*Some things in this review can be considered spoilers.
Having seen a few excellent movies directed by Matti Ijäs, I was really looking forward to see this one. The special trademarks of Ijäs are creating interesting, controversial male characters and making them read their witty lines with pretty much minimal facial expression. Another thing is combining serious issues with somewhat surreal personalities and incidents.
In this case the serious issue is domestic violence. The atmosphere is a bit darker comparing to other works by Ijäs. The first half an hour it looks like a comedy, but after that we get a realistic and grim look at the typical case of domestic violence. A man, loving his son, fails to respect his wife and other women around. The violence is about considering the other genre less valuable, and it can be seen in everything, starting from the language used. To an outsider then, everything is just "falling in the stairs" and other innocent little accidents. The victim actually adopts this role as the clumsy one, a role of the worthless. This is the kind of story this movie tells.
Then again, I already knew this one. It is not a very original approach, and I guess it might be worthwhile trying another one. Female domestic violence maybe? The positive thing is, the violence is shown from the perspective of the villain; we get to see the big picture of his motives. And as he doesn't seem to use much alcohol, the movie is free from that cliché, and therefore we get a deeper look to the actual problem field.
The funny side of the movie is focused on the figure of the neurotic school teacher who fails to play his role as the nice guy around. Despite of being pretty much the most annoying and spineless figure imaginable, he seems to get everything he wants. This storyline is not as interesting as the other one, but the value of it really comes from the comparison to the other one. The violent guy looks nice, the spineless guy is thought to be the responsible.
The women are not in the center of the movie, but the actresses do excellent work. They are exactly opposite to each other. One is a traditional submissive figure, the other one is willing to change things, even violently. They both fail in their purposes. On this side the story is depressive; the structures of the society can not be changed, but neither adapting to them helps. The movie presents the problems, but doesn't provide any answers.
Altogether, another interesting character study by Ijäs. Not knowing the original text, I'm unable to say whether the writer or the director should be praised for the realistic touch and the fascinating dialog, but it is quite a typical work for Ijäs.
Having seen a few excellent movies directed by Matti Ijäs, I was really looking forward to see this one. The special trademarks of Ijäs are creating interesting, controversial male characters and making them read their witty lines with pretty much minimal facial expression. Another thing is combining serious issues with somewhat surreal personalities and incidents.
In this case the serious issue is domestic violence. The atmosphere is a bit darker comparing to other works by Ijäs. The first half an hour it looks like a comedy, but after that we get a realistic and grim look at the typical case of domestic violence. A man, loving his son, fails to respect his wife and other women around. The violence is about considering the other genre less valuable, and it can be seen in everything, starting from the language used. To an outsider then, everything is just "falling in the stairs" and other innocent little accidents. The victim actually adopts this role as the clumsy one, a role of the worthless. This is the kind of story this movie tells.
Then again, I already knew this one. It is not a very original approach, and I guess it might be worthwhile trying another one. Female domestic violence maybe? The positive thing is, the violence is shown from the perspective of the villain; we get to see the big picture of his motives. And as he doesn't seem to use much alcohol, the movie is free from that cliché, and therefore we get a deeper look to the actual problem field.
The funny side of the movie is focused on the figure of the neurotic school teacher who fails to play his role as the nice guy around. Despite of being pretty much the most annoying and spineless figure imaginable, he seems to get everything he wants. This storyline is not as interesting as the other one, but the value of it really comes from the comparison to the other one. The violent guy looks nice, the spineless guy is thought to be the responsible.
The women are not in the center of the movie, but the actresses do excellent work. They are exactly opposite to each other. One is a traditional submissive figure, the other one is willing to change things, even violently. They both fail in their purposes. On this side the story is depressive; the structures of the society can not be changed, but neither adapting to them helps. The movie presents the problems, but doesn't provide any answers.
Altogether, another interesting character study by Ijäs. Not knowing the original text, I'm unable to say whether the writer or the director should be praised for the realistic touch and the fascinating dialog, but it is quite a typical work for Ijäs.
