Letters to Father Jacob-Movie Review 03/09/2014
Posted by Films to consider in Dark Comedy, Emotional Drama, Finnish language film, Jussi Awards, Klaus Härö, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Movies, Palm Springs International Film Festival.add a comment
Letters to Father Jacob (Finnish) 2009
Postia pappi Jaakobille
Directed by Klaus Härö
Starring Kaarina Hazard, Heikki Nousiainen, Jukka Keinonen
Among other wins and nominations (mostly wins):
WINNER, Best Film; Best Actor (Nousiainen); Best Director (Härö); Best Music; NOMINATED, Best Actress (Hazard); Best Script; Best Cinematography, Jussi Awards
NOMINATED, Best Film, Mar del Plata Film Festival
WINNER, Bridging the Borders Award (Härö), Palm Springs International Film Festival
Leila (Hazard), a hard-nosed woman in prison for life, gets pardoned due to the intervention of someone she doesn’t know, provided she goes to work for Father Jacob (Nousiainen). He is a blind priest living out his last days in a remote area, where he answers the letters that request his prayers. Leila’s job is to read the letters aloud and write his responses to the sender. When the letters stop coming and the priest is thrown into a state of despair, Leila starts revealing her own life story in the guise of a letter-sender.
An emotional story with slightly dark bits of humor scattered throughout. Kaarina Hazard is perfect for the role of the tough Leila.
74 min. Not rated.
Ariel-Movie Review 04/28/2013
Posted by Films to consider in Dark Comedy, Finnish language film, Light Drama, Moscow International Film Festival, Movies, National Society of Film Critics Awards, Romance, Swedish language film.Tags: drama, moscow international film festival, national society of film critics awards
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ARIEL (Finnish) 1988
Written and directed by Aki Kaurismaki
Starring Turo Pajala and Susanna Haavisto
WINNER, Bronze St. George-Best Actor (Pajala); FIPRESCI Prize (Kaurismaki); NOMINATED Golden St. George (Kaurismaki), Moscow International Film Festival
WINNER, NFSC Award-Best Foreign Language Film, National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
After the mine he was working in closes down and his father commits suicide, Taisto (Pajala) gets thrown in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He escapes and leaves town, hoping to find a new life in a big southern city. Almost immediately he meets Irmeli (Haavisto); they strike up a very low-key romance, but soon Taisto gets caught up in trouble.
Dry and quirky humor. Not a big award winner, this short (only 73 min.) film definitely has the 80s look about it. It’s the second part of Kaurismäki’s Proletariat Trilogy, which also includes Shadows in Paradise and The Match Factory Girl.
73 min.
On IMDB:
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