Criterion Blu-ray/DVDebut for Aki Kaurismäki's refugee charmer, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE

How does he do it -- Aki Kaurismäki? How does he manage to wring so much humor, charm and pathos out of what is basically just deadpan storytelling. After viewing so many of his films (Kaurismäki is shown below), I'm still surprised by each new one, often quite similar in its themes and even cast members (he uses his own ensemble most often) to what has come before. Just looking at the stills shown below from THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE, after nearly a month has gone by since I first watched the new Blu-ray from the The Criterion Collection, brings a smile to my face all over again as I remember the incidents in their quiet, crazy, sweet glory.

Kaurismäki's latest begins with maybe a nod to Samuel Beckett's Happy Days (shown below), as we meet one of our two heroes, a middle-eastern immigrant (played by Sherwan Haji) whose journey to Finland, which we learn of a bit later in the film, has been a fraught one indeed.

Part of the magic this filmmaker manages comes from his understanding of calm and how to make use of it, quietly forcing us to look, really see, and begin to somehow feel via the characters we're watching.

Sure, it's easy (well, for some Americans, anyway) to take the side of an beleaguered immigrant. But what of our other hero (played by Sakari Kuosmanen, shown center, below), a family man who suddenly leaves his wife to strike out on his own? These two could hardly seem more different at first, even second, glance, yet what binds them is the kind of common decency that unfortunately seems all too uncommon throughout the world these days.

Kaurismäki takes his sweet time bringing the two together. First we must understand each one's situation and begin to bond a little with the very idea of these guys. A restaurant, seemingly on its last legs, enters the picture, and its staff proves every bit as quietly hilarious as so much else in this Finnish filmmaker's oeuvre.

The decision to turn the place into an Asian eatery -- and what follows -- is deadpan heaven. As are many of the little musical interludes that crop up along the way.

Of course Kaurismäki courts sentimentality, basing his movie around the immigrant/refugee question and all the baggage that goes with it. Yet thanks to his innate humor, a clear-eyed look at how immigration policy often works (or actually doesn't) in the western world, and, yes, it must be said, a few coincidences, too, instead of sentimentality, the filmmaker manages something that certainly approaches, if not actually reaches, "truth".

If you've never seen a Kaurismäki movie, this one's as good as any a place to enter his world. If you already know that world, you'll probably want to dive right back into it.

The Other Side of Hope -- in Finnish with English subtitles and running 100 minutes -- hit the streets on DVD and a fine Blu-ray transfer last month from The Criterion Collection. As usual, with Criterion, there are beaucoup bonus features, so film buffs can, as ever, get their fill.

TOM OF FINLAND: Dome Karukoski's elegant, multi-faceted look at an unusual gay icon

Having pretty much come into early adulthood and gay/bisexual culture with the "artwork" of one, Tom of Finland, as a prominent guidepost, TrustMovies still, even now, knew nothing about the man who created the work. All that has changed with the theatrical opening of the movie that the country of Finland has submitted as a possibility for this year's Best Foreign Language Film -- something, I warrant, that Finland would never have done before or during the heyday of this artist's prominence. For much of his life, Tom, whose given name was actually Touko (according to the film, it became "Tom" due to his American publisher trying to make his work more marketable to the English-speaking crowd), would have been a near-pariah in his home country, had his work not been kept decidedly "under-cover."

Though part of Scandinavia, Finland was evidently not nearly as culturally, politically, socially or sexually forward-thinking as its Danish, Swedish and maybe Norwegian counterparts. TOM OF FINLAND -- as directed by Dome Karukoski (shown at left), with a screenplay by Aleksi Bardy and additional dialog (I am guessing for the portions set in the USA) by Mark Alton Brown -- turns out to be a surprisingly elegant, beautifully filmed combination of social, cultural, sexual and personal history that shows us the difficult times gays endured in Finland (and Germany) from the wartime 1940s through nearly the 1990s. By then gay culture had pretty much exploded throughout the western world -- with everything from its fashions to disco dancing to the idea of gay sex being not quite so bizarre and horrendous as formerly imagined -- seeping rather quickly into the progressive mainstream view.

As personified by the excellent actor Pekka Strang (shown above and below), Touko/Tom is brought to fine life as a young man, a middle-aged and increasing successful one, and finally the elderly gent who, having lost the love of his life even as his greatest successes occur, is left with memories. And his art.

To the film's credit, that "art" (a sample of which is shown below, and which I would call, as does Wikipedia, "erotic illustration") is never pushed forward as anything great. Instead it is shown to have a huge appeal to the gay population -- which it did and still does. With its emphasis on uniforms, leather, big bodies, and very large muscles (including those cocks), it strikes directly at certain accouterments favored by a portion, probably rather large, of the gay population.

And the drawings are indeed beautifully done: In black-and-white, they're well-composed and about as in-your-face as you could wish. The movie itself, however, is a lot more subtle that the work itself. It must be, in order to give us the fairly in-depth look at Touko and his life: first, with his sister and eventually with the young man who moves into the pair's apartment as a renter and soon becomes  Tom's lover, and finally a near-rapturous view -- so different from Finland -- of gay life in the USA during the burgeoning 1970s and then into the 80s, as AIDS begins to decimate the gay scene.

In America, we're introduced suddenly to some new characters -- Jack (Jacob Oftebro, above, left, who also doubles, I believe, as Tom's gorgeous fantasy man, below) and Doug (Seuman Sargent, above, right). Why soon becomes clear, while the how is handled with enough panache to grab our interest. One of the great strengths of Karuoski's direction (he also collaborated on the story) and Bardy's screenplay come via their refusal to hand us literally everything on a large and labeled platter. Instead they make us work, and the effort is invigorating.

Though their movie unveils in linear fashion, no dates are given anywhere in the film. Just figure it out. So we do. Neither are locations labeled. We're in Finland, then Germany, then America, then back to Finland. But thanks to an intelligent screenplay, the location is either quickly or eventually revealed.

Big events are handled with surprising restraint, as well. The death of a loved one comes and goes without the usual funeral scene, inclement weather and tears -- yet we feel it just as strongly. Notice a scene midway that deals, among others things, with yellow curtains and their meaning, then smile at how lovely is a later scene, featuring just a look at some fabric in a local shop.

The film is full of such moments, and it is all the richer and stronger for them. Oh, Tom of Finland is feel-good, all right. But we've also been given enough feel-bad, along with intelligent probing of place, culture and mores, that the finale seems more than appropriate and justified.

Performances are all you could wish for, too. From the excellent leading actor, to the fine supporting roles. That's Jessica Grabowsky, above and below, center, who plays Touko's sister, and Lauri Tilkanen, below, left, in the role of Veli, the lover. If there is one big coincidence to be faced down, that would be the fact the Veli, who shows up to rent a room in the pair's apartment, is the same fellow with whom Touko has earlier had sex in the local park. I suspect this is an invention of the screenwriter, but either way, it doesn't derail the film. (I usually allow one major coincidence per movie.)

From Kino Lorber, in Finnish and German with English subtitles and some dialog in English, and running 115 minutes, the movie opens Friday, October 13, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and the following Friday, October 20, in Los Angeles (at the Landmark NuArt), Berkeley (at the Landmark Shattuck Cinema) and San Francisco (at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema). To see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and scroll down.

Juho Kuosmanen's charming partial-biopic, THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI

Based on a short period in the career of a real-life boxer from Finland, THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI, directed and co-written (with Mikko Myllylahti) by Juho Kuosmanen, proves one of those sweet and very low-key Finnish films (think Aki Kaurismäki but not as stylized) that are charming, very easy to view and never push too hard in any direction. The movie may not lodge itself in your permanent memory, but I very much doubt you'll be sorry you saw it.

Kuosmanen's film (the director is shown at left) tracks the training period leading up to and including the world championship fight for featherweight title in 1962 fought by the titular Olli Mäki against an American fighter named Davey Moore. Happiest Day is sweet movie and actually quite romantic (especially for a boxing story) as Olli (below) and his girlfriend Raija (Oona Airola, further below) bond, break apart a bit, and then join again, as the championship match approaches. Not much happens beyond the budding love story, but we do get to view the boxing training, the PR machine, the news media and other typical artifacts circa the 1960s, brought to life in some nice period detail (though I must question the stadium shown us that has that huge video screen that certainly could not have been present in 1962).

Otherwise, the movie stays nicely on track as we get to know Olli and his attitudes to everything from sports and family to love and relationships. (His non-boxing profession was that of baker, and I'm sorry that the film does not give us a bit more of that.)

Instead we get a good dose of he effect that Olli's friend and trainer, Elis (Eero Milonoff, at right, below) has on the boxer, and for the most part it's not such a good one. Here, Elis' ambition and desire for success seem to trump all else, and Olli must fight doubly hard (even though he barely seems to understand this or how to do it) in order to hold on to his humanity and his woman.

But, as I say, the movie is Finnish and so it seldom pushes for effect but instead lets character win out over event. Performances are as genuine as can be, and because the film is based on real-life people and, we must assume, a lot of facts, what we see, hear and feel goes down all the more easily.

The last scene, in particular, is a charmer. Note the old couple our hero and heroine pass by and comment on as they walk along, and then be sure to read the cast list during the end credits. You'll be delighted with what you discover.

A rare theatrical release via MUBI, which we know best for its streaming service, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, running 92 minutes, opens this coming Friday, August 21, in New York at the Angelika Film Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal, to be followed by an exclusive digital release on MUBI. 

Mika Kaurismäki's THE GIRL KING: Queen Kristina, with her sexuality front and center

An interestingly, if not entirely successfully, imagined rendition of the early adult life of Sweden's famous Queen Kristina, crowned, according to this film at age six and ruling for around a decade from age 18 to 28, THE GIRL KING presents us with the 1600s seen very much through the lens of modern-day thought and feeling. (Queen Margot, it ain't.) As such it will expand somewhat the horizon of American viewers who manage to see it -- mostly likely those in the GLBT segment of the populace -- while giving them a relatively entertaining time at the historical bio-pic well.

The movie was written by Michel Marc Bouchard (the "English version" is credited to Linda Gaboriau) and directed with some flair and appreciation for pomp and circumstance, time and place by Mika Kaurismäki (shown at left). The costumes, especially, are quite beautiful and eye-popping, and the locations and props seem equally at home in their far-off time period. Initially, it seems as though the film will deal with its subjects -- history, feminism, sexuality and the ways of royalty -- with irony and a sense of humor (note the use of the fly in a very effective pre-title credit sequence). But then, post-title, this mostly gives way to cliché.

Still, there is a certain amount to charm and even reliability to be found in the clichés of bio-pics about distant figures of history, and the filmmakers have mined this for some effective results. In the 1933 Hollywood movie Queen Christina, Garbo played the Queen as a woman who wears mannish clothes but still falls in love with the dashing Spanish envoy to her court. Yeah, right. At least these days, we can call a spade a spade (and a lesbian a lesbian), so here, our heroine (very well limned by Malin Buska, above, right) falls in love with a countess at her court (Sarah Gadon, above, left), mostly to the detriment of all concerned. (That's Lucas Bryant, below, left, with Ms Buska, who plays one of the several male, would-be paramours of the Queen.)

When the film sticks to the politics and religions of the day, it fares much better than when it tries to probe the women's intimacy because, as conceived and written, the Countess barely exists except as a love object for Kristina. There's no "there" there, and given the empty characterization, Ms Gadon is unable to provide much in the way of specificty. This finally drags the movie down rather heavily: They're in love. We get it. So, what's new and interesting about that? The movie hasn't a clue -- except to let us know that lesbian love was frowned upon back then.

However, when Kristina's guardian (the excellent Michael Nyquist, above) and his Queen get involved in politics -- she wants to promote peace instead of war, which is an affront to most of her court -- the movie takes occasional flight. As it also does when it probes Kristina's interest in philosophy and that famous Frenchman Descartes (the two evidently met and had some interesting interactions, which may have even led to the philosopher's untimely death).

As played by the always fine Patrick Bauchau (above, right), Descartes and his ideas are a winning part of the movie. So, as depicted here, is the relationship between Kristina and her mother (played with fine ferocity by that expert German actress Martina Gedeck, below, center).

Perhaps the most interesting sections of all are provided by the "plot" to return Sweden to a Catholic country, which involves Kristina's "friend," the French Ambassador Chanut (smartly played by Hippolyte Girardot, below, right). This, as we learn from both history and the title cards just preceding the end credits, had a most interesting result.

Overall, The Girl King is worth a watch for its weaving of facts, historical figures and a pretty good pass at "what might have happened" into an entertaining, informative look at a particular part of the world as it was evolving during the mid-1600s.

From Wolfe Releasing, the film -- running 106 minutes -- opened yesterday in a very limited run at theaters in Los Angeles, Larkspur (California), San Jose and Minneapolis, and arrives on video and digital via Wolfe Video this coming Tuesday, December 8.

Simo Halinen's OPEN UP TO ME: the "transgender" film hits its high mark (so far)

Today's western world mostly concerns celebrity, schlock and marketing, right? How else to justify the media time spent on the execrable Bruce-Jenner-becomes-Caitlyn story, worth maybe two minutes of time now stretched to weeks  -- with no end in sight. Boy, those Kardashians sure know how to market, if little else, bringing to mind the old saw about understanding the price of everything and the value of nothing.

And don't tell me the story is so vital and important to the transgender cause. If Jenner were not a semi-celebrity being marketed by a Kardashian, few would give a shit. Instead, we have folk fawning on his/her every breath, as though it mattered more than the breath of any others of us. Laverne Cox -- to mention the other currently "famous" sex change -- has brought a lot of talent and pizzazz to Netflix's Orange/Black series. But Jenner? Nothing more than the need to cling as long as possible to some fractured fame.

The above angry screed is all by way of introducing you to a worthwhile new movie: the best I've so far seen involving transgender (better, even, than Boy Meets Girl, a film I liked very much). Written and directed by Simo Halinen (shown two photos above), OPEN UP TO ME (Kerron sinulle kaiken is the original Finnish language title) tracks the tale of Maarit (the very fine Leea Klemola, just above), a relatively recent man-to-woman transition trying against rather heavy odds to make something of her new life.

To that end, Maarit has had to leave behind a wife and daughter (the former has seen to it that he/she cannot visit the latter) and must labor in the vineyards of the cleaning crews who polish the fixtures in corporate and or professional building bathrooms. One day, thanks to a clever coincidence involving wardrobe and dress-up, a sad-but-hunky psychiatrist's client (Peter Franzén, below) with marital trouble mistakes Maarit for a shrink, and plot begins to bloom.

Soon we (and Maarit) are involved with the hot-looking Sami, his wife (Ria Kataja, below) and daughter -- even as Maarit's life is expanding to include not only an incipient affair with Sami but the opportunity to finally

reconnect with her/his daughter (a sweet, smart performance from new-comer Emmi Nivala, below) and at last involve the girl in his/her new life.

Simultaneously, we meet one of Sami's students whom he coaches in soccer (Alex Anton, below), a young man who proves both bright and quite interested in learning from experience -- which would include as many varied sexual experiences as he can muster.

While the relationship between Maarit and Sami is the major force at work here, the movie's greatest strength comes from its deeper look into the characters on view, together with how something as radical and different as a sex change can make adjustment more than a little difficult for those confined to what can only be called the "normal" camp.

As much as the audience might want love to bloom and prosper, the filmmaker is too wise and realistic to make things simple for his characters. Halinen may use coincidence as an occasional plot device, but when it comes to behavior, he takes his lessons from life rather than from easy fiction.

By the film's conclusion, a number of situations have changed and characters grown and/or come to terms with their inability to grow. Either way, they and we have learned something and in the process quite enjoyed the experience. (The movie's last line is a delight: sharp, moving and very funny.) From Corinth Films and running a swift 95 minutes, Open Up to Me becomes available on DVD this Tuesday, July 7.    

Rax Rinnekangas' Finnish fantasy drama THEO'S HOUSE links home, lost love & architectural guilt

The premise of the new oddball drama from Finland, THEO'S HOUSE, which is having its world theatrical premiere here in New York City, is a good one: an architect experiencing big-time guilt over having sold out his principles regarding art, life and just about everything else (except money) to build a series of awful block-like buildings in Finland during the 1960s that look about as ugly as do any of these what-do-we-do-with-our-poor? projects you can find almost anywhere around the world. Making obeisance to the likes of Le Corbusier while creating sub-par replicas of "modern" design, our man and his business partner (who seems to have little trouble with either the building or the guilt) now stand worlds apart regarding their earlier creations.

The discussions the film offers about architecture and design and their uses for and by humanity are fascinating, all the more so because we see and hear so little of this kind of talk in cinema. At times the film has an almost documentary quality, even -- maybe especially -- when it is flashing back to earlier decades when this architectural twosome were at their creative heights, and even earlier to when our "hero" was a child and had one of those epiphanies that has remained with him ever since. As written and directed by Rax Rinnekangas (shown at right), a filmmaker evidently quite well known in Finland, Theo's House is a lovely movie to observe. Its leisurely pace allows plenty of time to take in the mostly gorgeous countryside and elegant, you'll-want-to-live-there hotel in which much of the film takes place.

However, this movie is anything but a documentary. It is, in fact, a kind of romantic fantasy that I'm afraid the filmmaker means for us to take as some kind of gospel. Theo, you see, in an act that combines penance and wish-fulfillment, has decided to build a house that will incorporate everything good about life and love and architecture, and in it he hopes will live himself and the woman who was the young girl he seems to have fallen in love with way back when.

As played by actor Hannu-Pekka Björkman (shown above and below), Theo is rather a portly sweetheart of a guy, wracked by guilt and wafted aloft by faded memories of his one-time maybe love, Clara.  (Though Clara herself may be ignorant or even indifferent to all this). Yet on he goes, drawing up plans for the house, at the same time as he imagines an extended visit from his ex-partner, engages in conversation with the hotel's groundskeeper, and observes the self-inflictedly mute maid from the former East Germany who feels betrayed by her country's reunification with the west. She, it is pointed out, grew up in exactly the kind of housing that the two partners designed for their own homeland.

That groundskeeper turns out to have been a famous German stage director, whose idolized wife is now dead, and whose spirit he now spends his days mourning, so this brings us some discussion of theater and life, as well as death and the afterlife. The verbal discussions in the film are generally pointed and interesting, and the visuals are often magnificent. But because this is all leading up to a finale that would not be out of place in the latest, low-end rom-com, I'm afraid that Theo's House comes to pretty much naught. Though getting there, I admit, has been generally bracing and beautiful.

The movie, distributed by the production company, Bad Taste Ltd and Butterworks, opens this Friday, December 12, at New York City's Quad Cinema. No other venues here in the USA are currently on the horizon, though the film is expected to be released in Finland this coming February.