The film Mother of Mine was a very emotional film about a young boy named Eero who is forced to leave Finland and travel to Sweden where he lives with a foster family until the war was over. This film incorporated a common Nordic film theme of a love triangle, however, this time it was between two mothers and Eero. Personally, I thought the director, Klaus Haro, did an amazing job of utilizing certain filming techniques in order to make some of the heartbreaking scenes feel much more dramatic. I also thought that the plot was excellent and kept the viewer guessing as to what Eero would have in store for him in every coming day.
This movie takes place during World War II where thousands of Finnish children were evacuated from Finland to Sweden in attempt to avoid the bombing and raids. Kirsti and Eero have to deal with the unfortunate news of her husband and his father dying in battle, which Kirsti does not cope with all too well. Kirsti then decides that after losing her husband that she could not deal with losing her son as well so she decides to send him off to a foster family in Finland. After finally arriving at his foster home in Sweden, he is not accepted right away at all by Signe due to the fact that she was expecting a young girl. Throughout the movie, we begin to see emotional connections being made between Eero and Hjalmar, Signe's husband, which leads to the eventual bonding between Signe and Eero as well. As the movie progresses, Signe begins to accept Eero as one of her own and even refers to him as her child. This occurs right after Signe reveals to Eero that she had a 6 year old daughter who drowned to death two years prior to him coming to their house. As viewers we now watch a strong relationship develop between the Jonsson's and Eero, which makes us become emotional as we anticipate a letter coming in the mail from Kirsti requesting the return of Eero back to Finland. In the end, Eero is forced to leave the Jonsson's and travel back to Sweden and meet up with his mother, which was very painful for Eero as he had developed a strong relationship with the Jonsson's. The final scene of the movie ends with Eero as an adult who visits the grave of Signe because he never had the guts to leave Kirsti again and see Signe of whom he loved so much.
As a viewer, I found this film to be very emotional and frustrating to watch because Eero never really had a chance to settle down and find his true family. Its one thing to have to leave your own country and travel to another of which you cant speak the language, but to have to leave your mom behind, or in this case your last family member, would make the experience much more difficult. On top of that he then had to learn Swedish and cope with a foster mother who at the beginning of their relationship was extremely bitter and harsh towards him. Once he began to get to know the family, he then had to try and fit in at school and learn how to help out at the farm, all while receiving letters from his mother saying that it would be longer until he could come back. What made me cry is when he found out his mom left him for a German soldier, which led him to become fully attached to the Jonsson family, which ended up hurting him as he received a letter later on saying that his mom separated from the soldier and demanded he be sent back to Finland. Between the confusion and unsettledness of Eero, we the viewers become very sad for Eero as we watched his heart being broken several times throughout the movie.
As far as how the movie was shot, I felt that the slow motion scenes when Eero originally leaves Kirsti and then again when he has to leave the Jonsson residence makes the viewer much more emotional as we realize that Eero is yet again being torn from loved ones. I really felt a part of the scene when Signe could not watch Eero be dragged into the car and then she chased him down the road. I thought the acting was phenomenal in that scene and I really began to feel for not only Eero but the Jonsson family as well. Another technique I noticed throughout the movie was the sharpness of the sound. I could here when the cast gulped and many other subtle noises throughout the movie could be heard crystal clear. This made me feel like I was actually watching the film live and helped me become much more attached to the characters as well.
In conclusion, I thought that the film was a 9-10 stars and I would without a doubt recommend it to anyone interested in watching a foreign film. As I mentioned before, I thought the plot was very well thought out and made the viewers feel extremely connected to the characters, of who all acted wonderfully throughout the entire film. All in all, I would not mind watching this film for a second or third time in the future and am very happy that I had the opportunity to view it.
This movie takes place during World War II where thousands of Finnish children were evacuated from Finland to Sweden in attempt to avoid the bombing and raids. Kirsti and Eero have to deal with the unfortunate news of her husband and his father dying in battle, which Kirsti does not cope with all too well. Kirsti then decides that after losing her husband that she could not deal with losing her son as well so she decides to send him off to a foster family in Finland. After finally arriving at his foster home in Sweden, he is not accepted right away at all by Signe due to the fact that she was expecting a young girl. Throughout the movie, we begin to see emotional connections being made between Eero and Hjalmar, Signe's husband, which leads to the eventual bonding between Signe and Eero as well. As the movie progresses, Signe begins to accept Eero as one of her own and even refers to him as her child. This occurs right after Signe reveals to Eero that she had a 6 year old daughter who drowned to death two years prior to him coming to their house. As viewers we now watch a strong relationship develop between the Jonsson's and Eero, which makes us become emotional as we anticipate a letter coming in the mail from Kirsti requesting the return of Eero back to Finland. In the end, Eero is forced to leave the Jonsson's and travel back to Sweden and meet up with his mother, which was very painful for Eero as he had developed a strong relationship with the Jonsson's. The final scene of the movie ends with Eero as an adult who visits the grave of Signe because he never had the guts to leave Kirsti again and see Signe of whom he loved so much.
As a viewer, I found this film to be very emotional and frustrating to watch because Eero never really had a chance to settle down and find his true family. Its one thing to have to leave your own country and travel to another of which you cant speak the language, but to have to leave your mom behind, or in this case your last family member, would make the experience much more difficult. On top of that he then had to learn Swedish and cope with a foster mother who at the beginning of their relationship was extremely bitter and harsh towards him. Once he began to get to know the family, he then had to try and fit in at school and learn how to help out at the farm, all while receiving letters from his mother saying that it would be longer until he could come back. What made me cry is when he found out his mom left him for a German soldier, which led him to become fully attached to the Jonsson family, which ended up hurting him as he received a letter later on saying that his mom separated from the soldier and demanded he be sent back to Finland. Between the confusion and unsettledness of Eero, we the viewers become very sad for Eero as we watched his heart being broken several times throughout the movie.
As far as how the movie was shot, I felt that the slow motion scenes when Eero originally leaves Kirsti and then again when he has to leave the Jonsson residence makes the viewer much more emotional as we realize that Eero is yet again being torn from loved ones. I really felt a part of the scene when Signe could not watch Eero be dragged into the car and then she chased him down the road. I thought the acting was phenomenal in that scene and I really began to feel for not only Eero but the Jonsson family as well. Another technique I noticed throughout the movie was the sharpness of the sound. I could here when the cast gulped and many other subtle noises throughout the movie could be heard crystal clear. This made me feel like I was actually watching the film live and helped me become much more attached to the characters as well.
In conclusion, I thought that the film was a 9-10 stars and I would without a doubt recommend it to anyone interested in watching a foreign film. As I mentioned before, I thought the plot was very well thought out and made the viewers feel extremely connected to the characters, of who all acted wonderfully throughout the entire film. All in all, I would not mind watching this film for a second or third time in the future and am very happy that I had the opportunity to view it.