut

Montage : Pauline Gaillard

    Distribution

Bastien Bouillon : Paul Marquet

Virginie Ledoyen : Alice, éditrice chez Gallimard

André Marcon : le père de Paul

Valérie Donzelli : l'ex-épouse de Paul

Marie Rivière : Christine

Adrien Barazzone : Pierre Lautrec

Marion Lécrivain : la sœur de Paul

Oscar Tillette : le fils de Paul

Ève Oron : la fille de Paul

Philippe Katerine : le bijoutier

Claude Perron : la femme à la valise

Béatrice de Staël : la marchande de presse

Pauline Serieys : la jeune femme de la mezzanine

Michel Gondry : le client aux chaussettes

Éric Reinhardt : le client maniaque

Christopher Thompson : l'homme aux buis

    Soundtrack: 

– Franz Schubert: Trio in Es-Dur für Klavier, Violine und Violoncello nr. 2, D 929 (op. 100) (1827), perf. Trio Thaleia (Thomas Haug, Thomas Bruder, Wolfgang Hess)

– "Joe le taxi", de Vanessa Paradis

– "Le vieux couple", de Serge Reggiani

– "Foule sentimentale", de Alain Souchon 

    Dedication : À mon père / To My Father

    Loc : Paris, Montmorency

    Langue originale : français

    Durée : 92 minutes

    Genre : biographie, drame

    Sociétés de distribution : Diaphana (France) ; Agora Films (Suisse romande), Lumière (Belgique)

    Dates de sortie :

Italie : 29 août 2025 (Mostra de Venise) – Winner: Golden Osella: Best Screenplay – Winner: Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Award – Special Mention: Treatment of Issues Related to Work 

Belgique, France, Suisse romande : 4 février 2026

    Vu samedi, le 7 février 2026, Majestic Bastille, 4 bd Richard-Lenoir, 75011 Paris, M° Bastille, Lignes 1, 5, 8

Venice Film Festival 2025: Synopsis

" “Finishing a text doesn’t mean being published, being published doesn’t mean being read, being read doesn’t mean being loved, being loved doesn’t mean being successful, and success offers no promise of fortune.”

"À pied d’œuvre tells the true story of a successful photographer who gives up everything to devote himself to writing — and discovers poverty. This radical account, blending clarity and self-deprecation, portrays the journey of a man willing to pay the ultimate price for his freedom. "

Director’s Statement

" À pied d’œuvre is the portrait of a man who leaves behind a comfortable life to devote himself to writing, eventually slipping into precarity. This radical and deeply personal choice moved me profoundly. I wanted to stay true to the honesty of his journey, its simplicity and discipline. Together with Gilles Marchand, we wrote a character who is upright, gentle, and determined. Bastien Bouillon quickly emerged as the obvious choice, with his quiet strength and understated presence. This film questions the value we place on a life driven by a silent, unspectacular, yet unstoppable passion: the need to create, no matter what. " (Venice Film Festival 2025)

AA: Valérie Donzelli's À pied d'œuvre / At Work is a vision of contemporary life based on the acclaimed eponymous autobiographical novel by Franck Courtès. 

The protagonist Paul Marquet (Bastien Bouillon) is a decent and talented man fighting for survival in a twin trap. He is a top photographer who has switched to writing because that is his calling. He is a great writer, but you cannot earn a living as a writer anymore. Which is why he enters the gig economy.

Paul writes in the morning, and the rest of the day he is a handyman (un homme à tout faire, un factotum, un Michel Morin, un bricoleur, a jack of all trades) in the world of the precariat and petits boulots (odd jobs). 

Paul is a construction worker who helps demolish buildings. He is a gardener. He is a plumber. He is a carpenter. Helping take apart a steel ladder from a bunk bed he is injured and prescribed a month of sick leave which he cannot afford. He is a taxi driver whom his friends and relatives are embarrassed and shocked to meet like this. He is a window washer. He changes balcony plantings. When he hits a roe deer (chevreuil) with his car, he empathizes with its suffering and butchers it for dinner.

Like Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You and Boris Lojkine's Souleymane's Story, À pied d'œuvre is a fascinating and essential study about self-employment. We witness the functioning of the Jobbing website where the job seeker can enter his offer. The lower the bid, the better the chance, and you see your status improve on a sliding scale the less you ask. On the other side, there is an online review feature in real time. Your performance gets instantly scored for all to see.

As a writer, Paul keeps being rejected by his editor (Virginie Ledoyen) at Gallimard because his stuff is too autobiographical. In a desperate turn, the hard drive of Paul's computer gets irrevocably broken, and he needs to start again from hand-written notebooks. The book (on which the movie is based) is finally published and favourably received, but the financial reward is far from enough to make a living.

Thus despite the success, Paul keeps multi-tasking in his triple life – besides a writer and a handyman he is also a devoted father of three children, although he has been evicted from home by his ex-wife (played by the director herself). Mostly Paul is a remote father, in touch with his offspring via teleconferences, but still in warm terms. His own father condemns him for being a clochard, which he is not, but he allows Paul to live in his unheated cellar, a former maid's room.

À pied d'œuvre resembles Anton Chekhov's My Life (Моя жизнь, 1896) in important ways, especially the inside view in social downfall. The important difference is Paul's triple life. Chekhov's Misail (yes! the name his father gave instead of Mikhail) has only a single life, of which he is proud, while all others find it a disgrace.

Because of the cellar symbolism of the social descent I was reminded of Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite (2019) and F. M. Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground (Записки изъ подполья, 1864), for Edwin Frank in Stranger Than Fiction the point of origin to what he calls the "Twenthieth-Century Novel". Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is another point of affinity, also via Dostoevsky and Bresson. But in À pied d'œuvre the downfall is only external, and it is not a study in alienation. While losing his social status and the superficial paraphernalia of what Pierre Bourdieu called la distinction, Paul actually comes closer to life and his inner self. His is a journey of discovery in the world of today and himself.

Valérie Donzelli's movie is not a Bressonian study of spiritual illumination and transcendence in asceticism, although there are common qualities of dignity, self-sacrifice and inner growth. 

Donzelli displays a warm and engrossing commitment to her unusual tale. The cast is great, and her regular actor Bastien Bouillon excels in the leading role with silent indomitability. There is something Keatonian in his unsmiling yet appealing habitus.

The cinematography by Irina Lubtchansky impresses with precise observation, sharp mise-en-scène and a subtly warm colour palette. I like the attention paid to fine soft detail in beautiful close-ups. À pied d'œuvre is an adventure in the world of today, and the documentary appetite of Donzelli and Lubtchansky never fails to excite.

For Franck Courtès and Valérie Donzelli, À pied d'œuvre is about Paul's internal and individual challenge, his existential freedom of choice. The epic backstory in current social history goes unmentioned. Since the breakthrough of the internet 30 years ago, the cultural sector and the media have suffered a devastating blow. Photographers lost their income when everybody became a photographer with their smartphones. The supremacy of the internet destroyed most of the media, including literature, as people perceive that everything is free online. The internet behemoths of Silicon Valley are winners who take all. Creative artists and professionals get crumbs. Although not intended so by he author of the book nor the director of the film, for me À pied d'œuvre is also a saga of the creative professional in the age of the internet.

The audience was impressed. We were nodding at each other in astonishment of how good the film was. À pied d'œuvre is a film I look forward to revisiting, and I would find more films like this welcome.

Today I saw three films with a Paris premiere this week: A Light That Never Goes Out, The Mastermind and À pied d'œuvre. All with a male protagonist who has lost his hold on life. All in the cultural sector: a musician, an architect and a writer. All from different countries: Finland, the United States and France. All different: one coming to terms with depression, one with his lack of talent, and one facing the fact that the world we knew does not exist anymore.

The Mastermind

Kelly Reichardt: The Mastermind (US 2025). Josh O'Connor (James Blaine Mooney)

    US © 2025 Mastermind Movie Inc. Sociétés de production : FilmScience, MUBI et UTA Independent Film Group. Production : Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani et Sam Tischler.

Réalisation et scénario : Kelly Reichardt

Photographie : Christopher Blauvelt - 16 mm - colour - 1.66:1

Direction artistique : N/A

Décors : Anthony Gasparro

Costumes : Amy Roth

Musique : Rob Mazurek

Montage : Kelly Reichardt

    Distribution

Josh O'Connor : James Blaine Mooney

Alana Haim : Terri Mooney

John Magaro : Fred

Hope Davis : Sarah Mooney

Bill Camp : Bill Mooney

Gaby Hoffmann : Maude

Eli Gelb

Cole Doman

Javion Allen

Matthew Maher

Rehnzy Feliz

    Paintings: Arthur Dove (1880-1946).

    Loc: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Middletown (Ohio) - Columbus, Cleo Rogers Memorial Library (Columbus, Indiana).

    Durée : 110 minutes

    Genre : drame, casse

    Sociétés de distribution : MUBI (Monde) ; Condor Distribution (France)

    Dates de sortie :

France : 23 mai 2025 (Festival de Cannes 2025) ; 4 février 2026 (sortie nationale)

US : 29 Aug 2025 (Telluride Film Festival) ; 17 Oct 2025 (sortie nationale)

    Vu samedi, le 7 février 2026, MK2 Bastille (Côté Fg Saint-Antoine), 5 faubourg Saint-Antoine, Paris 11e

Official storyline: "In a sedate corner of Massachusetts circa 1970, JB Mooney (Josh O’Connor) an unemployed carpenter turned amateur art thief, plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life unravels."

Mara Fortes (Telluride Film Festival 2025): "The self-absorbed J. B. Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is an occasional carpenter and former art student in a sleepy Massachusetts town; his wife (Alana Haim) is the family’s dependable parent and breadwinner. In a stroke of hubris, he decides to recruit a pair of unreliable partners to rob the local museum. But he doesn’t plan for after the heist—and it’s the aftermath of the bungled scheme that’s the focus of Reichardt’s quietly subversive, often incisively funny and masterfully observed film. O’Connor is stellar as the inscrutable Mooney, cinema’s most unhurried man-on-the-lam. As he drifts unsteadily west, the country is shaking on its tilt: in the background, students galvanize in anti-war protests and the streets buzz with civil unrest. The tumult of the ‘70s permeates the airwaves and seeps through Reichardt’s careful compositions, and Rob Mazurek’s percussive jazzy score perfectly modulates the film’s darkly comic beats and richly textured moods." –Mara Fortes (U.S., 2025, 110m) In person: Kelly Reichardt, Josh O’Connor

Cannes Film Festival, Official Selection website: Manon Durand: A look back at the Cannes premiere on 4.2.2026: "For her second film presented in Competition, American director Kelly Reichardt directs Josh O’Connor for the first time in The Mastermind. In this heist film, the director of First Cow leaves her beloved Oregon behind to film in 1970s Massachusetts. A new unexpected theme that is once again a testament to the author’s eclectic range."

"Josh O’Connor plays J. B. Mooney, an unemployed carpenter who reinvents himself as an amateur art thief. Set against the turbulent backdrop of 1970s America, in the midst of the Vietnam War and the women’s liberation movement, the young man plans his first big heist yet. When things go haywire, his life unravels."

"Alongside the British actor — who also made an appearance on the Croisette this year for his role in the queer romance The History of Sound by Oliver Hermanus — we have the pleasure of seeing the lovely Alana Haim, who made her debut in Licorice Pizza by Paul Thomas Anderson four years ago, and whom we haven’t seen since. Both actors are featured for the first time under the direction of Kelly Reichardt, like the actress Hope Davis, who also walked the Red Carpet this year for Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme."

"This heist drama has enough to pique the curiosity of Kelly Reichardt fans as it basically is a true departure from her usual minimalist and bucolic style. Already selected for Un Certain Regard in 2008 for the moving Wendy and Lucy, and in Competition in 2022 with Showing Up, — both showcasing the iconic Michelle Williams — Kelly Reichardt was also a member of the 2019 Feature Films Jury. Her filmmaking explores the American experience from a gentle and poetic perspective and often takes a particular interest in working-class characters living in small-town communities — reminiscent of Sean Baker’s sensibility." (Cannes Film Festival, Official Selection, a look back by Manon Durand)

AA: The title of Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind is ironic. The legacy of the heist film, including John Huston, Jules Dassin, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Pierre Melville and Michael Mann, is implicit, only to be ignored by Reichardt, who does not even turn to parody such as Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti / Big Deal on Madonna Street, or comedy, such as the caper films of Laurel and Hardy.

Instead of building suspense or comedy, Reichard defuses both. The approach is anti-dramatic in the extreme in this evocation of small town America in 1970. The epochal social turmoil of the age appears as background noise until the finale in which J. M. Mooney tries to hide in an anti-Vietnam War demonstration, only to be caught there by the police. There is a connection with Charles Chaplin in Modern Times.

Josh O'Connor as Mooney creates a portrait of a sleepwalker in his time and age, in his family and his own life. It is a study of a lack of awareness and self-awareness. In a time of drop-outs and counterculture, Mooney cannot even be registered as belonging to them. As the brains of the art heist, he fails unspectacularly at every stage, and Reichardt refuses dramatic punches in them. 

As narrative cinema, The Mastermind is unusual. As visual art, as well. Shot on 16 mm film, there is a watercolour quality in Christopher Blauvelt's autumnal colour palette, with an emphasis on gray and brown and soft, blurred hues.

Rob Mazurek, a master of experimental jazz of the Chicago Underground, debuts as a film composer.  His relaxed sound world, with Latin American touches, is yet another countermeasure to thriller expectations. Silences count as much as sounds, the music connects with interiority while the imagery shows the material world.

Josh the loser and failed architect tries to shape up for the sake of his family – his own and the paternal one – but humiliations only get worse. The desperate attempt to reverse the situation by committing a crime reminds me of Roofman, but unlike it, The Mastermind does not strive to be an audience-pleasing genre film.

The portrait of the art museum is realistic. Arthur Dove (1880-1946), the first American abstract painter, was no longer a hot ticket in the early 1970s. While the art museum is fictional, the story is based on a real robbery. Kelly Reichardt had long been fascinated with art thefts and surprised to discover how relatively easy at the time it was to steal art, even by Gauguin, Picasso and Rembrandt. Against this background, Josh's failure seems even more devastating.

Jossain on valo joka ei sammu / A Light That Never Goes Out

Lauri-Matti Parppei: Jossain on valo joka ei sammu / A Light That Never Goes Out (FI 2025). Samuel Kujala (Pauli), Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva (Anni). The primal scream against the Bothnian Bay.

La Lumière ne meurt jamais / Uma Luz que Nunca se Apaga / Ένα φως που δεν σβήνει.

    FI © 2025 Elokuvatuotantoyhtio Made. P: Ilona Tolmunen. Co-PC: Goodtime Pictures (Norway), Mediefondet Zefyr (Norway). Co-P: Vincent Saunders, Ngål Lambrechts.

    D+SC+M: Lauri-Matti Parppei. Dramaturges: Anna Brotkin, Ulla Heikkilä, Jan Forsström, Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen. DP: Mikko Parttimaa – colour – 16:9. Lighting: Henri Jaaksola. AD: Nanna Hirvonen. Cost: Mimosa Kuusimäki. Makeup: Natalie Costello. SFX: Suomen Pyrotekniikka Oy. VFX: Jon-André Hakvåg, Theodor Flo-Groeneboom, Samuel Karlsson, Ulrikke Skjold. M: all music was played live. See soundtrack listing below. S: Yngve Leidulv Sætre, Juuso Oksala. ED: Frida Eggum Michaelsen. Casting: Minna Sorvoja.

    CAST

Samuel Kujala / Pauli

Anna Rosaliina Kauno / Iiris

Camille Auer / Sini

Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva / Anni

Mari Rantasila / äiti

Jarkko Pajunen / isä

Jari "Onde" Pelamo / Onde

Aapo Kivenmaa / vihainen Lukko-fani

Marios Kleovoulou / iloinen Lukko-fani

Suvi Korpela / juhlavieras

Totti Kaarle / kitaransoittaja

Jussi Puukka / Anton

Toni "Protoni" Järvinen / Protoni

Katja Lukkarinen / Julia

Merimaija Aalto / viulisti

Aino Juutilainen / sellisti

Ilona Tolmunen / konserttijärjestäjä

Ville Kulju / vahtimestari

Katarine Lehtomäki / täti

Anita Osola / täti

Eija Nurmio / täti

Päivi Kasala / täti

Kalevi Kasala / setä

Markus Nikkanen / setä

Petteri Hovi / setä

Matti Mustonen / kapellimestari

Matvei German / soittaja

    Other performers:

Heemus (dog)

    110 min (Elonet), 108 min (L'Officiel des Spectacles)

    Genre : Drame

    Langue de tournage : Finnois (dialecte de Rauma = Rauman giäl)

    Loc: Rauma: Kalatori, Hauenguano, Valtakadun tasoristeys, Saharanta, Petäjäksentie, Otalahden uimaranta, Urheilukatu, Uudenlahdentie, Eteläpitkäkatu, Syväraumankatu, Rauman terveyskeskus, Rauman Taidemuseo, Ravintola Otava, Pihlajamaan Musiikki.

    Loc: Uusimaa: Villa Salmela, Musiikkitalo, Sipoon Seurakunta, Loviisan Kotisatama, Cygnaeuksenkatu, Niinisaarentie, Raappavuorenrinne, Untamontie.

    Rauman Taidemuseo artworks: Jarmo Mäkilä: Kukkoilijat (2023), Valtakunta (2023), Kärpästen herra (2010). Laura Jalava, Johanna Naukkarinen: Kävelet neljällä jalalla, minä kahdella.

    Festival premiere: 15 May 2025 ACID Cannes.

    Helsinki premiere: 12 Sep 2025 – distributor: B-Plan Distribution Oy.

    Date de sortie en France : 4 février 2026 – distributeur : Les Alchimistes Films – sous-titres français : Emil Sana.

    Vu samedi, le 7 février 2026, Cinéma Saint-André-des-Arts, Salle 1, 30 rue Saint-André-des-Arts, 75006 Paris, M° Saint-Michel, ligne 4.

L'Officiel des Spectacles: "Pauli, célèbre flûtiste classique, retourne dans sa petite ville natale pour se remettre d'une dépression. Il renoue avec une ancienne camarade de classe, qui lui propose de rejoindre un groupe de musique joyeusement anticonformiste. Pauli, de nature plutôt perfectionniste, se laisse embarquer dans cette aventure musicale aussi inattendue qu'expérimentale."

"La lumière ne meurt jamais est le premier long-métrage de Lauri-Matti Parppei, artiste au parcours éclectique qui s'inspire largement de sa propre enfance à Rauma, ville dans le sud de la Finlande où se déroule le film. Invitation au dépassement de soi, il s'agit aussi d'un récit initiatique au sens littéraire du terme. Le réalisateur explique : « En grandissant au sein de la scène musicale underground, j'ai été confronté à des problèmes de santé mentale importants. Certains d'entre nous ne sont plus là aujourd'hui, mais pour la plupart nous sommes parvenus à nous sauver les uns les autres. Il y a toujours de l'espoir et c'est ce que j'essaye de transmettre dans le film. »"

AA: An exceptional sonority runs through Lauri-Matti Parppei's debut feature film A Light That Never Goes Out. It is the story of the burnout of a star artist, the flute maestro Pauli (Samuel Kujala) who has lost his mojo in life and art.

About depression, it is not depressive. The movie is driven by a serene intensity. It is also characterized by a purity of observation, a fine composition, and an assured mise-en-scène.

For 20 years Pauli has been a professional in the world of classical music. Now he retreats to his childhood home in Rauma. His mother (Mari Rantasila) and father (Jarkko Pajunen) are seriously concerned, and Pauli does not make life easy for them.

On the streets of Rauma, Pauli stumbles upon old acquaintances, who invite him to experiences of concrete sound, breaking free of conventions. Even concepts such as "orchestra", "concert", "tonality" and "instruments" are abandoned, perhaps even "music". But it is about sound, performance, and even recording (preferably analogue in vinyl).

The performances are all live by the team called ______________ , consisting of  Iiris (Anna Rosaliisa Kauno), Pauli, Sini (Camille Auer) and Anni (Kaisaleena Koskenkorva). They call their creations "assaults of sound colours", not music but "attacks against the audience". Their sources of inspiration range from electric toothbrushes to primal screams towards the sea. They get in touch with galactic energy. Going back to square one, the black square even. The eternal return of dada.

Visiting the Helsinki Music Center, Pauli meets fellow musicians. They struggle to understand what Pauli is doing and talk down about self-produced amateur stuff, but Pauli defends his Rauma team in a way which reminds me of John T. Chance (John Wayne) in Rio Bravo. Pat Wheeler: "A game-legged old man and a drunk. That's all you got?" John T. Chance: "That's what I got."

This sequence connects to a topic reverberating in contemporary cinema: academic people out of touch with reality, condescending to people who don't share their surface status. In recent weeks, this has struck me in Kenraaliharjoitus and À pied d'œuvre. It was also a subtext in my favourite film of last year: Highway 99: A Double Album. A major background in the rise of populism, including in Finland and the U.S. When parties previously championing the working people abandoned them, the field was left free for populists.

Pauli's journey of self-discovery continues. Until now it has been a self-evident career. Germans have an apt word: Laufbahn, meaning literally a runtrack. Pauli has been a child prodigy driven to pursue his art on the highest level. But he has lost touch with himself. He does not have friends, only colleagues and acquaintances. He has not even succeeded in killing himself.

Although he participates in the sound happening of his Rauma circle, he is ashamed of himself and insults his fellows deeply with his parting words. But he returns to apologize. To start again he must return to zero.

The sense of place is vibrant, and the Rauma dialect is appealing in a similar way as the Pori dialect was in Levoton Tuhkimo (2024) in which Samuel Kujala also participated as the keyboardist Pete. Rauma is a mere 50 km to the south from Pori, but the dialects are different. A main connection is Mari Rantasila who plays Pauli's mother and directed Levoton Tuhkimo. Dialogue like this is music.

The art milieu also includes a visit to Rauman taidemuseo (Rauma Museum of Art) where I am delighted to see paintings by Jarmo Mäkilä. Mäkilä has found a unique approach to realism: starting from authentic observations he transforms them in ways that are not magical, surrealistic nor symbolistic but something which words fail to convey. Something similar happens also in Parppei's cinema, something beyond plain observation, such as the luminous dog.

A world of transcendence is also introduced in the Orthodox world. The Orthodox Church of Finland is not prominent on the west coast of Finland where Rauma lies. But Parppei is an old Karelian family name, and the director's ancestors stem from Orthodox Eastern Karelia, now in Russia. An ancestor of Lauri-Matti's was the first person to be photographed with a kantele (a Karelian zither). A deeply moving moment is the communal singing of the traditional Orthodox birthday song "Monia vuosia (Many Years / Многая лета)" composed by Dmitri Bortniansky.

A Light That Never Goes Out is about rebirth in life and art.

...

SOUNDTRACK LISTING

1:10 000

säv./sov. Anna Rosaliina Kauno

san. Lauri-Matti Parppei

es. Anna Rosaliina Kauno

Tuntuu ettei tunnu miltään

säv./san. Lauri-Matti Parppei

sov. Lauri-Matti Parppei, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Samuel Kujala, Camille Auer

es. ______________

Anna vanhojen unelmien kuolla II

säv. Lauri-Matti Parppei &

Orvokki Ottila

san./säv. Lauri-Matti Parppei

es. Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva

Suomen majakat

säv./san. Lauri-Matti Parppei

sov. Lauri-Matti Parppei, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Samuel Kujala, Camille Auer

es. ______________

Kiireellisiä viestejä ihmiskunnalta

säv. Lauri-Matti Parppei

sov. Lauri-Matti Parppei, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Samuel Kujala, Camille Auer

es. ______________

Pauli hei

säv./san. Lauri-Matti Parppei

sov. Lauri-Matti Parppei, Kaisa Koskenkorva

es. Kaisa Koskenkorva

Lohduta mua

säv./san. Lauri-Matti Parppei

sov. Lauri-Matti Parppei, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Samuel Kujala, Camille Auer

es. ______________

Monia vuosia / Many Years / Многая літа / Многая лета

säv. Dmitri Bortniansky / Дмитрий Бортнянский (1751–1825, Russian composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin)

san. tuntematon, sov. P. P. O.

es. Katarine Lehtomäki, Anita Osola, Eija Nurmio, Päivi Kasala, Kalevi Kasala, Markus Nikkanen, Petteri Hovi

Maurice Ravel: Sonate pour violon et violoncelle (1920) à la mémoire de Claude Debussy

M.73: III. Lent

säv. Maurice Ravel

es. Merimaija Aalto & Aino Juutilainen

Attachment Styles

säv. Lauri-Matti Parppei & Laura Jalava

san. Laura Jalava

es. Naamalau

The Body

säv. Lauri-Matti Parppei & Laura Jalava

san. Laura Jalava

es. Naamalau

...

L'ACID CANNES

15 MAY 2025

LA LUMIÈRE NE MEURT JAMAIS

Un film de Lauri-Matti Parppei

Finlande, Norvège – 2025 – 108 min

" Pauli, célèbre flûtiste classique, retourne dans sa petite ville natale pour se remettre d’une dépression. Il renoue avec une ancienne camarade de classe, qui lui propose de rejoindre un groupe de musique joyeusement anticonformiste. Comment Pauli, de nature plutôt perfectionniste, va t’il se laisser embarquer dans cette aventure musicale aussi inattendue qu’expérimentale ?

" Successful classical flutist Pauli (29) returns to his small hometown after a breakdown. Reconnecting with old schoolmate Iiris, he is drawn into experimental music. Pauli, who has always sought perfection, is drawn to her chaotic energy and finds comfort in their sonic experiments. "

À PROPOS DE LA LUMIÈRE NE MEURT JAMAIS

" Lauri-Matti Parppei, qui a enregistré plusieurs disques dans une vie parallèle, nous emmène dans sa ville natale, au sud de la Finlande, un endroit où l'on parle peu et surtout pas de dépression — le mal qui ronge Pauli, revenu chez ses parents le temps de panser ses blessures. Sous le signe de la mélancolie, le film, mis en scène de façon précise, sans chichis, tisse sa narration comme une partition musicale — Pauli rejette le succès, renaissant grâce à une chaotique bande de parias. "

" L'amitié, plus forte que tout, crée une musicalité, à l'unisson, elle scande ce retour à l'essentiel. Celles et ceux qui s'attendent à un film sombre seront surpris·es : La lumière ne meurt jamais est une comédie qui enchante par sa tonalité, son propos, son univers queer et ses dandys burlesques — mention spéciale aux deux acolytes de Pauli, aussi tordant·es qu'émouvant·es. "

" Ne sachant pas très bien quoi faire de son héritage, de sa bonne éducation, cette génération angoissée décide, au nom de la liberté, avec jubilation, de tout envoyer en l'air. Non, l'Art ne doit pas être muséifié, la beauté du geste et la ferveur du processus créatif importent plus que la reconnaissance : un premier film unique, qui ne met pas la musique en avant comme un résultat, mais comme un terrain d'expérimentation et une possibilité d'amitié. "

– Jan Gassmann, Benoît Sabatier et Pamela Varela, cinéastes de l'ACID

" Lauri-Matti Parppei, who has recorded several albums in a parallel life, takes us to their hometown in Northern Finland, a place where people speak little and depression is a taboo - this is Pauli's illness, as he returns home to heal his wounds. With a melancholic tone, the film, through its precise, no-frills directing style, weaves its story like a musical score. Pauli rejects success and returns to life thanks to a chaotic lineup of outcasts. "

" Friendship, stronger than anything, sets the tone, in unison, and rhythms Pauli's return to the basics. But if you're expecting a dark film, you might be surprised: A Light That Never Goes Out is a delightful comedy through its tone, its theme, its queer universe and its dandies- special mention to Pauli's two farcical buddies, both hilarious and moving. Not knowing what to do with its inheritance and its education, this anxious generation decides, in the name of freedom, to throw everything into the air with excitement. "

" No, Art should not be museumized; the craft and the enthusiasm of the creative process matter more than recognition. A Light That Never Goes Out is a singular first feature, which doesn't value music as an outcome but as a testing ground and a possibility of friendship. "

Jan Gassmann – Cinéaste

Benoît Sabatier – Cinéaste

Pamela Varela – Cinéaste

Paroles de cinéastes

À propos de LA LUMIÈRE NE MEURT JAMAIS

" Préparez-vous au grand départ pour le sud de la Finlande ! Son dialecte particulier, sa lumière d'une clarté et d'une netteté merveilleuse, ses parents taiseux et religieux, et ses jeunes loin des normes : vous allez voyager. Et surtout en prendre plein les oreilles. Car La Lumière ne meurt jamais nous immerge aux côtés d'un groupe de musique expérimentale, ou plutôt, selon eux, d'un collectif d'art sonore. "

" En suivant la naissance de l'amitié entre Pauli, jeune flutiste prodige mais dépressif et Iris, flamboyante musicienne à qui rien ne fait peur, ce premier film va nous sortir de la noirceur. On y découvrira qu'être amis c'est parfois juste faire des sons bizarres ensemble, que des chiens lumineux peuvent faire de fidèles compagnons et on saura enfin quel genre de musique font les écrous quand on les mixe (oui, oui dans un mixeur !). "

 

" Fourmillant d'idées, le film propose une approche extrêmement ludique du travail de la musique concrète, toutes les compositions du film ayant d'ailleurs été enregistrées sur le plateau pendant le tournage. Profondément punk, profondément libre, une vraie découverte. "

Arlène Groffe – Programmatrice du Ciné 104 à Pantin

...

OFFICIAL IN FINNISH:

“ Kui moni raumalainen on tehny levyn, mikä jonai päivänä lähetetään avaruuteen? ”

"Romahduksen kokenut ammattihuilisti Pauli (Samuel Kujala) palaa lapsuudenkotiinsa Raumalle. Hän tapaa vanhan koulukaverinsa Iiriksen (Anna Rosaliina Kauno), joka sinnikkäästi taivuttelee Paulin mukaansa tekemään outoa musiikkia, jota kukaan ei tiennyt haluavansa kuulla. Aiemmin virheettömyyteen pyrkinyt Pauli alkaa löytää lohtua kummallisista äänistä ja omalaatuisesta ystävyydestä."

"Cannesin elokuvajuhlien ACID-sarjassa maailmanensi-iltansa saanut Jossain on valo joka ei sammu on Lauri-Matti Parppein anteeksipyytelemätön esikoisohjaus ja vilpitön rakkaudentunnustus kotikaupungilleen Raumalle."

OHJAAJAN SANA

"Jossain on valo joka ei sammu perustuu omiin kokemuksiini pienen kaupungin tee-se-itse-kulttuuripiireissä. Halusin tehdä elokuvan, joka on vimmainen, anteeksipyytelemätön ja toiveikas kuvaus oman äänen löytämisestä ja vaikeiden aikojen yli selviämisestä."

"Asuin nuoruuteni Raumalla ja teininä musiikilla, elokuvilla ja taiteella oli valtava merkitys. Olin yksinäinen ja koska muutakaan tekemistä ei ollut, aloin tehdä itsekseni musiikkia. Sen kautta tutustuin vähitellen ihmisiin, jotka olivat yhtä hukassa, mutta halusimme kaikki palavasti tehdä jotain omaa. Kun kukaan ei kiinnostunut musiikistamme, perustimme oman levy-yhtiön ja järjestimme itse keikkamme. Julkaisimme monta levyä, joita harva on kuullut ja vielä harvempi ostanut, ja yleensä keikoilla oli enemmän soittajia kuin yleisöä. Se ei haitannut: Emme osanneet haaveilla menestyksestä, sillä musiikin tekeminen itsessään antoi merkitystä olemassaololle ja keinon vaikuttaa ympäröivään todellisuuteemme. Ja meillä oli aina lähes yhtä hauskaa kuin elokuvan hahmoilla sitä tehdessä!"

"Musiikilla on tärkeä rooli myös elokuvassa. Elokuvassa ei ole lainkaan perinteistä taustamusiikkia, vaan näyttelijät esittivät kaiken musiikin elävänä kameran edessä. Halusin säveltää elokuvaan musiikkia, joka on samaan aikaan outoa ja lähestyttävää. Tärkeää oli, että erikoisten kokeilujen pitää näyttää hauskalta ja innostavalta. Elokuvan näyttelijöiden, myös musiikillisesti lahjakkaiden, Samuel Kujalan, Anna Rosaliina Kaunon, Camille Auerin ja Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorvan kanssa oli vaivatonta kuvata poikkeuksellisen aidon tuntuista ystävyyttä, joka rikkoo myös perinteisiä sukupuolirooleja ja -stereotypioita."

"Elokuva on kuvattu ja se sijoittuu pääosin Raumalle, noin 40 000 asukkaan pikkukaupunkiin, jolla on ainutlaatuinen huumori sekä vahva oma murre, tai tarkemmin sanottuna kieli, joka on yhä äidinkieleni. Pienellä paikkakunnalla tehty taide voi olla verrattoman merkityksellistä, sekä tekijöille itselleen, että koko yhteisölle heidän ympärillään. Lopputulosta tärkeämpää on tekemisen luoma yhteys ja ystävyys. Oman elämäni se pelasti, ja samoin se pelastaa myös Paulin, Iiriksen ja Sinin."

"Toivon, että Jossain on valo joka ei sammu on elokuva, jonka maailmassa kaikki saavat olla hetken sellaisia kuin ovat – ja toteuttaa itseään niin hulluilla tavoilla kuin vain osaavat ja uskaltavat. Elokuva, jonka äärellä voisi tuntea olevansa vähän vähemmän yksinäinen."

Anssi Sinnemäki: Kritiikkien kritiikki / [A Critique of Critiques] (an essay collection)

 

Anssi Sinnemäki: Kritiikkien kritiikki / [A Critique of Critiques] (FI 2025). Cover art from: Lyubov Popova: Архитектоника / Painterly Architectonic: Black, Red, Gray (1916), oil on canvas.

Anssi Sinnemäki : Kritiikkien kritiikki ja muita kritiikkejä / [A Critique of Critiques and Other Critiques]. 260 pages. Soft cover. ISBN: 978-952-411-096-9 (printed). ISBN: 978-952-411-097-6 (pdf). Helsinki : Kulttuurivihkot, 2025. Day of publication: 10 Oct 2025.

OFFICIAL:

"Anssi Sinnemäki on valpas lukija, joka löytää teosten piileviä piirteitä ja yllättäviä merkityksiä. Teoksen nimi perustuu kirjoitukseen ”Kritiikkien kritiikki, eli muistokirjoitus dynastialle”. Siinä pohditaan vasemmistokirjallisuuden etujoukon nousua ja hiipumista sodanjälkeisessä Suomessa.  Yli 60 vuotta kirjallisuuskritiikkiä harjoittaneen ja yhä aktiivisesti harjoittavan Sinnemäen näkökulma asettuu usein esteettisen ja ideologisen rajankäyntiin, kirjallisuuden ja politiikan kentän vuorovaikutukseen; pääpaino on kuitenkin esteettisessä arviossa. Kritiikin polttopisteessä ovat usein kaanon ja reseptio, kritiikin särmät ja sivuvaikutukset, ja mitä kritiikin kautta voi ilmaista, eikä vain ilmaista vaan myös saada aikaan, hyvässä ja pahassa."

"Anssi Sinnemäki on kirjailija ja filosofian maisteri, jonka ensimmäinen kirjallisuusjuttu ilmestyi Helsingin Sanomien ”Nuoressa Hesassa” keväällä 1964."

"Teoksen artikkeleista valtaosa käsittelee suomalaisia kirjailijoita Aleksis Kivestä Juha Seppälään ja Aulikki Oksaseen ja kotimaisia kriitikkoja Anna-Maria Tallgrenista Pekka Tarkkaan ja Helena Ruuskaan. Kriitikko saattaa pahimmillaan vaientaa kirjailijan, mutta Anna-Maria Tallgrenin tapaus kertoo siitä miten kriitikko vaiennetaan. Viimeisen osan painopiste on moraalikritiikissä ja kritiikin moraalissa, aivan viimeisenä kartoitus otsikolla ”Vielä kerran Alice Munro”."

"Kritiikki on oma instituutionsa kirjallisuuden kentässä. Kriitikon sananvalta on sidoksissa kentän voimasuhteisiin - ja kriitikon ammattitaitoon. Kritiikin ja kriitikon asema on jäänyt median kumouksen jalkoihin. Käytössä olevat foorumit ovat keskittyneet, huvenneet tai hukkuneet printtimedioiden lakkautuksen myötä verkon syövereihin. Kritiikin vapaus yhä ahtaammissa oloissa ei voi toteutua."

"Kritiikin kriisi on eksistentiaalinen. Yksi vastaus on ottaa käyttöön vanha kunnon julkaisualusta: painettu kirja, jonka kauniiden kansien välissä on hyödyllisellä ja huvittavalla tekstillä täytettyjä sivuja. Käyttäkää hyväksenne!" (official introduction)

AA: In Finnish and Swedish, like in French, German and Italian, there is no distinction between the words "critique" and "criticism". Anssi Sinnemäki's book is about literary criticism, but there is also a more general and profound dimension of critique.

Before reading, I thought that Sinnemäki's book might be a reflection on Tomas Forser's Kritik av kritiken [A Critique of Critique] (SE 2002), a modern classic of Nordic literary studies, theoretical textbook and thorough overview on the metamorphosis of literary criticism in 20th century Sweden (with excursions into Denmark and Norway). It is also an account of the downfall of criticism since the golden age of the 1960s through the 1980s.

In a way Sinnemäki's work is such a reflection, but the meaning of his title is more serious - that of a miscarriage of justice. A critic has power. Finnish literary history knows instances in which a critic has crushed a talented writer's work, including books that have since been recognized as the greatest classics. This can be a matter of life and death. With power comes responsibility. 

Sinnemäki has discussed these issues in all his books: Kapina rippituolissa (1989), Pyhät paikat (2007), Vastakirja, eli, miten lapset syövät vallankumouksensa (2011), Sota Kentästä ja kasarmista (2014), Trifonovin syndrooma (2017) and now Kritiikkien kritiikki.

Half of the book is devoted to the rehabilitation of a single critic, Anna-Maria Tallgren (1886-1949), grande dame, a bold and original talent with a cosmopolitan perspective and a special passion for French culture. In 1934 she edited her magnum opus, a Golden Book of French Literature, including many key writings in Finnish for the first time. Tallgren was not afraid to speak out about aesthetic blunders of men who were on their way to become pillars of the cultural establishment such as V. A. Koskenniemi and Huugo Jalkanen. With pioneering investigative research Sinnemäki shows how they and their networks carried out a revenge by blacklisting and cancelling Tallgren from her prominent position in Finnish culture. An open streak of misogyny is revealed. The injustice continues even after Tallgren's death. Her reputation in Finnish literature history, including her Wikipedia entry, is still stained by the wrath of the vengeful enemies.

A huge red thread in Sinnemäki's work is fatherlessness. His book The Trifonov Syndrome discusses the traumatic history of the Soviet Union through the family saga of the writer Yuri Trifonov (1925-1981), whose Old Bolshevik and Red Army veteran father was murdered in Stalin's purges in the 1930s. His mother survived the Gulag. In that book, Sinnemäki also offers an extraordinary encyclopedia of fatherlessness among writers. I have never read anything like this in any language. Sinnemäki is exploring an immensely rich and rewarding territory.

In A Critique of Critiques, Sinnemäki returns to a favourite writer of his, Paavo Rintala (1930-1999), whose father died in the Winter War, this time via one of his "critiques of critiques", of Juha Seppälä's book Reading Rintala. Both critics focus on a key long story, "Eino", with new interpretations. The theme of fatherlessness deepens again. Seppälä and Rintala bonded in a way in which Sinnemäki sees Seppälä turning into a surrogate son for Rintala.

In two essays, Sinnemäki contributes to a self-criticism of Finland's leftist intelligentsia in the 1930s and the 1970s. These are valid and important texts, and I hope the debate continues because I would look forward to a "high angle" perspective for a bigger picture.

The final essay is "Farewell to Alice Munro". Finns have been fond of Alice Munro since the early 1980s, and many critics, including Sinnemäki, have written perspicaciously about her. 

When Munro died in 2024, her youngest daughter Andrea Skinner revealed that her stepfather Gerald Fremlin had sexually abused her for years ever since she was nine. Having learned about the abuse, Munro separated from Fremlin for a while but then returned, and the abuse went on. The condition was known to many, including Munro's biographers, but kept secret.

The 2024 revelation was a lethal blow to the reputation of Munro, the Nobel laureate. Her books are avoided now, people remove them from shelves, her name is seldom mentioned. Sinnemäki shares the distaste.

I'm thinking about Marcel Proust's Contre Sainte-Beuve. For the mighty French critic Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869), the writer equals the work. Sainte-Beuve would have cancelled Alice Munro.

For Marcel Proust, the writer is a different "I" than the dandy who carouses in the nightlife of Paris. Proust would have embraced Alice Munro, her "I" as the writer. Art must be evaluated as art and biography as biography, both separate. This is also the lineage of New Criticism. 

My opinion is that Alice Munro's biographies need to be revised with the new devastating knowledge. Sexual abuse in families is more common than publicly acknowledged. Discussion about it is desperately needed. A prominent case helps spread awareness. But the artistic value of Munro's work remains unchanged.

The best of us can be the worst.

Hamnet

Chloé Zhao: Hamnet (US/GB 2025) with Jessie Buckley (Agnes) and Paul Mescal (Will, William Shakespeare).

Chloé Zhao: Hamnet (US/GB 2025). "The rest is silence". The audience of the Globe Theatre reaches out to the dying prince. The woman in the middle is Agnes Shakespeare (Jessie Buckley).

Hamnet (title in Finland) / Hamnet (title in Sweden).

    Fiche technique (Wikipédia): 

US/GB © 2025 Focus Features LLC.

Sociétés de production : Amblin Entertainment, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions et Book of Shadows. Production : Pippa Harris, Liza Marshall, Sam Mendes et Steven Spielberg. Production déléguée : Laurie Borg, Nicolas Gonda et Kristie Macosko Krieger.

Réalisation : Chloé Zhao

Scénario : Maggie O'Farrell et Chloé Zhao, d'après le roman Hamnet de Maggie O'Farrell

Photographie : Łukasz Żal. Format : couleur.

Décors : Fiona Crombie

Costumes : Malgosia Turzanska

Musique : Max Richter

Montage : Chloé Zhao

    Cast (Wikipedia):

Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, William's wife

Faith Delaney as young Agnes

Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare, Agnes' husband

Emily Watson as Mary Shakespeare, William's mother

Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew Hathaway, Agnes' brother

Smylie Bradwell as young Bartholomew

Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet Shakespeare, William & Agnes' son & Judith's twin

Olivia Lynes as Judith Shakespeare, William & Agnes' younger daughter & Hamnet's twin

Justine Mitchell as Joan Hathaway, Agnes' stepmother

David Wilmot as John Shakespeare, William's father

Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna Shakespeare, William & Agnes' older daughter

Freya Hannan-Mills as Eliza Shakespeare, William's sister (based on Joan)

James Skinner as Gilbert Shakespeare, William's younger brother

Elliot Baxter as Richard Shakespeare, William's younger brother

Dainton Anderson as Edmond Shakespeare, William's youngest brother

Louisa Harland as Rowan Hathaway, Agnes' mother

Noah Jupe as the actor who plays Hamlet in Hamlet

Raphael Goold as the actor who plays Horatio in Hamlet

Shaun Mason as the actor who plays Claudius in Hamlet

Matthew Tennyson as the actor who plays Gertrude in Hamlet

El Simons as the actor who plays Ophelia in Hamlet

Clay Milner Russell as the actor who plays Laertes in Hamlet

Sam Woolf as the actor who plays Bernardo in Hamlet

Hera Gibson as the actor who plays Francisco in Hamlet

Jack Shalloo as the actor who plays Marcellus in Hamlet

Javier Marzan as the actor who plays The Fool in Hamlet

Zac Wishart as Joan's older son, Agnes' stepbrother

James Lintern as Joan's younger son, Agnes' stepbrother

Eva Wishart as Joan's older daughter, Agnes' stepsister

Effie Linnen as Joan's younger daughter, Agnes' stepsister

Laura Guest as a midwife

John Mackay as a Edward Woolmer, the local priest

Albert McCormick as Boy in window

Eliah Arnstjerna as Drum player

Edward Anderson as Flute player

    Durée : 125 minutes

    Langue originale : anglais

    Genre : drame

    Sociétés de distribution : Focus Features (États-Unis), Universal Pictures (international)

    Dates de sortie :

États-Unis : 29 août 2025 (festival de Telluride) ; 28 novembre 2025 (sortie limitée) ; 9 janvier 2026 (sortie nationale)

Canada : septembre 2025 (festival de Toronto)

France : 21 janvier 2026

Finland: 30 January 2026 - distributor: Finnkino Oy - Finnish / Swedish subtitles Minna Franssila / Frej Grönholm

Viewed at Tennispalatsi Luxe 6, Salomonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki, 30 Jan 2026

Telluride Film Festival 29 Aug 2025: Made possible by a donation from Daniel & Mary James. Bilge Ebiri: "Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning, enormously moving 2020 novel about the death of William Shakespeare’s only son is a story of devastating loss and transference in the age of plague. Will (Paul Mescal) is a daydreaming tutor on the verge of becoming the greatest playwright of the English language, and Agnes (Jessie Buckley, who is the soul of the film) is a spirited, independent-minded mother experiencing the deepest of suffering. Much has been surmised about Shakespeare’s life and family, and the death of 11-year-old Hamnet not long before the writing of Hamlet has always been particularly ripe for speculation. Zhao (from a screenplay she wrote with O’Farrell herself) finds in the text of the play raw traces of all-consuming sorrow, shame, and guilt. HAMNET offers a vision of how Shakespeare, a romantic with sharpening ambition, created art in the face of all-consuming tragedy. And it provides a vital and necessary new reading of his greatest work." –BE (U.K., 2025, 125m) In person: Chloé Zhao, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal

AA: Chloé Zhao's Hamnet is a film of quality, a heritage film and a prestige film in the same current as Shakespeare in Love (GB/US 1998) produced by Miramax starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow, which tells a different love story than this imagined account of William Shakespeare's family and children.

The stars are great: Jessie Buckley as Agnes (Anne) and Paul Mescal as Will, as well as the rest of the cast. The production values are of the highest order. Hamnet is superb entertainment.

A pantheistic sense of nature prevails in the beginning, focusing on Agnes the forest witch. Opposites attract: the illiterate Agnes and the greatest master of the English language feel an irresistible attraction. They are made for each other. Their love is both passionately physical and transcendentally spiritual. Their kind of love is familiar from A Midsummer Night's Dream. As a Finn I recognize the connection between forest magic and language magic. And sexual magic. A woman makes a man. When Agnes grips Will's shakespeare, the poet is born. Sex and wit are interconnected.

Agnes and Will pursue their love affair in defiance of their respective families like Romeo and Juliet.

Maggie O'Farrell and Chloé Zhao approach Hamlet as a case of Trauerarbeit for William and Agnes coming to terms with the death of their son Hamnet. William takes the stage as the ghost of Hamlet's father, and Hamlet becomes a surrogate for Hamnet. This fictional-biographical approach is bold and unusual. 

The core mystery, which has puzzled generations of interpreters and made Hamlet the play of plays, is sidelined. Why is Hamlet mysteriously incapacitated (to the point of madness) when his mother weds the killer of his father? 

In January I have engaged with the theme of fatherlessness in Kullervo and the work of Anssi Sinnemäki. Hamlet the play is a classic of that theme, Hamnet the movie introduces an alternative dynamics.

The film ends with marvellous scenes about the construction of the Globe Theatre and the premiere of Hamlet. Hamlet dies on the proscenium, and Agnes touches his hand like she touches William. The entire audience, deeply moved, reaches out.

Chloé Zhao evoked Shakespeare already in Nomadland, in which Fern (Frances McDormand) recites his sonnets and Macbeth's monologues.

Nomadland is for me one of the greatest movies of the century. Chloé Zhao revisited the Western genre, merged it with the modernist legacy of existential alienation and energized it in contemporary context, complete with Amazon storage halls. 

In Hamnet she is the perfect professional, but I miss her unique energy and originality.

Marty Supreme

Josh Safdie: Marty Supreme (US 2025). Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser. What makes Marty run?

Marty Supreme - unelmoi isosti / Marty Supreme (title in Sweden)

    Fiche technique (Wikipédia):

US © 2025 ITTF.

Sociétés de production : A24, Elara Pictures et IPR.VC

Sociétés de distribution : A24 (États-Unis), Metropolitan Filmexport (France)

Production : Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Katagas et Josh Safdie

Coproduction : Samson Jacobson et John Paul Lopez-Ali

Réalisation : Josh Safdie

Scénario : Josh Safdie et Ronald Bronstein

Photographie : Darius Khondji

Décors : Jack Fisk

Costumes : Miyako Bellizzi

Musique : Daniel Lopatin

Montage : Ronald Bronstein

    Cast from Wikipedia:

Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring table tennis champion, fiercely determined to be the best in the sport. The character is loosely based on real-life table tennis player Marty Reisman.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Kay Stone, a wealthy, retired actress and socialite who forms a sexual relationship with Marty.

Odessa A'zion as Rachel Mizler, a married, childhood friend of Marty who is having an affair with him.

Kevin O'Leary as Milton Rockwell, an influential businessman and Kay's husband who takes interest in Marty and table tennis.

Tyler, the Creator as Wally, a taxi-driver and Marty's friend, also skilled at table tennis.

Abel Ferrara as Ezra Mishkin, a criminal that Marty crosses paths with.

Fran Drescher as Rebecca Mauser, Marty's mother.

Luke Manley as Dion Galanis, Marty's friend who lives with his parents.

Emory Cohen as Ira Mizler, Rachel's husband.

Larry "Ratso" Sloman as Murray Norkin, Marty's uncle and shoe shop owner.

Ralph Colucci as Lloyd, Marty's coworker at the shoe shop.

Géza Röhrig as Bela Kletzki, a Holocaust survivor and table tennis champion representing Hungary. The character is loosely based on real-life table tennis player Alojzy Ehrlich.

Koto Kawaguchi as Koto Endo, a deaf table tennis champion representing Japan. The character is partially inspired by Kawaguchi himself and partially by real-life table tennis player Hiroji Satoh.

Pico Iyer as Ram Sethi, the head of the International Table Tennis Association.

John Catsimatidis as Christopher Galanis, a businessman and Dion's father.

Sandra Bernhard as Judy, Marty's neighbor who lives downstairs.

George Gervin as Lawrence, a table tennis club owner.

Ted Williams as Ted, a worker at Lawrence's table tennis club.

Penn Jillette as Hoff, a farmer in New Jersey.

Isaac Mizrahi as Merle, a publicist working with Kay.

David Mamet as Glenn Nordmann, a stage director working with Kay.

Fred Hechinger as Troy, a stage actor working with Kay.

Spenser Granese as Clark, a man who gets hustled by Marty and Wally.

Levon Hawke as Christian, a man who gets hustled by Marty and Wally.

Isaac Simon as Roger, a man who gets hustled by Marty and Wally.

Hailey Gates as Trish, Roger's girlfriend.

Mitchell Wenig as Mitch, Ezra's henchman.

Mariann Tepedino as Mariann, a shoe store customer.

Philippe Petit as a Brussels MC.

Tracy McGrady as a Globetrotter.

Kemba Walker as a Globetrotter.

Naomi Fry as an assistant to Kay Stone.

Ronald Bronstein as the voice of Blarney Stone Phone.

Ray Tintori as a Wembley cameraman.

Paul Grimstad as a theatre production manager.

Robert Pattinson as the voice of the British umpire at the tournament. (uncredited)

    Music Credits

    The 1980s

Change - Tears For Fears

Forever Young - Alphaville

I Have The Touch - Peter Gabriel

Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime (Alternate Version) - The Korgis

The Order Of Death - Public Image Ltd.

The Perfect Kiss - New Order

Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears

    The 1950s

Carnival Day - Dave Bartholomew

How High The Moon - Les Paul & Mary Ford

Walk That Mess - Tiny Bradshaw

Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes - Perry Como

The Fat Man - Fats Domino

As Summer Turns To Fall - The Jubalaires

Rock, Daddy, Rock - Big Bertha Henderson with Al Smith Orchestra

Belle Reve - Alex North & Ray Heindorf

Rile's Wiles - Paul Sikivie

My Song - Johnny Ace, The Beale Streeters

    Other

Piano Sonata No. 17 - Jeno Jandó (Beethoven)

Novus Pt. 2: The Flying Bach - Daniel Lopatin (written by Constance Demby)

American Fantasie - Victor Herbert's Orchestra

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Traditional

Toukyou Bugiugi AKA Tokyo Boogie Woogie

Hiroshi No Sakura Ondo - Hirohi Itsuki

    Loc: New Jersey.

    Langue originale : anglais

    Budget : 70 millions de dollars

    Genre : comédie dramatique, sport

    Durée : 149 minutes

    Dates de sortie :

États-Unis : 6 octobre 2025 (festival de New York)

États-Unis : 25 décembre 2025

France : 18 février 2026

Finland: 23 Jan 2026 - released by Nordisk Film - Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Charlotte Elo

Viewed at Tennispalatsi 2, Salomonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki, 23 Jan 2026

AA: Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme is a study in chutzpah. The rags to riches story belongs to the lineage of What Makes Sammy Run? (Budd Schulberg, 1941) and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Mordecai Richler, 1959). Timothée Chalamet breaks new ground on his Laufbahn (career) as the obnoxious antihero Marty Mauser who lies and cheats his way to the top while his unique talent in table tennis is unquestionable. The games are thrillingly photographed in wide shots by maestro Darius Khondji who records the cartoonish chase sequences in extreme close-up with a handheld camera. 

Flight is the essence: breaking free from restraints to talent, from the shadows of the past, from responsibility in relationships and from furious debt collectors of mounting hotel bills. Marty has relationships with two married women and makes both pregnant, evading consequences until he cannot anymore. 

An undercurrent is antisemitism, and daringly (a bit like Ernst Lubitsch) Safdie flaunts the negative characteristics of his villainous Jewish protagonist. The beehive flashback involving Bela Kletzki (Géza Röhrig) is an unusual contribution to Auschwitz lore. Marty is twice exposed to public humiliation: in a vicious spanking by Milton Rockwell and a threat of having to kiss a pig in front of the Tokyo exhibition match audience.

A glamorous counterpart to the rough-skinned Marty Mauser is Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), the trophy wife of Milton Rockwell (Kevin O'Leary), the mighty businessman and cuckolded husband. We get glimpses of Kay's solitude and desolation in the gilded cage.

In the final sequence Marty seems to be on the brink of redemption as he holds in awe his newborn baby. Safdie connects here with a cinematic tradition of villains redeemed by a baby from Charles Chaplin's The Kid and John Ford's The Three Godfathers to Coline Serreau's Trois hommes et un couffin. 

Marty Supreme offends, disturbs and defies clichés. It is powered by unique energy. A film you might love to hate.

Kenraaliharjoitus / Sudden Outbursts of Emotions

Paula Korva: Kenraaliharjoitus / Sudden Outbursts of Emotion (FI 2025) with Iina Kuustonen (Jane), Riku Nieminen (Mikki) and Laura Malmivaara.

Sudden Outbursts of Emotions (title in Sweden).

    FI © 2025 Yellow Film & TV Oy. P: Marko Talli. EX: Olli Haikka, Jorma Leinilä.

    D+SC: Paula Korva. Based on the novel (2019) by Anna-Leena Härkönen. Dramaturge: Daniela Hakulinen. Script advisor: Petja Peltomaa. Plays rehearsed: Anton Chekhov: "The Seagull" and Minna Canth: "Anna Liisa". DP: Teppo Högman. AD: Outi Kallio. Cost: Kaisa Pohjola. Makeup: Jenni Aejmelaeus-Pyysing. M: Ville Tanttu. Soundtrack: Antti Autio: "Tuhansien öitten läpi" and "Kaikki hyvin". J. S. Bach: "Suite für Violoncello solo Nr. 1 G-Dur BWV 1007 Prélude c G-Dur" and "Air aus der 3. Orchestersuite D-Dur BWV 1068" arr. Ville Tanttu. S: Juha Hakanen. ED: Jyrki Levä. Intimacy coordinator: Sara-Maria Heinonen. Casting: Pigga Filenius.

    CAST:

Iina Kuustonen  Jane

Riku Nieminen  Mikki

Laura Malmivaara  Valma

Minka Kuustonen  Karo

Jasir Osman  Marko

Marc Gassot  Arttu

Lauri Maijala  Saku

Lilja Vainio  Pihla

Anni Porspakka  Milla

Daniel Virtanen  Aki

Sofia Voltti  Petja

Ville Mustonen  teatteriohjaaja

Birgitta Taussi  Oliverin äiti

Anna-Leena Härkönen  Sarita

Ilari Johansson  lautturi

Pyry Nikkilä  isäntä

Markku Haussila  joogi

Arttu Kapulainen  Erkki

Cécile Orblin  Beatrice

Sara Ritala  Anni

Hanna Liinoja  Anneli

Esa Anttila  Raimo

Miro Laiho  järjestäjä

Eevi Lappalainen  Pihlan ystävä

Tristan Hughes  Oliverin isä

Jaden Defour  Oliver

Janne Lesonen  Atte

Aino Sirje  Didi

Katariina Pasanen  orgiatyöpajaan osallistuja

Gaia Saarinen  morsiuskaupan myyjä

Yaoandy Jimeno  juhlija

Yannick Julie  panohenkilö

Jarno Kovamäki  vahtimestari

Mikko Lauronen  Valman ystävä #1

Katy Suutari  Valman ystävä #2

Sam Jammeh  Valman ystävä #3

Veera Kaukola  ravintolan baarimikko

Tanja Heinänen  Niina

Youssef Asad Alkhatib  karonkkabaarin baarimikko

Tatu Arminen  Jare

Sami Huhtala  poke

Heidi Hilpinen  matkatoimiston työntekijä

    97 min

    Loc: Helsinki: Makasiinipuisto, Savoy-Teatteri, Helsinki archipelago, Skiffer, Siltavuorenranta, Hietalahti Beach

    Genre: comedy

    Premiere: 7 March 2025 - distributor: Nelonen Media.

    Viewed on Ruutu+ at home, 17 Jan 2025.

Literal translation of the film's title Kenraaliharjoitus = Dress Rehearsal.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

"Kenraaliharjoitus on raikas romanttinen komedia pariskunnasta, joka suhdekriisissään päättää alkaa tapailla muita ihmisiä. Päärooleissa loistavat Iina Kuustonen, Laura Malmivaara ja Riku Nieminen."

"Jane on matkatoimistovirkailija, joka työssään myy muille seikkailuja, mutta omassa elämässään jumittaa turvallisissa rutiineissaan. Hänen puolisonsa Mikki on näyttelijä, joka kamppailee uransa kanssa. Jane uskoo suhteen olevan onnellinen — kunnes Mikki pudottaa pommin ja ehdottaa suhteen avaamista. Vierailu trendikkäissä, seksipositiivisissa bileissä saa kuitenkin Janen katsomaan asioita uusin silmin, eikä ajatus avoimesta suhteesta tunnukaan enää niin pelottavalta. Uusien ihmisten myötä pintaan nousee kuitenkin myös yllättäviä tunteita, eikä vapautuminen vanhoista kaavoista olekaan niin helppoa kuin Jane kuvitteli."

 

"Paula Korvan hurmaava esikoisohjaus kuplii energiaa ja haastaa romanttisen komedian totutut kaavat. Elokuva pohjautuu Anna-Leena Härkösen samannimiseen romaaniin."

AA: Kenraaliharjoitus is Paula Korva's debut as a director of a theatrical feature film, following a run of short films and television series. Based on the novel by Anna-Leena Härkönen, Kenraaliharjoitus is a satire of modern love, beautifully shot by Teppo Högman in summertime Helsinki.

Open marriage and open relationships are the trendy topic, recently also covered by Selma Vilhunen in Neljä pientä aikuista / Four Little Adults (FI 2023). The protagonists are 40-50 years old, facing a turning-point in their relationships and a precariousness in the job market, at its harshest in the freelancer cultural sector. Those with children meet different challenges. I learn about "a brutal cancel culture" towards transgressors in families with children.

To save their long-term relationship, Jane (Iina Kuustonen) consents to visit with her companion Mikki (Riku Nieminen) the Isle of Lust in the Helsinki archipelago, a sex happening complete with orgy workshops and panohuoneet (banging rooms). All is under control, no alcohol is allowed, mobile phones are confiscated, and rules of consent are strict to the point of hilariousness.

Paula Korva navigates tactfully between registers of spoof (including Eyes Wide Shut references) and honest curiosity. Comfort zones are challenged. The main source of comedy is a studied casualness in weird situations. 

In the orgy workshop, Valma (Laura Malmivaara) is like a hawk stealing on the prey. It is a startling performance of the female gaze, the lady as the hunter. A butch / femme charge emerges between Valma and Jane. 

Finally the experiments boil down to observations such as "listen to yourself and your own needs" and "focus on yourself". On 8 November 2025 there was a cover story in The Economist about "the relationship recession": there are less marriages than ever, less relationships than ever, less sex than ever, and less children than ever. Reportedly 25% of Americans have relationships with robots. We love ourselves and machines. Good luck.

Satirical targets include conceit in the academia. Markers of distinction are flaunted, but is there anything beyond? Again I notice that there is no English term for Bildung, in Finnish sivistys. You can have high education and little Bildung.

Iina Kuustonen is fantastic as the protagonist Jane. A great comedienne with a quick wit and perfect timing, she keeps getting better. It is good to see her with her sister Minka Kuustonen in their first movie together. The anthology piece is Jane's drunken sequence. Her preposterous comments escalate into a long laugh-out-loud fest. Laughter prolongs life.

Kalevala: Kullervon tarina / Kalevala: The Story of Kullervo

Antti J. Jokinen: Kalevala: Kullervon tarina (FI 2026) starring Eero Aho (Untamo) and Elias Salonen (Kullervo).

FI © 2026 ReelMedia Oy [Marko Röhr] / Finland Storm Inc. Oy [Antti J. Jokinen]. P: Johanna Enäsuo, Marko Röhr, Antti J. Jokinen. Co-PC: SF Studios. EX: Yaba Holst.

     D: Antti J. Jokinen. SC: Antti J. Jokinen, Jorma Tommila – based on ancient Finnish folklore – compiled by Elias Lönnrot in Kalevala (1835 old edition, 1849 new edition) – Cantos 31–36 cover the Kullervo saga. DP: Rauno Ronkainen F.S.C. – colour – scope. PD: Antti Nikkinen. Cost: Anna Vilppunen. Makeup: Justé Butké. M: Lauri Porra. Sinfonia Lahti conducted by Kristian Sallinen. S: Kirka Sainio. ED: Joona Louhivuori.

    CAST:

Kullervo – Elias Salonen

Untamo – Eero Aho

Ilkka Koivula (Wäinö)

Ronja Orasta (Aino)

Olli Rahkonen (Ilmarinen)

Krista Kosonen (Kerttu)

Johannes Holopainen (Kalervo)

Janne Hyytiäinen (Kalevi)

Jaakko Ohtonen (Sampsa)

Oona Airola (Marjatta)

Jesse Gyllenbögel (Sampo)

Julius Susimäki (Tiera)

Aino Sihvonen (Maria)

Hannu Kivioja (Franciscus)

Seppo Pääkkönen (Lauri)

Tommi Eronen (parantaja)

Petri Manninen (Juha)

Marc Gassot (Tapio)

Sergej Zdoronkov (Arkady)

Tiina Weckström (muori)

Gediminas Storpirštis (Ivanov)

Alex Anton (Kimmo)

Kristo Salminen (Tuomo)

Jarmo Mäkinen (Kauko)

Veera Anttila (Lemmetty)

Suvi-Maaria Virta (shamaani)

Leo Kortelainen (nuori Kullervo)

Eevi Lappalainen (nuori Aino)

    143 min

    Premiere: 16 Jan 2026 – distributor: SF Studios – Swedish subtitles: Frej Grönholm.

    Viewed at Tennispalatsi iSENSE, Helsinki, 16 Jan 2026

NB. Kalevala = the land of Kaleva. Kalervo is a version of the name Kaleva. The Kullervo Cycle is covered in Cantos 31–36 of the New Kalevala. XXXI: Untamo and Kalervo. – XXXII: Kullervo as Shepherd. – XXXIII: Death of Ilmarinen's Wife. – XXXIV: Kullervo Finds His Family. – XXXV: Kullervo Finds His Sister. – XXXVI: Kullervo's Victory and Death.

FROM THE PRESSBOOK: "Karelia in the 12th century. The fratricidal hatred between Kalervo and Untamo leads to a massacre of an entire village. The only survivor is Kalervo's son Kullervo, whom Untamo decides to raise as his own."

"As he grows up, Kullervo's raw strength and rebellious nature make him dangerous, and the villagers want to get rid of him once and for all."

"Kullervo searches for a purpose for his existence and skills all his life. When the events of his past are revealed to him, his fate is clear. The path of revenge leads Kullervo to confront Untamo and force him to account for his sins."

"Kullervo's destiny is one of the most famous in the Kalevala. Under the direction of Antti J. Jokinen, the story of a father and son comes to life powerfully in the rugged national landscapes of North Karelia."

AA: Antti J. Jokinen's Kalevala: The Story of Kullervo is a lavish mythological tragedy. It is based on ancient Finno-Ugric folklore which survived as oral tradition. It was popular poetry meant to be sung, just like The Iliad and The Odyssey. In 1551, Mikael Agricola published the first written records of Finno-Ugric folklore. The spark lit a fire. A veritable folklore movement culminated in Kalevala, an artistically coherent compilation edited by Elias Lönnrot, who added verses of his own in the authentic style. Which I find acceptable, because for him folklore was a living tradition, not a dead museum object.

Kullervo, the most tragic of the tales, may be among the oldest. It is striking to register connections with the tragedies of King Oedipus and Prince Amleth / Hamlet. The legend of Amleth was written down by Saxo Grammaticus, but its oral tradition circulated among Nordic peoples earlier. The Kalevala tradition largely emerges from Karelia, but the Kullervo material was collected for Lönnrot by D. E. D. Europaeus in Ingria. The way the tale is told has affinities with Icelander sagas and Norse mythology.

Kullervo has always been an inspiration for art, from Jean Sibelius (his earliest symphony, not numbered into his symphony corpus) to heavy metal. In the cinema, Antti Jokinen's movie is the most prominent. It has passion and commitment. The movie is not an homage. It revives the burning heart of the doomed anti-hero for today's audience. 

The cast impresses by its total dedication. The ensemble spirit is engrossing. Elias Salonen (Kullervo), Eero Aho (Untamo) and Johannes Holopainen (Kalervo) have beefed themselves up to alpha male proportions by spending many an hour at the gym. Their authentic physical presence is essential. Efficient combat choreography boosts breathtaking fight scenes. Houdiniesque escapes such as Kullervo's survival in a bonfire are directly from Kalevala.

The stone is among the key imagery. Kerttu, Ilmarinen's wife, bakes a stone into Kullervo's bread. Evoking Jesus: "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?" A metaphor for hard times. On the other hand, a large flat stone protects Kullervo in the bonfire. A metaphor for salvation.

Hate between brothers is an eternal subject since Cain and Abel. As is the taboo of incest. A central theme is fatherlessness. I am re-reading the literary critic Anssi Sinnemäki's extraordinary essays in which a main theme is fatherlessness across literary history, national and international. The four wars the Finns endured in the 20th century still traumatize us through the legacy of fatherlessness.

The most delicate sequence is that of the incest. While on the run, Kullervo meets a young woman called Aino (Ronja Orasta). They feel an instant attraction which during the journey grows into a love affair. Until Aino finally realizes Kullervo's identity. In the love scenes Jokinen displays both tact and audacity. In her despair Aino can find no way out of the horror. Her final solution is covered by a well-judged ellipsis. Ronja Orasta is perfect in a most difficult and complex role.

The orphan child Kullervo is raised as a slave and bullied and harassed by everybody. There is no love. Evil feeds evil. Lönnrot concludes his Kullervo cantos with a statement by Väinämöinen:

"Lapsi kaltoin kasvattama, poika tuhmin tuuittama,

ei tule älyämähän, miehen mieltä ottamahan,

vaikka vanhaksi eläisi, varreltansa vahvistuisi."

In extenso in John Martin Crawford's translation (the poetry is lost, but the meaning can be found):

“O, ye many unborn nations, Never evil nurse your children,

Never give them out to strangers, Never trust them to the foolish!

If the child is not well nurtured, Is not rocked and led uprightly,

Though he grow to years of manhood, Bear a strong and shapely body,

He will never know discretion, Never eat the bread of honor, never drink the cup of wisdom.”

Among the movie's strengths is authentic Karelian deep forest location shooting in Nurmes. The locations are more than a background. They are the element: the forest as a way of being, the water as the most important way of transportation and the air that we breathe also providing an access to transcendence.

Kalevala language is a fountainhead for the Finnish language with an animistic, organic and onomatopoetic affinity between the signifier and the signified. Kalevala's language is nature-bound as is the cinematography of Kullervo.

The ace cinematographer is Rauno Ronkainen, and additional breathtaking nature footage has been shot by Teemu Liakka. The art direction, the costumes and the accessories, including weapons, are fascinating. I don't know how accurate they are, but the choices are aesthetically valid and consistent. 

Kullervo carries a cross. The people in the 12th century still live in a world of ancient faith, expressed particularly in their vision of the starry sky and the land of death (Tuonela) beyond. But Christian objects emerged  since the 7th century in what is now Finland.

Lauri Porra has created a magnificent score, appropriate for a grand mythic saga. A missing aspect is song. Before the age of mechanical reproduction, people sang a lot and knew hundreds of songs - not least in the epoch of the great runic singers such as Larin Paraske (1833-1904), "the Finnish (actually Ingrian) Mnemosyne".

While all elements are great, some aspects I regret. This is a violent action adventure, true to the spirit of Kullervo, but too many extended combat sequences diminish the effect. The film is too long, a curse in contemporary cinema in general. There are longueurs. The finale in Tuonela is an artistic mistake. But the general impact is of a powerful and compelling drama.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Kullervon kirous / Kullervo's Curse (1899).

Album cover of the first complete recording (1971) of the Kullervo tone poem (1892) by Jean Sibelius. The image is Kullervon sotaanlähtö / Kullervo Sets Off for War (1901), a tempera painting as a fresco by Jean's friend Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

...

FROM THE PRESSBOOK:

OHJAAJAN SANA

Antti Jokinen

Elokuvani on vahvasti Kalevalasta inspiroitunut, mutta samalla se on itsenäinen teos. Halusin modernisoida Kalevalan – riisua siitä fantasian ja nostaa sen inhimilliset ja visuaalisesti kiehtovat puolet esiin. Keskiössä on silti edelleen hyvin kalevalainen maailma: myytit, ihmiset, luontosuhde – ja ennen kaikkea Kullervon tarina.

Kullervon tarina on mielestäni yksi Kalevalan merkittävimmistä ja samalla traagisimmista. Se kertoo

kostosta, isän ja pojan kipeästä suhteesta ja siitä, miten vihan kierre voi lopulta tuhota ihmisen.

Perinteisessä sankarieepoksessa sankari voittaa koettelemukset voimallaan ja viisaudellaan.

Kullervo kuitenkin selviytyy vain ulkoisesti – hän ei kasva henkisesti, vaan muuttuu vähitellen hillittömäksi ja arvaamattomaksi. Elokuva tarkastelee tätä murtumispistettä: Kullervon ja Untamon välistä jännitettä, jota Elias Salonen ja Eero Aho mielestäni tulkitsevat poikkeuksellisen herkästi ja vahvasti.

Halusin nostaa myös luonnon keskeiseen rooliin. Suomen ikimetsät, karu kauneus ja ainutlaatuiset kuvauspaikat luovat elokuvalle oman sielunsa. Kuvaukset tehtiin pääosin luonnonpuistoissa ja paikoissa, joissa ei ole aiemmin filmattu – juuri siellä, missä Kullervon tarinan myyttinen sydän sykkii vahvimmin.

Antti J. Jokinen on palkittu elokuvaohjaaja ja -käsikirjoittaja, jonka ohjaamia elokuvia ovat hänen käsikirjoittamansa ja Hilary Swankin tähdittämä The Resident (2011), Sofi Oksasen palkittuun romaaniin perustuva Puhdistus (2012), Katja Ketun palkittuun romaaniin pohjautuva Kätilö (2015) sekä Jokisen itsensä käsikirjoittama Pahan kukat (2016), joka toi Jokiselle parhaan ohjaajan palkinnon Shanghain kansainvälisillä elokuvajuhlilla. Vuonna 2019 Jokinen ohjasi elokuvan Helene, joka perustui Rakel Liehun romaaniin. Kalevala: Kullervon tarina on Antti J. Jokisen kuudes pitkä elokuva.

TUOTTAJIEN SANA

Kalevala on Suomen kansalliseepos, yksi kansallisen kulttuurimme kulmakivistä ja merkkipaaluista. Kalevala on kautta aikojen inspiroinut monia kuvataiteilijoita, kirjailijoita ja säveltäjiä sekä Suomessa että kansainvälisesti. Uskomme vahvasti, että Antti J. Jokisen elokuva Kalevala: Kullervon tarina tulee olemaan yksi merkkipaalu suomalaisen elokuvan historiassa.

Antti J. Jokisen ja Jorma Tommilan käsikirjoittama Kalevala: Kullervon tarina pohjautuu yhteen Elias

Lönnrotin hurjimmista ja traagisimmista kansantarinoista. Temaattisesti elokuva kertoo siitä, miten kosto ajaa ihmisen tuhoon. Samalla elokuva kertoo tarinan isän ja pojan rakkaudesta, ylpeydestä,

petoksesta sekä anteeksiannosta. Aiheita, jotka vaikuttavat voimakkaasti ihmisiin myös nykypäivänä.

Tässä ajassa muinainen mytologia ja myytit kiinnostavat laajaa yleisöä ympäri maailman. Kalevalaiset tarinat ovat olleet mm J. R. R. Tolkienille merkittävässä roolissa hänen luodessaan Taru sormusten herrasta -trilogian. Koska kalevalaiset tarinat ovat tärkeä osa suomalaista kulttuuriperintöä, uskomme, että juuri suomalaiset elokuvantekijät ovat parhaita kertomaan nämä tarinat suurelle yleisölle. Haluamme tuoda Kalevala: Kullervon tarina -elokuvan kautta esiin myös suomalaisen luonnon

ainutlaatuisuuden sekä luoda tarinan, joka kestää aikaa vielä seuraaville sukupolville.

Tämä Antti J. Jokisen elokuva vie katsojan 1100-luvulle, aikaan, jolloin Suomessa elettiin vasta rautakauden päättymisen ja varhaiskeskiajan murroskautta. Muualla Euroopassa keskiaikana tunnettu

historian jakso oli jo pitkällä. Kalevalaisen elämän ja luonnonuskon rinnalle nousivat uudet uskonnot. Tsaarin valtakunta puristi Karjalaa idästä ja lännestä katolisuus toi ristin uudeksi symboliksi ja

 voimaesineeksi muinaisen perinteen rinnalle.

Antti J. Jokisen elokuva on vahva tulkinta muutoksen aikakaudesta. Tässä tulkinnassa näkyy  tinkimättömän elokuvantekijän kädenjälki, halu kertoa Kalevalasta tämän päivän tavalla. Toivomme, että elokuvan kautta kiinnostus Kalevalaan saa myös tulevat sukupolvet muistamaan, miten tärkeä teos kansalliseepoksemme on.

Johanna Enäsuo

 ja Marko Röhr

”Kullervon roolin saaminen oli unelmien täyttymys. Rooli oli monella tapaa vaativa ja sitä varten oli valmistauduttava perusteellisesti. Kävin vuoden ohjatusti salilla ja pudotin painoa. Lisäksi piti opetella takomaan ja miekkailemaan. Luin myös kaikki eri versiot Kullervosta ja Kalevalan.

Kuvauksissa sai joka päivä ihailla Suomen upeaa luontoa. En ollut koskaan ennen käynyt ikimetsissä ja ne vetivät kyllä hiljaiseksi. Kullervo joutuu monessa kohtauksessa kirjaimellisesti kylmään veteen, joten joka päivä kuvausten jälkeen odotti lämmin suihku tai sauna. Silti lakanani olivat jatkuvasti mudassa.

Kohtaukset olivat monesti rankkoja ja haastavia. Onneksi vastanäyttelijänäni oli Eero Aho, jonka apu oli korvaamatonta. Hänen kanssaan oli upeaa näytellä ja hän antoi minulle hyviä näyttelijäntyöllisiä vinkkejä. Myös ohjaaja Antti Jokiselta opin paljon elokuvanäyttelemisestä. Hän on tarkkanäköinen ohjaaja, joka saa näyttelijästä parhaan irti.

Kalevala: Kullervon tarinan tekeminen oli yksi elämäni ikimuistoisimmista kokemuksista.

Elias Salonen

”Untamon rooliin valmistautuminen oli fyysisesti vaativaa, oli treenattava kuukausikaupalla ja pudotettava painoa. Itse elokuvan tekeminen asetti myös vaateita – kuvauspaikat olivat hienoja, mutta kaukana kaikesta ja kävelimme usein kilometrikaupalla päästäksemme niihin. Tekeminen oli hienoa, mutta fyysisesti ja henkisestikin vaativaa.

Uskon, että ihminen on ollut aina pohjimmiltaan samanlainen, vaikka olosuhteet ovat muuttuneet.

Untamo tekee pahoja asioita, ja yrittää sen jälkeen elämässään hyvittää niitä ja saada synninpäästön. Elokuvassa käsitellään armoa ja anteeksiantoa sekä isän ja pojan välistä suhdetta.

Meillä oli pitkä retki elokuvan tekemisessä, ja oli mahtavaa päästä tekemään tämä rooli. Antti on tarkka ja taitava ohjaaja, joka johdattelee psykologian äärelle. Minulle tämä elokuva on syvää ja koskettavaa draamaa – emotionaalisesti koskettava kokemus.” 

Eero Aho

Lehdistömateriaalit:

filmikamari.fi/pressit

(tunnus: press, salasana: noutaja)

Elokuvan tiedotus, haastattelupyynnöt:

Katja Viitalähde-Annala, 050 395 6084,

katja.viitalahde@cestlavie.fi

Tuotantotuki:

Suomen elokuvasäätiö, Nordisk Film & TV Fond

Yhteistyössä: Yle

Elokuvan yhteistyökumppani:

Pohjois-Karjalan Osuuskauppa PKO

Elokuva on tehty

Pohjois-Karjalan tulevaisuusrahaston osarahoituksella.

Yhteistyössä: Visit Finland

Elokuvamusiikin tuotanto yhteistyössä

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