Äideistä parhain (2005) Reviews

• English Name: Mother of Mine. A Very Special Movie

  Jamester2005-09-16

  I saw this at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival today to a sell-out crowd with a very engaging Finnish director, Klaus Härö present. This film had real heart and honesty. It can and should be appreciated both in and outside of Scandanavia. The film highlights a significant event in Finnish history -- that during WWII, around 70,000 Finnish children were sent to Sweden among other countries to be temporarily hosted as their real parents stayed in Finland to continue in the war. The story is made accessible and immediate by taking us through the experiences of one child -- Eero (Topi Majaniemi) -- who as a 9-year old boy is dealing with language differences, a desire to return home, and a host family that can provide materially, but maybe not in the non-material ways that Eero really needs. That the film stays true to the viewpoints and desires of the child really makes this movie work. From the opening sequences, the warring environment was clear. As the movie continued, the sense of the unknown, a certain amount of foreboding and the ever-present desire to connect with family was also subtly introduced to give a very full sense of the conflict within this child's mind. The soundtrack nicely complemented everything the movie was going for. This is a great total package with a movie that is assured, concise and crafted from a very fine director. This film gets my recommendation. Moreover, I'm very much looking forward to seeing the next film from this decidedly capable director!

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• Brilliant!

  pwbognar-12006-02-05

  I saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September '05, near the end of the festival. By that time, I have seen enough, and I am quite critical: I will walk out on films (I almost never do that!), or resent a mediocre film for wasting my precious TIFF time. Not this film. I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't give this beautiful film a 10. It had me literally from the opening shot, right through to the credits. When I see a film like this, it makes me wonder what American film makers are doing, offering rehashes of stuff we saw thirty years ago (think Batman, Star Wars, even King Kong). Here is a wonderful story, gut wrenching at times, painful to see, but compelling. Maria Lundqvist as Signe is amazing to watch, as is Topi Majaniemi as Eero. Michael Nyqvist (Hjalmer) is sublime in the supporting role. Beautiful cinematography, fabulous acting, a great thought provoking story. What more could you ask for at the cinema? My final comment on "Mother of Mine:" Find a way to see this film.

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• Truly Moving picture

  tollini2006-09-21

  I am a judge for the Indianapolis-based Heartland Film Festival. This feature film is a Crystal Heart Award Winner and is eligible to be the Grand Prize Winner in October of 2006. The Heartland Film Festival is a non-profit organization that honors Truly Moving Pictures. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." During World War II, the powerful Russians invaded small Finland. The Finns resisted mightily. But, many Finn parents were afraid for their children's safety and 70,000 were sent to Sweden for their own safety. Eero, a 9 year old Finn boy, was one of these children who was sent away to neutral Sweden after his father-soldier was killed in battle. His natural mother did this with much love and sorrow. Eero was her only child and the reason for her existence. Eero does not want to go, and he misses his father. When Eero arrives in Sweden, he is assigned to a foster home on a farm in a very remote region. The new foster-father is loving and nurturing, but the new foster-mother is cold and bitter because she recently lost her only child, a daughter, in an accident. But slowly Eero is accepted by the foster-mother too, and Eero feels loved and secure and happy, and actually stops missing his natural mother. Then, Eero's natural mother asks for his return. Eero, as an older man looks back at his childhood, sometimes tragic and sometimes wonderful, and tries to make sense of it. The viewer is struck by the great sacrifices the two mothers made for Eero. Mothers are vital to their children because they will always personally care for them. But in extreme circumstances, sometimes letting them go can be just as vital. But certainly it's much harder. This film has wonderful acting, directing and cinematography. The bleakness of the Swedish landscape and the simple, dignified lifestyle of the people are brilliantly displayed. FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Crystal Heart Award winners as well as other Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.

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• Fresh take on WWII Coming of Age theme

  kenneth-pavia2006-09-12

  I liked this movie for several reasons: 1. It differs from other similarly-themed movies by focusing on the one "war child" (Eero) and his relationship with the two mothers in his life. That was fresh for me. 2. Great cinematography! Many beautiful shots of the Swedish countryside and other nicely-framed shots. One that impressed me was the shot of Eero sitting inside the concrete bunker with the sea and sky in the window next to his head. This movie is worth it just for the camera work. 3. Great acting by all of the actors. 4. Excellent story/plot that kept moving at a good pace. The one negative comment I would make is regarding Eero's young female peer. She tries to be his friend, but he ignores her and their friendship is never developed, so I wondered what was the use of her character, since she had such a minor role. Maybe it ended up on the cutting room floor? All in all, I highly recommend this movie.

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• Amazing lucid revelation of complex humanities

  researchingmedia2006-03-07

  Haven't been so totally blown away by a movie for quite a while - it's rare in Hong Kong that all the 5 audience in the cinema all ended up soaking in tears - if that didn't tell you enough about the movie.. There were movies, like the Dutch movie Simon, that tried to capture the subtle dynamics among fathers and sons, or the Canadian one, Barbarian Invasion. This movie, however, has yet overrode those movies by its subtle but yet delicately constructed interplay among father, mother and the son. More so it touched so much upon young man's hope and tie with the mother. Just when you think that was the whole thing about the movie (i.e. mother and son, anti-war wake-up call), the movie got brilliantly galvanized by the two women in how they dealt with themselves and the motherhood, and what they wanted, adding a potent twist to the narrative as well as gently tweaking the emotions of the audience. For such a long time there was no movies that was able to employ such a basic and simple setting but yet so able to capture the multi-faceted humanities in such an embedded, compiling way. Highly recommend this movie.

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